Bayley says 2021 knee injury was ‘bigger than anybody knows’

Bayley is still impacted by the knee injury she suffered nearly four years ago.

In July 2021, Bayley underwent surgery for a torn ACL after suffering the injury in training. It kept her out of action for more than a year, halting the momentum Bayley had built up as one of WWE’s most dependable performers of the pandemic era.

A new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet was released on Tuesday with Bayley appearing as the guest. During their conversation, Bayley said her knee injury was “bigger than anybody knows.” It’s still difficult for her to run and do leg curls to this day.

“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,” Bayley said. “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. And the reason that really — like, 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. Like, there’s a lot of things that I can’t do because of that injury. And so there was a time, maybe in [physical therapy] doing stuff where I was like, ‘Man, I can’t even walk. I can’t jump. How am I supposed to wrestle in 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 a, ‘Where am I going to fit in?’ kind of thing.

“My whole idea behind Damage CTRL was like all right, I’ve won my championships, I’ve had my Mania moments. And 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 going to reap all the benefits of my experience, and they’re going to get all the championships, and they’re going to get everything. And when the time is right, I’m going to steal it, I’m going to take the spotlight right back when I’m ready. But while I’m still recovering and finding my ways, they’re going to do all the work for me. And that was my idea behind it.”

Damage CTRL originally consisted of Bayley, IYO SKY, and Dakota Kai with Kairi Sane and Asuka later being added to the group. The faction debuted at SummerSlam 2022 in Bayley’s return from injury. Bayley told Van Vliet that Raquel Rodriguez, Alba Fyre, and Toni Storm were some of the other people she considered for the faction. It was slated to be a five-person group in its planning stages with Bayley, SKY, Kai, Rodriguez, and Fyre.

Bayley split from Damage CTRL in 2024 during the build to WrestleMania 40.

A Tag Team title match with Bayley & Lyra Valkyria challenging Rodriguez & Liv Morgan was originally announced for WrestleMania 41, but WWE ran an angle last weekend where Bayley was taken out in a backstage attack. The returning Becky Lynch subbed in as Valkyria’s partner — but Lynch then betrayed Valkyria the next night on Raw.