Bayley On Being The Last Of The Horsewomen In NXT and more
Recently, current NXT Women's Champion, it's Bayley, was interviewed on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast. Bayley talked about being the last Horsewoman in NXT, becoming a locker room leader, and how the large inflatable airdancers were brought into her entrance.
Bayley said that being split up from the rest of the Four Horsewomen has been "bittersweet", as she misses her friends Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch, but is now the focal point of the Women's Division of NXT.
"It's kind of bittersweet. It's really weird and hard to [explain] because I grew up with them. We started in NXT together and Full Sail [University] together. To watch them go off [to the main roster], like, it's amazing and I'm so proud [of them], but it's kind of like, 'man, I miss having them around!' I miss having matches with them, but at the same time, it's all eyes on me [now] and I'm like the front end of this new era of women coming up in NXT. And it's like, man, there are so many amazing performers coming up and I'm so happy that I'm the [NXT Women's] Champion and get to be a part of it and get to work with them."
Bayley stated that she has evolved into a locker room leader in NXT over the last few months. She said she enjoys her new role and it has brought her own development to another level.
"It's really cool because now I'm literally the one who has been here the longest out of the women who we train with. And, so, I try to be the best leader in the locker room that I can." Bayley continued, "I really enjoy helping and teaching and stuff. And when we're training with Sara Del Rey, if she misses something, she asks me if there's something that I saw that maybe she didn't catch. And, so, it feels really cool. I'm kind of like a little assistant [coach] sometimes. It's a whole new level of learning when I'm able to help someone else out."
When asked how she has avoided getting a Big Ego, Bayley said she tries to keep in mind that everyone in NXT is at the same level.
"At the [WWE] Performance Center, we're all at the same level. We're all at NXT. We're all wanting to get to the main roster. That's the way I see it. That's the way Coach [Matt] Bloom always says it. We're all right here. Whether we're the champions or not, we all need to treat each other equal."
Bayley admitted that she felt like WWE was going to try to change her when she started out with the company, although she never thought she was going to be asked to participate in bra and panty matches or be on bikini posters because she does not have the right look for those activities.
"It was really, really weird. I felt like they were going to try to change me and if I didn't change, I wasn't going to succeed. That's how I felt coming in, but I knew I was going to try no matter what. Like, 'I'm going to give this a shot. This is where I want to be, so I've got to try to fit into wherever they want me to be to be this huge Diva.'" Bayley added, "I didn't think I was this amazing wrestler. It's just wrestling is all I knew and I kind of felt like, 'I don't have the look for that anyways. They probably wouldn't want to use me for those type of things,' so I didn't even expect them to want to put me on these bikini posters and stuff like that, so it wasn't really something that I was too worried about."
According to Bayley, the Divas Revolution happened because of the work of the Four Horsewomen and the fans interest in women's wrestling.
"It was kind of like a combination of everyone's work because, obviously, Sasha and Charlotte, and when Becky came, we were all just wrestlers. And I think we were listening and kind of taking everybody's [advice], the coaches opinions, and we were learning and stuff. We weren't ignoring what they wanted. We were still [saying], 'okay, that's what you want me to do? I'll do that.' But we were still having these matches and the crowd was getting into it. I really think it was the fans that helped the Revolution. They loved watching us wrestle! It kind of seemed like it turned everybody's heads, and especially Triple H."
As for the inflatable airdancers in her entrance, Bayley claimed that the idea did not come from her. Rather, she was surprised with it one day at rehearsal.
"So the tube men, they kind of like surprised me with that one day, where they were like, 'we have something really cool for your entrance. We think it will match you perfectly.'" Bayley continued, "so they were just like, 'we want to do this rehearsal with you, so we'll surprise you. Just do the rehearsal.' It was before the show, so I come out, I'm doing my entrance, and then they pop up and I'm like, 'oh my God! This is perfect!' It was such a legit surprise and the colors [matched] with my [ring] gear and all that. It just seemed like so perfect."
Bayley indicated that the tassels on her ring gear were inspired by the late great 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.
"'Macho Man' was who drew me to wrestling. The first time I saw him, I was like 'oh my gosh! He is so cool!', so that's just something I wanted to kind of carry on and nobody does it. It's different, so that was going to stand out on it's own and it's my own little 'Macho Man' thing."
In addition to these topics, Bayley talked about her road to NXT, almost having a luchadora gimmick, and much more. Click here to check out the rest of the show.
WI
