During the WWE WrestleMania 41 Saturday Kickoff Show, it was revealed that Bayley had been attacked backstage, forcing her out of the planned women’s tag team title match. Becky Lynch ultimately stepped in as Lyra Valkyria’s replacement partner, helping secure the Women’s Tag Team Championship on WrestleMania Sunday by defeating Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
Appearing on The Undertaker’s podcast, Bayley opened up about the emotional experience of being pulled from WrestleMania at the last minute. “The day they took me out [of Wrestlemania]? It was the day before. It’s a test. I feel like every time I get thrown stuff, it’s like I’m just being tested. Not by the company, by the universe and the world trying to test me. It was rough. It was a little bittersweet.”
Bayley admitted that the news hit her hard after putting so much work into building the team and the storyline heading into the event. “When I was told what was happening, I was like, ‘Oh, now I’m bummed.’ For one, I’m not at Wrestlemania. For two, we put all this work in and I really tried to make us look like a team. It was rough, but it becoming part of a storyline and it becoming what it is now made it a little bit nicer.”
She added that the situation led to conversations with several people backstage, including CM Punk, who helped her put the moment into perspective. “It’s definitely one of those times… I had a long conversation with [CM] Punk about it. A lot of people that were reaching out were like, ‘Everyone’s been in these positions.’ But yeah… I don’t know.”
Bayley’s absence ultimately fueled a storyline direction that continued well beyond WrestleMania, but the star made it clear the emotional toll of missing the biggest weekend of the year was very real.
