Bayley discloses whose idea it was for her to turn heel
Bayley recently revealed how the idea for her heel turn came to be and who was behind it.
When Bayley turned heel in October 2019, she was one of the top babyfaces in the Stamford-based company. Hence, it came as a shock to many fans.
Today, Bayley is one of the top heels in the women's division. The Role Model has been dominating the red brand with her faction, Damage CTRL, alongside Dakota Kai and IYO SKY since her return at SummerSlam 2022. However, many have wondered whose idea it was for the former "Hugger" to unleash a villainous side.
While speaking to Ariel Helwani on BT Sport, The Role Model revealed that it was her idea to turn heel:
“It was all my idea when it first happened. I was in, I don’t know if you remember, it was such a weird time in my career where it wasn’t really going where we all thought it would and I felt the fans turning on me already and just not buying into it. The last match I had before the change was [...] I lost the championship to Charlotte and then I had to break down and cry. They told me just to throw a fit and cry and cry."
She then continued:
"I talked to Vince and I talked to my writers throughout this whole idea of a complete 180 character change. He’s like, ‘Okay, we’re going to do it’, but it was like two days later so I had no time to really figure out what this is going to be. Then we did that change and then it’s just grown throughout the years now that I’ve had time to kind of settle in and see how the fans react to it.” [H/T Fightful]
Bayley spoke about the fans turning on her
During the same interview, the former SmackDown Women's Champion also spoke about how fans gradually turned on her. She also mentioned how her gimmick felt unnatural to fans as she had outgrown it.
"I think to me it just felt natural, you know? What I was doing at the time felt unnatural to them but I think it's because I truly outgrew it, like the character I was trying to portray, because when I was 'The Hugger,' in NXT and I was, super fan-favorite, I really felt all these things, I really felt in awe of being in the WWE. I felt an awe to be around all these superstars because I was a super fan growing up," she stated.
Bayley's gimmick change turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to her, as it caused a lot of people to finally take her seriously.
What do you make of Bayley's comments? Sound off in the comments section below.