In a realistic sense, they have three options, now, with Bayley.
Calling her up after Summerslam is of no use. That will be only six weeks after the Draft -- a Draft in which Vince McMahon and the bookers basically told the entire WWE Universe this woman (a woman who had the PWI Match of the Year (AND the First Runner-Up) last year, one of the most inspirational women in wrestling, etc. and so forth and so on...) has no value on the main roster.
They just said MOJO RAWLEY has a place at the table before her. HUH AND WHAT THE FUCK?
Battleground really is of not much use either unless they do something really forward-thinking that no one in their right mind would see Vince doing. (see below)
You've now passed up two major opportunities to shine a light on a woman that sells tons of merch, can basically be a running positive PSA for the company when they badly need it (hello, more head-injury lawsuits!!!), etc.
But, realistically, they have three options:
1) The most straightforward is that she gets her win back over Asuka and retakes the NXT Women's Title.
But WHY? What purpose, in the booking, does it serve? She should've been the first "repeat NXT champion", not The Revival. If you just had to get the belts off of American Alpha to call them up, hand them to Ellering -- remember, the Road Warriors won the National Tag Team belts in their first match with the NWA!
Basically, the only real reason you'd do this is to have Asuka and Bayley battle each other in the major places for the rest of 2016, and hope SOMEBODY finally can jump to the next level -- with Bayley showing them the way behind the scenes.
2) In what would be the most anguishing personnel decision in forever, Asuka decisively defeats Bayley at Takeover Brooklyn II -- after which Bayley is released from the company.
Yes, I think this is a real possibility.
The first part of this is the most likely possibility. It is clear that Bayley would be in the twilight of her NXT career, but the biggest problem tonight represents is that any main-roster call-up now basically gets blunted that neither company wanted her with five realistic spots available (you knew Balor would go first!!!), and that would be probably a corporate decision behind the scenes, at which point (with the complete understanding she wouldn't even make Becky Lynch levels on the main roster because of her lack of bikini body), after Asuka, she's taking a spot and, with her position on the card, has only her character left to sell tickets -- and that's not going to be enough to have Creative have anything for her.
3) As a function of explaining how far they're in a corner, let me give one alternate fantasy-booking scenario:
Battleground: Bayley is Sasha's partner, they tear down the house, Sasha gets the win over Charlotte to set up the title win at Summerslam.
Next Night on RAW: It's leaked Bayley is backstage. It's leaked during the Pre-Show that she is not welcome there. Bayley, during the show, knocks on Mick Foley's door and asks the obvious question: Why was I not drafted? Foley hems and haws, and finally admits it was Stephanie's decision. Enter Stephanie from off-screen, with security to eject Bayley, but not before basically telling Bayley she does not have The Look for WWE, and should be lucky she even is still in NXT, and if she (and not her husband) had anything to say about it (remembering NXT has a separate canon!), Bayley wouldn't have that. Punctuate with Stephanie Slap, Bayley banned from RAW arenas.
Tuesday Night on Smackdown: Repeat the process with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. Bryan and McMahon would have a much harder time explaining it, but, eventually, in the interests of "We have a show to run.", eject Bayley with security, but not before a heartfelt hug from Shane and Daniel to Bayley.
Bayley is now officially The Woman No One Wants.
Back II Brooklyn: Asuka and Bayley have a great match. Bayley, with the last of her strength, Bayley-to-Belly's Asuka, but Asuka rolls out of the ring for the countout loss.
Summerslam: Sasha Banks becomes WWE Women's Champion over Charlotte.
At this point, on a periodic basis (enough to rile the fans and to keep the story relevant), Bayley is continually ejected and arrested in her efforts to get noticed and get on the main roster.
At some point in the fall on NXT: Bayley has had enough, and demands one more shot at Asuka at either the October or December Takeovers. Asuka demands Bayley put up her NXT contract and retire if she loses. Bayley does, in exchange for Asuka relinquishing the Champion's Advantage.
At that Takeover, in Full Sail, in the Main Event: Bayley wins back the NXT Women's Championship, and holds it for the remainder of the relevant period.
First RAW after the last Network Special before Mania 33: Sasha has beaten everybody. She is in the ring, on the same RAW in which the Royal Rumble winner will choose his prize. She demands competition, and then, without music, the crowd begins to stir:
Bayley is coming through the fans, NXT title belt in tow, and makes the last demand.
Sasha shoots on her and basically says you have to have the bikini body to make it: She does, Charlotte does, Becky does, Bayley does not. She orders security to force Bayley to leave, and Stephanie joins her to do so.
Then, a complication: As Mick Foley makes his way to the ring, so does HHH. In a rare meshing of his face "Father of NXT" and his heel Authority, he suggests something to Mick, who suggests it to Stephanie, who suggests it to Sasha.
To get the shot, Bayley must relinquish her NXT contract and the championship. If she loses, she retires.
The match is made for Wrestlemania. The contract signing is three weeks before. Two weeks before, a video is shown of an incident at Izzy's house (Sasha and Izzy are relatively tight in real life -- anything here would be worked out with the family and probably hugged out for a while afterward) to inflame the fans. Monday before Mania, Bayley flips out and the two have an all-over-the-arena brawl.
Wrestlemania 33: Bayley makes her main-roster debut at Wrestlemania, defeating Sasha Banks cleanly for the WWE Women's Championship, forcing the two brands to choose which one will have her.
They let her and her Huggers make the decision.
That's the kind of wall they booked Bayley into tonight.
Calling her up after Summerslam is of no use. That will be only six weeks after the Draft -- a Draft in which Vince McMahon and the bookers basically told the entire WWE Universe this woman (a woman who had the PWI Match of the Year (AND the First Runner-Up) last year, one of the most inspirational women in wrestling, etc. and so forth and so on...) has no value on the main roster.
They just said MOJO RAWLEY has a place at the table before her. HUH AND WHAT THE FUCK?
Battleground really is of not much use either unless they do something really forward-thinking that no one in their right mind would see Vince doing. (see below)
You've now passed up two major opportunities to shine a light on a woman that sells tons of merch, can basically be a running positive PSA for the company when they badly need it (hello, more head-injury lawsuits!!!), etc.
But, realistically, they have three options:
1) The most straightforward is that she gets her win back over Asuka and retakes the NXT Women's Title.
But WHY? What purpose, in the booking, does it serve? She should've been the first "repeat NXT champion", not The Revival. If you just had to get the belts off of American Alpha to call them up, hand them to Ellering -- remember, the Road Warriors won the National Tag Team belts in their first match with the NWA!
Basically, the only real reason you'd do this is to have Asuka and Bayley battle each other in the major places for the rest of 2016, and hope SOMEBODY finally can jump to the next level -- with Bayley showing them the way behind the scenes.
2) In what would be the most anguishing personnel decision in forever, Asuka decisively defeats Bayley at Takeover Brooklyn II -- after which Bayley is released from the company.
Yes, I think this is a real possibility.
The first part of this is the most likely possibility. It is clear that Bayley would be in the twilight of her NXT career, but the biggest problem tonight represents is that any main-roster call-up now basically gets blunted that neither company wanted her with five realistic spots available (you knew Balor would go first!!!), and that would be probably a corporate decision behind the scenes, at which point (with the complete understanding she wouldn't even make Becky Lynch levels on the main roster because of her lack of bikini body), after Asuka, she's taking a spot and, with her position on the card, has only her character left to sell tickets -- and that's not going to be enough to have Creative have anything for her.
3) As a function of explaining how far they're in a corner, let me give one alternate fantasy-booking scenario:
Battleground: Bayley is Sasha's partner, they tear down the house, Sasha gets the win over Charlotte to set up the title win at Summerslam.
Next Night on RAW: It's leaked Bayley is backstage. It's leaked during the Pre-Show that she is not welcome there. Bayley, during the show, knocks on Mick Foley's door and asks the obvious question: Why was I not drafted? Foley hems and haws, and finally admits it was Stephanie's decision. Enter Stephanie from off-screen, with security to eject Bayley, but not before basically telling Bayley she does not have The Look for WWE, and should be lucky she even is still in NXT, and if she (and not her husband) had anything to say about it (remembering NXT has a separate canon!), Bayley wouldn't have that. Punctuate with Stephanie Slap, Bayley banned from RAW arenas.
Tuesday Night on Smackdown: Repeat the process with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. Bryan and McMahon would have a much harder time explaining it, but, eventually, in the interests of "We have a show to run.", eject Bayley with security, but not before a heartfelt hug from Shane and Daniel to Bayley.
Bayley is now officially The Woman No One Wants.
Back II Brooklyn: Asuka and Bayley have a great match. Bayley, with the last of her strength, Bayley-to-Belly's Asuka, but Asuka rolls out of the ring for the countout loss.
Summerslam: Sasha Banks becomes WWE Women's Champion over Charlotte.
At this point, on a periodic basis (enough to rile the fans and to keep the story relevant), Bayley is continually ejected and arrested in her efforts to get noticed and get on the main roster.
At some point in the fall on NXT: Bayley has had enough, and demands one more shot at Asuka at either the October or December Takeovers. Asuka demands Bayley put up her NXT contract and retire if she loses. Bayley does, in exchange for Asuka relinquishing the Champion's Advantage.
At that Takeover, in Full Sail, in the Main Event: Bayley wins back the NXT Women's Championship, and holds it for the remainder of the relevant period.
First RAW after the last Network Special before Mania 33: Sasha has beaten everybody. She is in the ring, on the same RAW in which the Royal Rumble winner will choose his prize. She demands competition, and then, without music, the crowd begins to stir:
Bayley is coming through the fans, NXT title belt in tow, and makes the last demand.
Sasha shoots on her and basically says you have to have the bikini body to make it: She does, Charlotte does, Becky does, Bayley does not. She orders security to force Bayley to leave, and Stephanie joins her to do so.
Then, a complication: As Mick Foley makes his way to the ring, so does HHH. In a rare meshing of his face "Father of NXT" and his heel Authority, he suggests something to Mick, who suggests it to Stephanie, who suggests it to Sasha.
To get the shot, Bayley must relinquish her NXT contract and the championship. If she loses, she retires.
The match is made for Wrestlemania. The contract signing is three weeks before. Two weeks before, a video is shown of an incident at Izzy's house (Sasha and Izzy are relatively tight in real life -- anything here would be worked out with the family and probably hugged out for a while afterward) to inflame the fans. Monday before Mania, Bayley flips out and the two have an all-over-the-arena brawl.
Wrestlemania 33: Bayley makes her main-roster debut at Wrestlemania, defeating Sasha Banks cleanly for the WWE Women's Championship, forcing the two brands to choose which one will have her.
They let her and her Huggers make the decision.
That's the kind of wall they booked Bayley into tonight.