Update On Cancelled Plans For Shayna Baszler On Main Roster
A lot of teases for naught...
Shayna Baszler's 2020 has been odd, to put it mildly. She dominated the latter stages of the Women's Royal Rumble before being eliminated by mainstay Charlotte Flair. She then began tormenting then-Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch, before losing to her rather cleanly at WrestleMania 36. Following those two scenarios that looked like slam-dunk victories for her, Baszler has been scarcely used.
According to an exclusive report from Fightful, Baszler wasn't intended to fall short the way that she has. Initially, "The Queen of Spades" was supposed to win the Women's Rumble, but WWE made the call to go with Flair, "just hours before the event actually happened."
The report also claims that Baszler was supposed to defeat Lynch at WrestleMania, but Vince McMahon nixed it, feeling it wouldn't be effective without a crowd. Lynch apparently made a personal pitch to drop the title to Baszler, but to no avail.
There was also a pitch for Baszler to win the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match, before the company settled on Asuka. Since then, Baszler had been mostly invisible, before her appearance on the July 13 episode of Raw.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
