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Worst in the World: Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017

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Even though she's seen a lot of success under her current heel gimmick, it's hard to argue that WWE didn't bungle the main roster run of Bayley early on. In NXT, Bayley was one of the cornerstones that elevated women's wrestling not just on the yellow brand, but throughout the entire company. She's been involved in some of the greatest women's matches the company has ever had against the likes of Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka. Bayley is so good that she got genuinely great matches out of Nia Jax and Eva Marie. That's how good she is. On top of that, her character was perfect for the PG audience. It should've been a slam dunk. And yet, as WWE tends to do with can't miss talents...they missed. It started out pretty good. Bayley debuted in the summer of 2016 and by February 2017, she became the Raw Women's Champion. She'd defend that title past WrestleMania until...this feud.
Alexa Bliss earned a title shot against Bayley at Payback...and won. No cheating, no underhanded tactics, no heel chicanery of any kind...she just won. This led to a rematch being set for Extreme Rules, this time in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match, due to Bliss attacking Bayley with a kendo stick. The whole story leading up was questioning whether someone like Bayley, who's character was an adorable, kid-friendly wrestler, would be willing to do anything even resembling hardcore wrestling. As if questioning her ferocity wasn't bad enough, any hype this match had was destroyed just one week before the show when WWE ran "Bayley, This is Your Life." The original "This is Your Life" segment between the Rock and Mankind is a genuine classic and the highest-rated non-wrestling segment in the history of Monday Night Raw but attempts to recapture that magic have failed, and this version is the worst of the bunch.
Bliss is one of the more charismatic women the company has had, but she couldn't save this dumpster fire of a segment. From lame jokes about Bayley being a big child to having people from her past reveal embarrassing things about her too, and I'm not joking, making fun of Bayley for liking wrestling. The WWE creative team, a staff of writers who write for a PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING SHOW, really thought that LIKING PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING is something to be embarrassed about. And to make matters worse, unlike with the attempt they tried with Foley and John Cena, we couldn't even get a Bull Buchanan cameo. For shame. Unsurprisingly, this died an absolute death the minute it started, with the crowd shitting all over every single thing, and we didn't even get a satisfying payoff, with Bayley getting beaten down with a kendo stick by Bliss. So, with the sour taste of that segment in everyone's mouth, let's see how the actual match went. Let's get into this.
The match starts with Bliss taunting Bayley, telling her to go get the kendo stick. This is clearly bait...and Bayley bites! Bayley goes for the kendo stick, so Bliss throws her down by her hair. What a dumbass. Bliss tries to grab the stick, but Bayley stops her and throws her into a different corner. Bayley hits a bodyslam and makes the cover for a near fall, confirming that you don't actually need to use the kendo stick to win the match and, therefore, making the pole gimmick entirely pointless. Bayley goes for the stick again, but Bliss stops her and clocks her in the face, sending her out of the ring. Bliss goes for the kendo stick again, but because she is a tiny, tiny woman and can't reach it from the second rope...
Bayley recovers and meets her on the top rope.
The two fight on the ropes, ending with Bayley knocking the kendo stick down to the mat while both women fall to the outside. In a race to grab the stick, Bayley makes up for her opening gaff by making a smart decision, rolling in front of Bliss, stopping her from having a chance at getting the stick. Bayley beats down Bliss at ringside, ramming her into the barricade before hitting a back suplex. Bayley finally grabs the kendo stick and chases Bliss around ringside before they end up in the ring. Bliss begs, but Bayley hesitates too long, allowing Bliss to spear her down. Bayley drops the stick, allowing Bliss to grab it and beat down Bayley. Bliss goes for a big swing, but Bayley is able to catch her with a Bayley-to-Belly. Bayley is to hurt to make the cover, allowing Bliss to retreat into the corner, propping up the kendo stick in the process. Bayley separates Bliss from the stick with a schoolboy, but Bliss shoves her into it, allowing Bliss to hit her again and follow up with a DDT for the three and the win. Once again, no cheating or any kind of underhandedness from Bliss. Bayley lost because she couldn't bring herself to use the kendo stick.

The Verdict

I'll admit, when I said this was one of the absolute worst matches of 2017, I might have be a little too hard on it. There's really nothing wrong in-ring with it. But man, what a terribly booked match & story. The bully heel ran down the babyface at every turn and questioned how willing she was to win and was 100% right. This feud, and especially this match, damaged Bayley so bad it took literally years to rehab her character back to a point where people were interested in watching her again. The match isn't the worst thing in the world just based off the actual wrestling, but everything else that goes into making a wrestling match is just the pits.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  4. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  5. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  6. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  7. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  8. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  9. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  10. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  11. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  12. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  13. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  14. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  15. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  16. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  17. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  18. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  19. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  20. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  21. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  22. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  23. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  24. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  25. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  26. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  27. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  28. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  29. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  30. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  31. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  32. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  33. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  34. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  35. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  36. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  37. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  38. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  39. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  40. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  41. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  42. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  43. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  44. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  45. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  46. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  47. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  48. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  49. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  50. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  51. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  52. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  53. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  54. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  55. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  56. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  57. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  58. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  59. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  60. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  61. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  62. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  63. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  64. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  65. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  66. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  67. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  68. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  69. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  70. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  71. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  72. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  73. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  74. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  75. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  76. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  77. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  78. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  79. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  80.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  81. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  82. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  83. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  84. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  85. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  86. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  87. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  88. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  89. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  90. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  91. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  92. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  93. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  94. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  95. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  96. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  97. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  98. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  99. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  100. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  101. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  102. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  103. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  104. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  105. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  106. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  107. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  108. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  109. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  110. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  111. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  112. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  113. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  114. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  115. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  116. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  117. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  118. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  119. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  120. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  121. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  122. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  123. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  124. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  125. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  126. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  127. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  128. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  129. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  130. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  131. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  132. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  133. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  134. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  135. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  136. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  137. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'm finishing up my list of bad matches from 2017 with the final match of one of the all-time greats. At least, what should have been the final match of an all-time great. Until then...
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