According to a report from Ringside News , WWE still has plans for Shayna Baszler. Vince McMahon just isn’t a fan of any of the ideas that have been pitched for her. The superstar is very much a “[Paul] Heyman project” who is no longer a priority now that the former executive director of Monday Night Raw is no longer involved in the show’s creative direction.
The report states that there have been storyline proposals for Baszler that have been pitched internally, though the chairman doesn’t think they’re good enough to bring her back to television. However, perhaps this is also a sign that McMahon and other officials want to book her strongly, and they’re opting to keep her on the sidelines as opposed to throwing her into meaningless angles.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, McMahon seemingly hasn’t warmed to the two-time NXT Women’s Champion since she was promoted to Monday Night Raw . She lost a title match against Becky Lynch at this year’s WrestleMania , even though the former Raw Women’s Champion had to relinquish the title a few weeks later.
Some fans have been critical of the company not putting the title on Baszler at WrestleMania 36 , as she had a lot of momentum and it would have allowed Lynch to put someone over before she took time off to have her baby.
As quoted by Pro Wrestling Sheet , Lynch told The Bella Twins that she wanted to drop the title to Baszler at the company’s biggest pay-per-view of the year. WWE officials were against the idea, which is why she ended up giving the championship to Asuka on the Monday Night Raw following Money in the Bank .
“[The pregnancy] happened before I would’ve expected and I was still the champ at the time. I actually thought that I was going to lose the title at WrestleMania , which I also pitched… but you know, plans change!”
While it remains unclear why McMahon doesn’t seem to be impressed with Baszler — even though she was dominant in NXT for years and looked set to become a huge star — Dave Meltzer believes that she doesn’t fit the chairman’s ideal mold for female superstars. The journalist noted that she wouldn’t have made it big on NXT 10 years ago, let alone the main roster.
The decision to have Baszler lose at WrestleMania could also have been based on Asuka’s unexpected surge in popularity. The company has opted to put titles on babyfaces throughout the coronavirus pandemic for the most part, possibly because they want a more feel-good product for fans during these trying times.