WWE Announces RAW Matches to Replace Injured Bayley at SummerSlam

It's official, Bayley will not challenge Alexa Bliss at Summerslam for the RAW Women's [...]

By Jack Snodgrass

It's official, Bayley will not challenge Alexa Bliss at Summerslam for the RAW Women's Championship. This news doesn't come as too much of a surprise as we have been reporting that her shoulder injury looked to be serious.

What does come as surprise is how WWE plans to fill the Bayley void. To find Bliss' SummerSlam opponent, there will be not one, but two triple threat matches tonight on RAW.

From WWE:

"We found out after her evaluations this morning that Bayley will not be at SummerSlam. She's got a separated shoulder. However, Bayley will be here tonight on Monday Night Raw to address the entire WWE Universe.

Now what does this mean for the title picture, with the Raw Women's division? Well, I talked to Kurt Angle earlier today, he confirmed there will be two Triple Threat matches happening tonight, the winners of which will face off next week to decide who will face Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam for the Raw Women's championship."

WWE will have to use its entire RAW women's roster to fill both triple threat matches tonight. But to be frank this is going to come down to Sasha Banks and Nia Jax. When Bayley went down, fans (and media) made the assumption that Banks would simply step into her place. However, making a miniature tournament out of the situation leaves room to doubt the Boss' SummerSlam Championship opportunity.

Regardless the idea of Bliss vs. Banks or Bliss vs. Jax is tantalizing. Both would be an improvement to the now gone Bliss vs. Bayley III. As charming as Bayley can be, she just hasn't translated her NXT success to the main roster.

While Bayley's injury came at a heartbreaking time, it could be an opportunity to rehab not just her shoulder, but her character.

In terms of forecasting SummerSlam, the best guess is the one that picks Bliss vs. Banks. And really, as wrestling fans, that's what we should be hoping for. While Nia Jax and Bliss could be fun, there are some logistics there that need attention. Banks and Bliss are real life rivals and WWE would love to exploit that legitimate tension at SummerSlam.

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