WWE star Bayley discusses facing Charlotte at the Royal Rumble on Sunday
Imagine being 27 years old and being two days away from accomplishing one of your lifelong goals. That’s the situation WWE star Bayley is in as she awaits her match for the women’s championship against Charlotte on Sunday duiring WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, available on the WWE Network.
Bayley grew up a big fan of professional wrestling, and especially of WWE. In videos, she is shown meeting WWE stars when she was much younger, vowing to one day be one herself. She rose through the ranks of the WWE’s developmental system, NXT, and Sunday will be in a headline match in one of the four marquee events on WWE’s calendar.
In a phone Q&A, she discusses that and much more.
Q. What would you say is the biggest difference between NXT and WWE for you?
A: Honestly, it’s just being in front of bigger crowds every week and on live TV. We didn’t have that at NXT. We had the Full Sail audience, which is an awesome audience but is like 500 people, so going from that to being in front of 15,000 or more people every Monday is a huge difference. But there’s really no other big difference. Triple H really prepares everybody for WWE in everything we do in NXT, and everything we do in the performance center is to prepare us for WWE.
Q. Last time I went to a live event you were on, the audience was filled with little girls who all had their Bayley T-shirts and gear on. Does that add any pressure to you, feeling you always have to be on your best behavior in public because so many kids idolize you?
A. It’s not bad pressure but it is always something I keep in that back of my mind that whatever I do, they are watching. When I was a kid, I watched my favorites, Victoria, Lita and Ivory, so I know how I looked at them. I remember that and try to carry myself in a good way. But honestly I think I feel more pressure from the parents, in a good way. Parents will often thank me for being a good role model for their kids or tell me “you’ll never understand how much you mean to my daughter,” so then I feel I don’t want to let down the parents either. I always feel the kids will be on my side because I feel like a kid myself, so we are a little even there.
Q. When I started watching WWE, they only had four pay-per-views a year, and Royal Rumble was one of them. It is still considered one of the big events for WWE, and here you are in a headline match. How overwhelming is that?
A. When I am in the gym, I will sometimes think about it and become emotional during my workout and have to tell myself “Stay in control!” There will be 60,000-plus fans there, so it will be like a mini-WrestleMania, and it’s one of everyone’s favorite pay-per-views each year, so to be able to be a part of that, well, I’m trying not to get emotional right now thinking about it. It’s something I have always dreamed about, and now that it is going to actually happen, I just try to make sure this won’t be the last time it happens.
Q. What’s it like being in the ring with Charlotte?
A. It’s pretty intimidating. She is a freak athlete. You can tell that just by looking at her or following her on social media. She has all these pictures of being on every sports team in high school and college. I was actually her first match on NXT TV, and she did so incredible. She’s such a natural. It’s obviously in her blood, and she has accomplished so much in such a short time. I’m hoping I can hold my own in there with her.
Q. Do you have a favorite Rumble moment in the past?
A. I’m terrible at these. I don’t have one from a long time ago, but last year I was there with a bunch of NXT people and we got to see Sami Zayn [a big NXT star then, now on the main WWE roster] run down to the ring for the Rumble match. Our whole NXT family was going crazy. It was just one of those incredible moments because everyone knows his journey and to be there to share that with him was a great feeling as a fan and a friend.
Q. If you could go back in time and wrestle anyone in history, who would you pick?
A. That is so hard. I would have to say Lita, because she is the one who helped me realize that I could make it in WWE. That I didn’t have to be the supermodel type. I could just be myself and help take the women’s division to newer heights, which is what she did. So if I could have just one match, it would be her, because it would please the 10-year-old in me and the current me.
Follow Houston Mitchell on Twitter @latimeshouston
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