After years of being a fan favorite and doing the right thing for the kids, Bayley showed off a different side of herself in September by teasing a heel turn.
In October, she slashed the Bayley buddies and showed off a new look by cutting off her ponytail. The change in character led to her regaining the WWE SmackDown Women's Title and helped refresh her as a performer.
Speaking to Booker T on the Hall of Fame podcast, Bayley discussed the decision behind the heel turn.
"It's been weird for me because I did the same thing for seven years, the same character, and built this fanbase for so long. The whole (time), especially towards the end, I was like, 'I just want to do something different. I want to be bad, I want to be mean. It'll be easier, I know exactly what I would do, how I would act, how I would talk.' Then, I get here and I'm like 'Uhhh, what the hell am I doing? Now what?'" she wondered while laughing. "It's all a learning process, but it's fun. In my career, I want to be able to do everything and go through all the different avenues and the humps and waves. I don't want to just stay on the same road the whole time."
When asked whose idea it was to turn heel, Bayley noted, "It was a little bit of both (between me and creative). I've always had, in the back of my mind, if the time would come or the opportunity arose, how I could go about it."
Though she is the SmackDown Women's Champion, Bayley is without a match for Sunday's WWE TLC event. You can view the current card by clicking here.
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