For years Bayley portrayed the loveable underdog who couldn't wait to hug someone. But she underwent a character change in September, smashing Becky Lynch with a chair and aligning herself with the heel Sasha Banks. Bayley would go on to cut off her famous ponytail and slash the Bayley Buddies to complete the transformation.
Speaking to the New York Post, Bayley revealed that the change in character was needed in order to evolve.
“I need to be able to do everything and test the waters everywhere and ride the waves and challenge myself. I can’t get stale and bored and do the same thing over and over. In order to excel in this business, you have to constantly evolve. I think honestly it’s real frustration. I’ve been wrestling for over 10 years. I’ve been with WWE for seven years, so not all of it has been colorful and castle-like and wacky wavy inflatable tubemen and happy and fun. It’s been a struggle. It’s really, really difficult to kind of stay on top for a period of time, so it’s pretty easy to find frustration believe it or not," she said.
When discussing her partnership with her best friend Sasha Banks, Bayley said, “It’s like a dream come true because we have always talked about being a team that was just such jerks. And we were like, man, it’s never gonna happen. There’s no way they’ll make this possible. And just recently we have been able to tag on live events and dark matches and all that stuff where we are able to try a few things out, and it’s just amazing.”
Bayley is currently involved in a feud with Lacey Evans, who recently turned babyface by aligning herself with Natalya.
In the interview, Bayley had nothing but praise for Evans, saying, “She’s a very different type of performer. She’s super talented. She does things I wish I was able to do a little bit. She has a very different work ethic coming from the Marines. It’s pretty interesting to see. I think it’s going to be very fun.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Bayley stated she wouldn't mind being a guest on WWE Backstage, but only if Sasha Banks was with her and CM Punk was part of the show. She also would like to have a rematch with Shayna Baszler, who pinned her at WWE Survivor Series in a triple threat match.