Dreams & Goals: When Sasha Met Bayley

It’s amazing what you want to do when you’re a child. I remember so many things; I wanted to be a cop (thanks TJ Hooker), an astronaut (thanks Space Camp), a pro wrestler (thanks Dusty Rhodes) and a musician (Maynard Ferguson) at various times in my youth. I never became a cop, even though everyone was cool with that goal. I never became an astronaut, which everyone would have been more than ok with. I never became a pro wrestler, everyone laughed at that one when I was a kid, and teenager, and an adult; although I had things you may consider matches (ok, two were good). I became a musician. I earned music degrees, did some studio work, earned a living on Carnival Cruise Lines one summer and played backup for Chicago once. In all honesty I find dreams to be normal and natural, and at the core innocent. It’s part of what makes a person who they are; some of us only chase the dream and some of us live the dream.

It wasn't just a dream…it was a goal. @SashaBanksWWE @itsBayleyWWE #NXTTakeOver: RESPECT pic.twitter.com/vf3CcdPxZj

— Triple H (@TripleH) October 2, 2015

Throughout the years we have heard about the WWE hiring rumors; sometimes they want Latinos to capture the Hispanic fan base, there were times that they had a bunch of Randy Orton clones, there were times that they wanted cruiserweights and times that they didn’t want anyone under 6’2 tall. And oddly enough there were times where you would hear that being a wrestling fan could actually work against you. Obviously times have changed in many ways, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan found success on the big stage, and the face of developmental looks like the exact opposite of what a Vince McMahon owned company has been over the years.

Sasha Banks and Bayley are wrestling fans, they have loved wrestling for years and the tweet by Triple H, showing off writings by both women from their younger days; they wanted to be pro wrestlers. Let me repeat that, THEY WANTED TO BE PRO WRESTLERS. They did not want to be sports entertainers, they did not want to be lady wrestlers, divas or knockouts, they wanted to be professional wrestlers. At age 23 (Sasha) and age 26 (Bayley) these are two important replacement parts for the WWE machine. Please do not take “replacement parts” as a negative or derogatory term. What I mean is that sometimes you have a classic car, and you need to modernize it for safety reasons; it needs an update. Sasha Banks and Bayley are wrestling fans that wanted to be professional wrestlers, and they are the kind of women that the WWE needs to really change the way that fans look at women’s wrestling. Not an on screen promise and not a #DivasRevolution that is a hash tag introduced by the boss’ daughter. They need women that are fans that have the love and dedication to be pro wrestlers, women that want to be respected and believe that they can steal the show. That is what Sasha Banks and Bayley represent to me. When I see these two, I do not look at them as women or divas or a bathroom break; I look at them as professional wrestlers that when given the chance can steal the show as good as anyone else.

They got their chance at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event, the co-main event of that show. This was not a match in front of the 300 faithful at Full Sail that will chant for almost anything, this was in front of 13,000 plus fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. If you’ve seen the match you already know that it was an excellent match, the best match on that show and not only one of the WWE’s best matches of the year, but as of this writing, it is one of the top 15 or so matches I have seen in 2015 so far. They had a story going in, they worked an excellent match with a great in ring story that allowed the audience to feel as if they were part of it. It was simply spectacular, the opposite of what the main roster does with the women (and to a degree the men) and is exactly what the company should be doing in all facets of the product.

Sasha Banks and Bayley are wrestling fans, they have loved wrestling for years, and they dreamed of becoming professional wrestlers and they achieved that goal at a very young age. But now they get another opportunity at NXT Takeover: Respect. They get the chance to main event the show, and not just in any match, a 30-minute iron man match. I say this with no exaggeration that this will be the biggest test for both performers in their young careers. Working for 30-minutes is no easy shake for an experienced worker, but the iron man match stipulation can make things very difficult. If a match goes long, fans have a chance to get into it organically, but when you KNOW it will go for a certain amount of time, some fans check out until the final few minutes because they think all of the important stuff happens then. Both performers will have to be on top of their games, and have a lot to live up to following the match in Brooklyn.

They have the talent, they have the story and I have faith that come Wednesday, we’ll once again talk about the women succeeding. Some of us only chase the dream and some of us live the dream; and these two have chased that dream and are living it. Now they have bigger goals and new dreams to achieve, and I for one cannot wait to see what they do next. For years all I would hear is that women’s wrestling isn’t good, and that women’s wrestling can’t draw. And granted, the way WWE usually does it, I can agree with that. But you know what is good and what does draw? Good professional wrestling. And that is exactly what this feud has been.