It’s been over two months since Shayna Baszler has had a match on WWE TV and the decision for her to not be used has nothing to do with creative.
Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Baszler was booked to get big wins since her main roster debut but those plans were nixed by Vince McMahon.
She was originally scheduled to win the Royal Rumble but that was changed about a week before the show. Becky Lynch, and others, pushed to have Baszler win the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania but that idea was also nixed.
Baszler was also originally scheduled to win the Women’s Money In The Bank match but McMahon changed those plans as well and Asuka was booked to win the match. Paul Heyman’s idea was to turn Baszler into a monster heel but McMahon did not see things the same way and now with Heyman out as the head of creative, it’s unclear what the future holds for Baszler.
Meltzer noted that Vince soured on Baszler because he never grasped the idea of having her MMA style being used in a wrestling ring. Meltzer also noted that McMahon made the decision to pull her off TV for this reason and the decision was made before he let go of Heyman. In hindsight, the ratings may have had less to do with Heyman’s exit and more to do with McMahon not agreeing on the potential of some of the new talent brought up to the main roster. In recent weeks since Heyman has been gone, there has been more of an emphasis on shorter matches on Raw and McMahon has leaned more on some of the veteran wrestlers like The Big Show and Randy Orton.
Baszler hasn’t wrestled since the May 12th episode of Monday Night Raw. She defeated Natalya via submission.
