Bayley feels she ‘lost a genuine connection with fans’ after WWE heel turn

  • Ian Carey
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During a recent interview with The Pro Wrestling Experience, Bayley reflected on her WWE heel turn.

In 2019, Bayely cut off her side ponytail, destroyed the inflatable tube men that had been a stable of her ring entrance for years, and debuted a more serious persona. The “hugger” character she’d been portraying since 2013 was gone.

Bayley feels as though she lost a genuine connection with fans when she turned heel, but believes it was necessary for her career.

Bayley said:

“When I became a bad guy, I felt like I lost a genuine connection with fans. It was like they don’t know how they feel about me or whether they still want to like me or what it was. It was a genuine disconnection. Sometimes I still think about like, man, I wonder if I never would have done that, where I would be now, or if I would be better or if I would be worse off.”

“But then I think about times like during the pandemic. I don’t know if that character would have been able to last through the pandemic and have the type of success that I did then. I always credit them allowing me to have that moment and them allowing me to explore my growth because I didn’t feel that what I was doing at the time was going to extend my career any longer. I knew I needed to turn that page and just make something different happen.”

“As a fan, I wanted to do everything—I wanted to be a bad guy, I want to be a good guy, I want to get married on WWE, I want to have all the crazy storylines. That was the first taste of doing something different for myself. I catered to a lot of fans coming in, but that was something I felt I needed for my career. I don’t regret that at all.”

Bayley turned babyface again during her program with Damage CTRL leading up to WWE WrestleMania 41. Currently, she is looking to become the first-ever WWE Women’s United States Championship. Bayley advanced to the semifinals of a torunament to crown the first title holder when she pinned Candice Lerae in a three way match that also involved B-Fab on Friday’s SmackDown.