Bayley chasing her childhood dream to become a professional wrestler helped her reach the top of the wrestling world after many chapters. WWE signed Bayley and saw her improve dramatically from her start to the current role as a top star. Bayley has witnessed many ups and downs that helped her continue to improve until finding her ideal role.
The start on the independent circuit, incredible run in NXT, and the various twists and turns on the main roster each held importance in the bigger picture. Bayley’s time rehabbing an injury these days will see her likely adding more memorable moments when returning in 2022. However, the career of Bayley is already a success as seen with the pictures that represent each chapter.
10 Chasing The Dream
The hopes of becoming a wrestler saw Bayley training at a young age and wrestling all over the independent circuit. Bayley based on the West Coast in California and looked to find her path to joining WWE.
Various smaller companies booked her to gain experience, but the all-women company SHIMMER was the top place to come calling. Bayley impressed enough to get a WWE developmental contract offer as the desired outcome.
9 It's Bayley
The WWE developmental system saw Bayley using the Performance Center to find her ideal character. Bayley was the gimmick she came up with as a super fan who was happy to be there and fan-girl’d out whenever interacting with other big names.
The segments with AJ Lee helped Bayley break out when marking out for the main roster star. It was a gamble to bring this character to NXT television, but Bayley broke out by taking the leap of faith to have it connect with the audience.
8 Classic With Sasha
The classic match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn against Sasha Banks took Bayley’s career to the next level and played a huge role in the growth of women’s wrestling. WWE gave NXT their first chance to run a major venue when selling out the Barclays Center.
Bayley and Banks took their feud to the massive event and stole the show with a special performance. The NXT Women’s Championship win of Bayley was emotional due to the outstanding storytelling, classic match and feel-good moment. Many fans consider this the greatest women's match in WWE history.
7 Face Of NXT
WWE eventually called up Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to the main roster to start the women’s revolution. Bayley was the only member of the Four Horsemen to stay back to continue her NXT Women’s Championship reign.
The success of Bayley saw her becoming the face of the brand and too important to leave. Bayley stuck around a little while longer after Finn Balor was phased out to help with the touring. The NXT Women’s Championship reign was outstanding before Bayley dropped it to Asuka and finally moved up to the main roster.
6 Instant Main Roster Success
Many wrestlers wait a while on the main roster to get pushed, but Bayley instantly had a major role on the Raw brand. WWE was still relatively early into the brand split when Bayley was called up to add depth to the split women’s division.
Bayley won the Raw Women’s Championship a few months into her call-up when defeating Charlotte Flair with the help of Sasha Banks. WWE had Bayley win the title, end Charlotte’s undefeated PPV streak, and even defend the title on the biggest stage at WrestleMania 33.
5 Falling Off
The first feud after WrestleMania 33 was where things started to fall apart for Bayley. Alexa Bliss destroyed Bayley in the one-sided feud to take the Raw Women’s Championship after coming over in that year’s draft.
Bayley was essentially buried with awful segments and an embarrassing loss in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match. WWE would move Bayley a bit lower down the card and keep her out of the top roles for a couple of years.
4 First Women's Tag Team Champions
One of the few great moments for Bayley between losing the Raw Women’s Championship and winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship came in tag team form. WWE introduced the Women’s Tag Team Championship at Elimination Chamber 2019.
Bayley and Sasha Banks had a long storyline going off their friendship being in doubt before finally getting on the same page. The right call was made for Sasha and Bayley to become the first Women’s Tag Team Champions in a great moment.
3 Getting Another Chance On Top
The end of the tag title reign for Bayley and Sasha Banks was premature, but it ended up working out for Bayley. WWE decided to give her another chance in a major singles role when winning the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match in 2019.
Bayley not only won the ladder match that night, but she cashed it in a few hours later to defeat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. The move to the SmackDown brand in the draft instantly paid off for Bayley to have another title reign.
2 Heel Turn
Bayley’s face character was so good in NXT that no one could even considered her turning heel. However, the main roster hiccups and the return of Sasha Banks as a heel led to the impossible finally happening.
WWE pulled the trigger to turn Bayley heel by having her help Banks during an attack on Becky Lynch. Bayley violently harming Lynch with a steel chair shocked the wrestling world and slowly changed her character into a heel for the first time in WWE.
1 Best SmackDown Women's Champion Ever
Bayley made a few major changes when turning heel like cutting her hair and ditching the old fan favorite entrance. The commitment to the new character helped her find new success after winning back the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair.
A new record was set with Bayley holding the title for over a year at 380 days. Bayley became the best female heel wrestler in the company and even turned on her best friend Sasha Banks. The current injury time away from the ring has fans excited to see this version of Bayley return at some point in 2022.