Bayley looks back on missing WrestleMania in 2022.
As one of the Four Horsewomen, Bayley is one of the top stars in WWE‘s women’s division. She made history when she became the first Women’s Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. In July 2021, she was feuding with SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair when she tore her ACL, and she was sidelined for more than a year with the injury. As a result, she was unable to compete at WWE WrestleMania 38.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, Bayley reflected on missing WrestleMania due to her injury and recalled how disappointing it was. She noted that she wanted to perform in front of the fans again because she didn’t get the chance to do so during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was so disappointing. There was a part of me, after they had me SmackDown and just kind of do a backstage and say that I was injured, and I just couldn’t believe it was happening because it was the end of me and Bianca’s story at the time, and I was mad that I let her down, that I couldn’t finish that story. I was mad at I wouldn’t get to be in front of those fans again because I did all that stuff during the pandemic, and everything was going really well, but I never really got bummed about it until the Royal Rumble, which is crazy.
” I think it was because everybody’s there, and you’re like, ‘Damn, I’m the only person that’s not there.’ So I felt a little left out. That was probably the hardest one, and then WrestleMania was, not even WrestleMania was too hard for me, and I flew myself out there and went to the show myself because I wanted to be there for a lot of the girls and having these big matches.
The former WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion noted that Kai texted her and asked her how she was feeling at the time, and she realized that not being part of the shows did “suck.” However, she made it clear that she’s happy she can be around it again now that she has recovered and returned.
“Dakota texted me, she was asking me how I was feeling,” Bayley said. “She was like, ‘Hey, I know these big weekends are really hard for when you’re injured and you can’t be a part of it. I just wanted to see how you were doing.’ Then it hit me and I’m like, ‘Oh, this does kind of suck.’ But I’m okay. I was just happy to be around it again.”
Bayley returned to WWE at SummerSlam 2022. Her road to WWE WrestleMania 39 is currently unclear, as her Damage CTRL stablemates Dakota Kai and IYO SKY lost the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship on the February 27 episode of WWE RAW. More information is available here.
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