In an interview with RollingStone.com to promote tomorrow’s WWE NXT Takeover: Respect live special on the WWE Network, WWE NXT Women’s Champion Bayley discussed defending her title in an Iron Man match against Sasha Banks, seeing Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch on the main roster while she remains in NXT, the current WWE NXT women’s division, why she wants to wrestle Eva Marie, potentially topping WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn against Sasha Banks tomorrow night and more.
Highlights of the interview are below:
On Charlotte, Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch being called up to the main roster, while she remains in WWE NXT: “Well, we always kind of joked and dreamed about all four of us going together and taking over like Nexus did, but I love being the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.”
On the current WWE NXT women’s division now that those names have left for the main roster: “I see that it has a million possibilities to get so much better. When Paige and Emma went onto the main roster, everyone was like, well, what’s going to happen to NXT now and then Charlotte happened and Sasha and Becky and myself, we took it to a different level and everybody took notice. Now that they’re gone, people expect a drop-off, like man, now there’s just Bayley down there, but there’s so many people that they have no idea about, because I get to train with these girls every day. You see Carmella or Dana Brooke or Alexa Bliss on TV and they’re working so hard, they know that it’s time for them to step it up, they hear it too, they don’t have to fill anyone’s shoes, they have to take it to a different level and then Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, they’re going to blow up because they’re so passionate and great wrestlers and I don’t even have to say anything about Asuka because she’s amazing, there are so many possibilities with her, it’s a really exciting time for the division and it’s just going to keep getting better.”
On why she wants to wrestle Eva Marie: “The reason is because she’s a different competitor and I think we’d have an interesting dynamic. I get a lot of tweets about Eva and I can’t blame the fans because all they really know is what they see on Total Divas and they base their cheers on that I guess. I’ve never personally had a problem with her, I don’t see her much, but the shows that she has done, I’ve seen her progressing each match, each show, each training session. I know that the drive is there to get better, so it’s up to her to see how far she can go.”
On the Divas Revolution on the main roster: “I don’t know what goes on or what they’re trying to do with certain people because I’m not there, I only know what I see on TV. As a fan, I do enjoy it more now that they’re doing more individual things to get everyone more of a spotlight. I think bringing them in on teams was a great idea, they got a great debut, but I hope it expands even more. There’s a bunch of girls there, so it’s really hard to get any exposure, it’s really going to take time whether it’s going the way they want it to or not, I know Sasha and Becky and Charlotte are going to be able to show their talents and show who they really are over time. Giving them two matches a night gives them an opportunity and whatever they do with it is up to them, the writers can give them whatever, but they can turn it into something they never expected to explode. They’ll get their time, I just try to tell them to be patient, I’ve always told myself the same thing.”
On the pressure of topping WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn tomorrow night: “It’s been haunting me every second of the day, there’s so much pressure and we want it to be amazing, but I think the fans will be happy either way, it’s something they really want to see and they’re excited about it and excited for us, they know how special it is and they care about both of us, so I don’t think we can let them down in any way. Fans are all going to have their own opinions, but I hope we show at TakeOver that we have no limits. We’re going to go to the moon with what we can do and we’re going to give them something even more to care about.”
The interview is available in full at this link.
