Bayley has come a long way from her days as a happy-go-lucky babyface, and she recently reflected on the evolution of her character.
These days, the self-proclaimed “Role Model” is one of the top heels in WWE‘s women’s division. But during her time on NXT and the beginning of her main roster run, she was a beloved babyface. She eventually went in a different direction by turning heel in 2019.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, Bayley looked back on her shift away from the character and noted that it was a natural change
“I think, to me, it just felt natural. What I was doing at the time felt unnatural to them, but I think it’s because I truly outgrew it, the character I was trying to portray. When I was The Hugger in NXT and I was a super fan-favorite, I really felt all these things. I really felt to be in awe to be in WWE, I felt in awe to be around all these superstars because I was a superfan growing up.
“But as I got older and as I got more experience and I had won a championship, it’s like, alright, you’ve done these things. Get over it. Get over being excited about being here. You’ve been here for six years already. So I just think they didn’t feel that connection like they used to, which is totally understandable because I didn’t either. I felt like it was time to have a change.”
Bayley then reflected on the fact that she recently completed 10 years in WWE. She looked back on the beginning of her time with the company and noted that she didn’t think she’d make it to her second month.
“I think that was the main thing that really sat with me was, it’s hard for anybody to sit in any industry, any company, any business for 10 years,” Bayley said. “To be able to do that with WWE, with my dream job, with the place that I grew up watching, it wasn’t so much of the fan in me that was really soaking it in.
“It was me as a person thinking my first month at FCW and NXT because that first month was really rough for me. I didn’t think I was gonna make it to the second month. It just didn’t feel like the place I thought it was going to be, and I thought I just wasn’t gonna fit in. I wasn’t girly enough, I didn’t dress nice enough, and I just didn’t have what it took to be a superstar. So the fact that now I’m here 10 years later, it’s like, how did I do that? How did that happen? How did time go so fast?”
When asked whether she close to quitting after that challenging first month, Bayley stated that she wasn’t going to quit, but she thought she was going to get fired. She then noted that Dusty Rhodes saved her by helping her tap into her personality.
“I wasn’t close… I don’t think I was close to quitting, but I just didn’t think I was gonna have fun. I don’t think I could have ever quit. I thought I was going to get fired because they wouldn’t see anything in me, and I think Dusty Rhodes saved me because… I had nothing to offer except what I could do in the ring at the time, and he pushed me in promo class and brought out this character in me and brought out my personality, which I didn’t think was okay to show because at that time, the women weren’t really seen like that, and I didn’t think it was okay to be a fan, and then that became my character was being a super fan. So he definitely saved me, and then I started having fun.”
Bayley remains featured on WWE RAW as a member of Damage CTRL alongside Dakota Kai and IYO SKY. On the February 27 episode of WWE RAW, Becky Lynch and Lita defeated Kai and SKY to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. More information is available here.
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