Shayna Baszler was missing from WWE for two months, which added to a likely frustrating year.
Fightful Select reported a couple of weeks back that Baszler was not injured and had not contracted COVID-19, and instead was just waiting on creative's plans for her. She returned on Monday Night Raw, but original plans this year called for much more.
We're told that there have been some major changes for Shayna Baszler this year. From the point she was called up to WWE Raw, she was penciled in to win the WWE Royal Rumble in January, before Charlotte Flair was decided on. However, we're told that call was actually finalized just hours before the event actually happened.
We're also told that at one point she was pegged to win the Raw Women's Title from Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, but Vince McMahon himself didn't think it was as effective when it wasn't in front of any fans. Becky Lynch has said that she even pitched to lose to Shayna, but it didn't end up happening.
Fightful has learned there was a pitch for Baszler to also win Money in the Bank, which obviously didn't end up happening. She popped back up on the July 13 WWE Raw, beating up a bunch of ninjas.
This story first ran on our premium service, Fightful Select, where you can get exclusive news, podcasts and more. Please subscribe to directly support Fightful's exclusive coverage. The story also later appeared in the Fightful Wrestling Weekly column.
