It went from hugs to hatred with Bayley over the course of this past year when the notorious babyface of NXT beat down her Bayley buddies to the horror of fans, but her journey into darkness has been a rewarding one. Her heel turned harbors a very long-reign as SmackDown Women’s Champion and a recent run with Sasha Banks as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Bayley spoke with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy about her beneficial bounce over to the dark side and how the empty arena environment enhances her abrasion to fans.
“It’s helped me a lot because I don’t really have to worry about the fan’s approval or worry about fans believing in what I’m doing or not buying into what I’m saying in promos or anything like that,” Bayley said.
“I’ve found a certain annoyance in my character. I think that I can be very loud and it basically just echoes in the Performance Center because there’s nobody there and I just think it’s hilarious.
Although some fans have likened the youthful Bayley going from happy hugger to outspoken two-title holder as an “emo teen phase” she doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case despite some past connections.
“I don’t think so, honestly,” she said. “The kind of music I would listen to was emo music, I guess,” she continued. “I would go to those concerts and maybe I surrounded myself with those kind of people.”
She does believe her journey has been a bountiful one for fans of her to follow along with.
“Characters in general you grow up with,” Bayley said. “And not that it was the reason for the change but I think for fans it’s fun to see that journey.
“Especially for the people that were watching NXT when we were on Hulu and when we started on the WWE Network they’ve literally watched us grow up.
“It’s a fun journey and like a cool connection you have with certain fans.”
