At the start of 2020, WWE superstar Shayna Baszler was tipped to dethrone Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 36 and become the next big thing on Monday Night Raw . However, after failing to capture the title and losing the majority of her pay-per-view matches, the former NXT Women’s Champion has fallen down the card on the red brand. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio , the company isn’t interested in pushing her at the moment.
As documented by Wrestling-Edge , Meltzer revealed that Baszler was a Paul Heyman project. Vince McMahon, on the other hand, reportedly isn’t a fan of the former UFC star, and now that Heyman has been fired from his executive director position, Baszler is likely to become an afterthought on Monday Night Raw .
Baszler has been notably absent from WWE television in recent weeks. While that could be a result of social distancing during the pandemic, Meltzer noted that the company might be keeping her fresh. While she doesn’t appear to be high on McMahon’s agenda for a push, the company might still be interested in booking her strongly.
At the time of this writing, the Monday Night Raw women’s division looks set to revolve around Asuka and Charlotte Flair. As The Inquisitr reported earlier, the company reportedly wants to push Flair as the face of the brand, which could result in superstars like Baszler falling further down the pecking order.
Meltzer also noted how Baszler isn’t McMahon’s ideal female superstar. The journalist stated that she would never have been pushed on NXT 10 years ago, let alone Monday Night Raw . The company has changed its approach to women’s wrestling in recent years, but Meltzer believes that McMahon and Bruce Prichard still have older mindsets when it comes to women wrestlers.
With Heyman out of the equation and the XFL seemingly dead, McMahon will spend more time focusing on the WWE product. Meltzer fears that the women’s division will suffer because of this, as McMahon has too many regressive ideas.
Baszler is the most dominant Women’s Champion in NXT history, and she’s one of the Four Horsewomen of MMA along with Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir, and Ronda Rousey, all of whom are currently signed to WWE as well.
Baszler’s MMA background also makes her one of the most legitimate fighters in the company, but her transition from the octagon to sports entertainment has been well received. Even if WWE doesn’t push her as a top star, she’ll likely be given a respectable billing on the roster.