WWE Superstar Bayley recently sat down for an open and heartfelt conversation with Chris Van Vliet on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where she reflected on her career—from surprise creative decisions to deeply personal moments that shaped her path.
One of the most iconic elements of Bayley’s early WWE run was her entrance featuring the Bayley Buddies—colorful inflatable tube men that became a fan-favorite part of her persona. But as Bayley revealed, they weren’t even originally meant for her.
“I think that was supposed to be Adam Rose’s. I don’t know what exactly happened or why it didn’t work for him, maybe he didn’t want it. But I literally showed up at TV that day and they’re like hey, we want to go through your entrance real quick. I was like, okay. At that point I was like, they never do that to me, I’m just freaking loser, I just walk out and I wave to people. I already had the character, but I think that I was maybe a month into the character. Then they surprised me with it, came out and they popped up. This is awesome! Everybody watching, talent and stuff were like, Dude, that looks so cool and, yeah, it became a thing. I think it was supposed to be for Adam Rose though, because he had a whole, crazy character stuff. But I was so happy even having that. I remember sometimes at entrances for big matches, whenever they would pop up it would get a second pop. I would get a good reaction, but then the tube men got a big pop. It was like oh sh*t, they’re here.”
As for whether they’ll ever return, Bayley revealed that she officially ended that chapter of her character during her heel turn.
“I cut them up and then they sold them. They sold the cut ones. They sliced them into pieces, and then they sold them. I think it’s like a picture of me slicing them, or something like that. I don’t know.”
Bayley also opened up about the serious injury that kept her sidelined during the pandemic era. While fans were led to believe it was an ACL tear, the reality was much more complex.
“This will be a story for another day, because I’m not ready to share it yet, but my injury ended up being more than what everybody knows. It was a bigger injury than anybody knows. There’s a few people that are aware of it, and obviously the office and stuff. But that’s the reason, wasn’t just an ACL thing, it was a bigger injury, and that’s the reason why it kept me out longer. It still bugs me to this day. I can’t do certain things, it’s hard for me to run, it’s hard for me to do leg curls. There’s a lot of things that I can’t do because of that injury. So there was a time, maybe in PT doing stuff where I was like I can’t even walk, I can’t jump. How am I supposed to wrestle in like three months or something? So there was that little doubt which I’m sure everybody goes through with injuries, but I always knew that I was going to come back. Because, I mean, it wasn’t that crazy of an injury. It was just like where am I going to fit in kind of thing. My whole idea behind Damage CTRL was like alright, I’ve won my championships. I’ve had my Mania moments. Now as a character and as a bad guy, I could be like I don’t even want anything for myself, I want it for them. They’re gonna reap all the benefits of my experience, and they’re gonna get all the championships, and they’re gonna get everything. Then when the time is right, I’m gonna steal it right from them, I’m gonna take the spotlight right back when I’m ready. But while I’m still recovering and finding my ways, they’re gonna do all the work for me. That was my idea behind it.”
The Damage CTRL storyline has since become one of the defining arcs of Bayley’s post-injury run. But in the interview, she revealed that her original pitch for the group was even more ambitious.
“I had a whole [plan], there’s five of us, my pitch for Damage CTRL. I also had Raquel [Rodriguez] in it. I also had Alba Fyre in it. I had so many other girls in mind too. I had Toni Storm. I wanted Toni Storm in it. But when I actually sat at the PC and shot stuff, it was with Raquel and Alba, and all five of us. I had reasons why I wanted them. Raquel was obviously our muscle, but she was teaming with Dakota at the time, I believe. So they worked out perfectly. Alba and IYO I think were teaming a little bit there, so they worked out perfectly. But in my mind, it was there’s two tag teams and then IYO was my champion; she was going to be the champion. I just want to do everything in wrestling. That’s how I always thought. I want to be a bad guy. I want to be a good guy. I want to be in a faction. I want to be in a tag team. I want to be a singles wrestler. I want to be in a romantic love angle someday. I want to be able to do everything, because there’s so many different things that we could do in this crazy world to not try different avenues and work with as many people as possible. I just want to do it all.”
Bayley’s blend of passion, creativity, and resilience continues to drive her through every chapter of her WWE career. From inflatable tube men to emotional comebacks and long-term storytelling, she’s always thinking one step ahead—and always ready to evolve.
