WrestleMania 36 won’t be having any fans in attendance when the show airs on April 4 and 5, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be any major storyline developments taking place. One of those developments, as a new rumor suggests, might include a face turn from one of the mainstays of Friday Night SmackDown ‘s women’s division.
Citing recent comments from Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio , WrestlingNews.co noted that the original plan for WrestleMania 36 was apparently for Bayley to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against her off- and onscreen best friend, Sasha Banks. But with WWE canceling the men’s and women’s battle royal matches over coronavirus concerns, the blue brand’s women’s title match was announced on this week’s SmackDown as a Six-Pack Challenge, with Bayley defending her championship against Banks, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Naomi, and Tamina.
“The gimmick is that Bayley is all mad about a six-way,” Meltzer was quoted as saying. “But Sasha, who is supposed to be Bayley’s best friend, was mad until her name was announced in the match.”
“The company wanted to do Bayley and Sasha at WrestleMania and to their credit, given that there was no time to build it up … literally, this came up a week or two ago.”
As pointed out by Meltzer, the Six-Pack Challenge at WrestleMania will serve as the starting point for Bayley and Banks’ feud, with their singles match for the title getting moved to a later date.
Per @RealPaigeWWE, @itsBayleyWWE will defend her #SmackDown #WomensTitle against @LaceyEvansWWE @TaminaSnuka @DanaBrookeWWE @NaomiWWE … and @SashaBanksWWE at #WrestleMania !?
??? pic.twitter.com/TyzrusEP99
— WWE (@WWE) March 22, 2020
According to WrestlingNews.co , the rumored feud suggests that one of the two women involved will be turning face. As Bayley had taken on a villainous persona late last year, the outlet speculated that Banks might be the one to switch alignment. If she does end up becoming a babyface, this will mark the first time she will be playing a good-guy role since she and Bayley lost the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships to The Iiconics at WrestleMania 35 last April.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Banks turned heel in August 2019 when she reemerged on Monday Night Raw after a four-month hiatus, one which allegedly came after she expressed disappointment with how she and Bayley were booked to lose their tag team titles at last year’s WrestleMania .
If recent rumors are to be believed, Banks might not be the only Friday Night SmackDown women’s wrestler to change alignment in the weeks to follow. Earlier this weekend, WrestlingNews.co wrote that before changes were made to this week’s SmackDown taping, Sonya Deville was originally booked for a heel turn in her ongoing storyline with Mandy Rose, Dolph Ziggler, and Heavy Machinery.