Bayley Reveals Who Came Up With Her 2019 WWE Heel Turn
The 2019 heel turn of Bayley was a huge move for her and she has opened up about who decided it was the right time to turn on the fans.
In the mid-2010s when Bayley debuted in WWE on the NXT brand, she portrayed a character who was a wrestling fan that was living her dream as a professional wrestler. It was a gimmick that was true to life because Bayley was a legitimate wrestling fan, but it was also a gimmick that wore out its welcome after a few years.
It was in September 2019 when Bayley turned heel for the first time in WWE by assisting her best friend Sasha Banks in attacking Becky Lynch. Shortly after that, she changed her look, and a new attitude followed after that.
Bayley’s heel run lasted nearly five years until early 2024 when she won the Royal Rumble. Shortly after that, the Damage CTRL group that she founded turned on her, so Bayley became popular again because she was on her own.
A new Cody Rhodes interview podcast was posted on WWE’s YouTube channel called “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” and the first guest was Bayley. While on the podcast, the current WWE Women’s Champion revealed it was her idea to turn heel.
“I was so nervous because I thought, what if it didn’t work? But, I was also in that spot where that character, the fan favorite bubbly babyface wasn’t working either. So it was kind of like I was at a crossroads of, if I never try this then I’ll never know. I always, as a fan, wanted to do everything. I wanna be a good guy, I wanna be a bad guy, I wanna be in a love story, I wanna do the craziest things cause I want all of that experience.”
“I was a little nervous when I first started because I thought I would get a lot of female Cena comments, which is the best compliment I could ever get in that character, but I also was like, I wanna try different things.”
“So, turning to a bad guy was my decision because I felt that I was going nowhere and the fact that they actually wanted to go with it, it was perfect timing. I cut my hair off and had to go in to see if it was okay. They cut off my whole gimmick and luckily they approved of it and liked it.”
“I just think that is really when, I mean, I had so much fun with that character but being able to embrace myself and my own personality in a real way — and I always try to connect who I really am with my character and it just felt like I was growing as a person inside.”
“Being able to share that with the audience, it just felt like the right time and it was scary, but I think that’s what made it good.”
Bayley Set To Defend WWE Women’s Championship At SummerSlam
It was a rough night for WWE Women’s Champion Bayley on WWE Smackdown in Worcester, Massachusetts because she was attacked by her SummerSlam opponent Nia Jax and the Women’s Money in the Bank holder Tiffany Stratton. After Jax beat Michin in a match, Jax & Stratton double teamed Bayley and left her laying.
Stratton even thought about cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase as well, but Jax made sure she didn’t do it, so Jax & Stratton left standing tall while Bayley was left in a lot of pain on the mat.