It's More Than Just Hair

 If you've been following the on going Bianca Belair and Bayley feud, you're aware that Bianca's hair became one of Bayley's prime targets. Be it to use it as a weapon against her or to step on it as a way to establish her, even if momentary, superiority. Many assume that Bianca's hair, much like Samson's in the Bible, is the source of her strength - especially when she uses it as a whip - and the reason why her opponents seem to target it is an attempt to weaken her by removing it from the equation. However, the story runs a little bit deeper with Bayley.

Last night at Hell In A Cell, the two battled each other with a different kind of fire, fuelled by their own desires to have the last laugh in their story. Weapons were used to maximize the damage inflicted into the other one and while Bayley tried to weaken Bianca's left arm, Bianca fought back by targeting Bayley's right knee. But the fire inside them was stronger than ever and despite the pain, both of them hit the Rose Plant and the KOD, with Bianca outsmarting Bayley by throwing her into a ladder to compensate for her lack of arm strength while Bayley miscalculated her Rose Plant.

However.

It wasn't just Bayley's miscalculations that dictated her downfall but rather her blinded hatred for none other than... herself. You see, the reason why Bayley's targeted obsession with Bianca's braid is because, as she admitted before, Bianca reminds her of herself. The version of herself that, nowadays, Bayley absolutely despises. And, much like Bianca, the trademark of that version of Bayley was a ponytail that she cut off the moment she decided to become someone else. Unlike Samson in the Bible, who lost his strength once someone cut his hair, Bayley found hers. A vengeful yet unmeasurable and unstoppable amount of strength. For that reason, of course, the moment Bianca rose to the brand that Bayley ruled over fore more than a year, seemingly relatable to the version of Bayley she had been tried to erase, the most similar trait became the number one target.

Bayley's hatred for all things in Bianca that reminded her of herself, during this feud, morphed into a nightmarishly laughter that haunted Bianca to the point she admitted it was getting to her. That was the whole point of it, after all. But not because Bayley is jealous of Bianca's meteoric rise or because Bayley wants to destroy Bianca per say. It's simply a matter of Bayley's own self-destruction. If you look closely, the only times she held Bianca's title up was when her foot stood over the braid.

During their inevitable clash inside the cell, Bayley tied Bianca's braid into everything she possibly could, from the ropes to chairs, and yet Bianca always found a way to free herself. Halfway through the match, Bianca's desperation over the fact that Bayley didn't seem to be fighting her but trying to punish her instead, forced her to make the decided that shifted the balance of their fight. Screaming at Bayley that if she wanted the hair, she'd get it, Bianca tied her own braid to one of Bayley's wrists and used it to unleash all the anger she felt for her opponent. Pushing her only to shove her away, using it to guide Bayley against the cell chains, Bianca was exhausted and in that moment, it showed.

After Bianca was declared the winner of the match, the Bayley that once laughed in her face left the ring - and the cell - crawling backwards because, finally, she realized Bianca was nothing like her. The hair she was trying to fight is something that, unlike her, Bianca will never be ashamed of. The ghost she was trying to destroy had never been there but Bianca Belair was, the entire time. And by trying to fight herself, without even realizing she was doing so, Bayley's disrespect to the Bianca Belair she never saw up until the end of their Hell in a Cell match is unforgivable.