In less than two weeks, WWE RAW Women’s Champion, Bayley, will make her childhood dream come true when she makes her WrestleMania debut in a fatal fourway match against longtime friends and foes, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax.
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Comicbook.com had a chance to chat with Bayley about her thoughts as she prepares for her long awaited WrestleMania debut. When asked if she felt pressure to top last year’s critically acclaimed triple threat between Charlotte, Sasha and Becky Lynch, Bayley said she wanted to raise the bar even higher.
“Yeah, but I already felt the pressure with it being a triple threat. Last year was so amazing and they opened so many eyes, I just want to top it. I always feel pressure for everything, so it just might be me.”
While many predicted Bayley’s first WrestleMania moment to be one of her chasing after the Championship, she discussed how surreal it will be for her to enter Orlando with the belt already around her waist.
“[It will be] Weird. Real weird. My family keeps texting me saying I can’t believe you’re going to be … we didn’t even I’d be a part of WrestleMania when my family booked the tickets, they were just we’re going to be there to support you know matter what … and if you’re on the show great and if you’re not, we’ll just hang out during the week. Now they’re like “not only are you having a match but you’re going in as champion!” It’s really crazy for it to be in Orlando where it all started for me at Full Sail as a little kid with a dream.”
When asked if she had big plans for her WrestleMania entrance, a brilliant idea immediately popped to the forefront.
“You know how Cena had all his people who were dressed like him … wouldn’t it be cool if I had people who were wearing the inflatable costumes … because they do exist. They have come to NXT shows. If I just had a bunch of people who were dressed up as those … You’ll have to wait and see, though.”
One of the most colorful superstars in the WWE, Bayley also told us the inspiration for her unique style.
“Everything is from my craziness. A lot of my stuff is obviously influenced by Macho Man, a little by the Ultimate Warrior, but I look back at old Macho Man outfits because he was my favorite. I try to take little things, not to steal, but to pay tribute back, because he was what got me into wrestling, seeing him for the first time. So I just want to pay tribute to him with the tassles and colorfulness. But I like adding little random stuff. The little bee in the ponytail. Dinosaurs, random socks. I dont want to be super traditional and just want to be colorful and kids like that kind of stuff. If I was a kid and saw a dinosaur on someone’s wrestling gear, I’d be like look mom, that’s cool! I just try to catch people’s eye.”
Macho Man’s wardrobe isn’t the only thing Bayley draws inspiration from. The WWE Universe’s favorite hugger also let us know when she decided to bring the legendary Macho Man elbow drop into her arsenal.
“The Royal Rumble is the first time I tried it. I went to the performance center where they had the soft ring and laid down the mannequin man and was like let me see if I can hit this guy, so I started on the second rope and did it and was like let me try from the top and I did it again and didn’t want to do it anymore. I was like if it hits, great, if not, I know to not do it. When I did it I was so happy. I don’t know how Shawn Michaels and Macho Man did it every night, because my hips were killing me I could barely walk the next day, but it’s so fun, I can’t stop doing it.”
WrestleMania 33 take place in Orlando on April 2nd. You can catch all the action on the WWE Network with the pre-show beginning at 5 ET and the main show at 7 ET.
Check back with Comicbook.com/wwe tomorrow for part two of our interview with Bayley and find out who she would like to see as the new GM of RAW.
