WWE Women's Champion Bayley Discusses Apprehension, Decision To Turn Heel

For six years in WWE, Bayley was known as "The Hugger" and one of the most loveable babyfaces on the entire roster. However, in 2019 she shockingly turned heel on an episode of "WWE Smackdown," famously destroying her "Bayley Buddies" on stage, kicking off one of her most memorable runs in the company. The current WWE Women's Champion has now opened up about turning heel and how concerned she was about making her character work on TV. 

Speaking with Cody Rhodes on WWE's "What Do You Want To Talk About" YouTube segment, Bayley described feeling torn between staying babyface and turning heel while also explaining how she thought fans would compare her to John Cena when she first wrestled under her "Hugger" persona. 

"I was more so nervous because I thought, what if it didn't work? But I also was in that spot where that character, the fan favorite, bubbly babyface, wasn't working either ... I thought I would get a lot of female Cena comments, which is the best compliment I could ever get in that character, but I also was like, but I wanna try different things. So turning to a bad guy was my decision because I felt that I was going nowhere. And the fact that they actually wanted to go with it, it was perfect timing," said Bayley.

The WWE Women's Champion shared that although she was frightened of leaving her "Hugger" character behind, she's proud of what she was able to accomplish as a heel and felt she was able to convey her personality more in that role.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WWE: What Do You Want To Talk About" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.