NXT Star Bayley recently sat down to talk with Chris Jericho on the Talk Is Jericho Podcast, and you can some highlights here:
On Triple H’s nickname:
“It’s cool,” Bayley said. “He’s the man. I always, like, Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky, we’ve all kind of said, like, it was so crazy how we came at the same time and kind of grew together because I think if I came a year later or a year earlier, it just wouldn’t have meant as much or I don’t know. At the time, he was always so cool too. He cared about everybody. He cares about everybody and he knows everyone’s characters more than anybody else. Like, no matter how long the match is, or what the program is, or if you’re on the bottom of the card or the top of the card, he cared about it because it’s his. This is his baby and he wanted to make sure it’s the best ever, so I really noticed him really caring about when, I guess, when we came with the Women’s title and Paige won it the first time. I was like, ‘man, he wants to make this special’, so it just kind of motivates you. And you see with interviews he does and some of the panel stuff that they did for Brooklyn, he just has such a – I don’t know – I think he has like a soft spot for us. Yeah, we call him ‘Papa Hunter’.”
On being ready to jump to the main roster:
“I think I’m getting more towards [frustration]. When they first went up, I was so excited and just like, ‘dude, I’m just so happy for you guys – if you guys can mold the division and make it easier for me when I get there, like, go for it!’ and I had things I wanted to work on here [in NXT]. I had to be the champion and like being able to work with a lot of the younger girls, which I think has been great for me that I wouldn’t be able to do if I moved with them. Like, I think I’ve learned more in this past year than I have in, I don’t know, just my whole career because I have to work with all levels of people.” Bayley added, “but now, I think I’ve done what I can and especially after WrestleMania [32] and saw their amazing match and the new Women’s title, I’m like, ‘dude, this is where I need to be. So now, I’m pretty, like, ‘alright, let’s do this!'”
On wanting to be thrown right into the title picture upon a call-up:
“I mean, if I had it my way, I’d prefer to kind of start out the same way I did in NXT where I was just kind of laying low. And I don’t want to be thrown in the championship mix right away. I kind of like growing in front of the fans. And I think that’s why it was such a huge deal when I won the title because they’ve seen me at the very bottom and just kind of be this girl that’s you know. I don’t want to be thrown into the [title] picture and get lost or be like I’m this huge deal already because I have to reintroduce myself. So that’s kind of what I’m looking forward to. What I hope to do is just grow in front of the larger audience, but I hope it all kind of works out the same way. I hope I really don’t have to change much because I’m so happy with how it’s going right now. But, if along the way they give me a few things they want me to change or that I need to tweak to make it better, make the produce better, then I can do it.”
