Bayley Banking on Becoming One of the Best in WWE

The veteran rewinds to her most recent matches ahead of Saturday's 'Clash at the Castle.'

Bayley is back.

After a lengthy absence following a torn ACL, she returned to WWE at SummerSlam in the aftermath of the Becky Lynch-Bianca Belair match. Immediate was her impact, as well as her influence, as she pushed to include Dakota Kai and Io Shirai–now Iyo Sky–to the main roster in her new faction.

​The group features so much of what WWE was lacking. It is a collection of three badass pro wrestlers, presenting women in a more realistic, authentic manner. Six years into her main roster run, Bayley is their perfect leader. Seasoned, experienced, and absurdly talented, she is eager to fight for the evolution of women in the company on and off camera.

“We needed to make change in the division,” says Bayley, whose real name is Pam Martinez. “It was the perfect time to spice things up, and it was the perfect time to bring the women’s tag team titles back to life.”

​The tag titles became a nonfactor the moment Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of the company in May. They were stripped of the titles, and it seemed as though the belts were erased from existence–or, perhaps worse, simply forgotten. That is no longer the case, another reason why it is so vital that Bayley has returned. She is a strong, active voice behind the scenes, constantly fighting for the women in WWE.

Bayley’s work on Raw has added an extra reason for viewers to watch the show. She is making the most of her time, and there is potential for this group to create some of the most compelling storylines in WWE. It all started at SummerSlam, with Bayley learning close to the show that she was returning.

“I knew my time was coming, but this is a very up-in-the-air business, so I didn’t know it would definitely be at SummerSlam,” Bayley says. “One of the first things I learned was always to have a bag packed and ready, and that’s kind of what happened in this situation.”

​With a void of unpredictability in the waning days of Vince McMahon’s tenure as head of creative in WWE, that has swiftly and suddenly changed with Paul “Triple H” Levesque overseeing the direction of the product. Levesque and Bayley share plenty of history over the past decade, which allowed her to advocate for Kai and Sky to someone who understands their immense value.

“These two women are incredible,” Bayley says. “They’ve trained all over the world. But Dakota was released, and Iyo was out with an injury. We didn’t know if she’d be used to her full capability when she got back. That’s something I couldn’t wait on, or risk taking a chance.

“Now that they’re here, Dakota and Iyo are going to take this division to the next level. I’m so excited for them. They add more fuel to my fire, too, and what we can all accomplish together.”

​The yet-to-be-named faction (“We’re still working on the name,” says Bayley) will be in action Saturday at Clash at the Castle, wrestling Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss in a six-woman tag. That match will be precise and full of attention to detail, strikingly reminiscent of Bayley’s return at SummerSlam.

​There wasn’t an abundance of time to map out or plan the small-yet-significant details, but the veteran Bayley refused to let that opportunity slip away. She made sure a plan was in place with full of meaning, including significance to what the women were wearing when they emerged through the curtain.

“I was buying clothes as I was out injured,” Bayley says. “I have boxes of clothes I binge-bought when I was out hurt and bored after I finished my rehab for the day. When I got the call that I was going to be at SummerSlam, I needed to put something together.

“For some reason, white is always the color for SummerSlam. When you think back to the first TakeOver in Brooklyn, I wore all white. Seth [Rollins] wore white at that SummerSlam, too. I wanted to stick with the connection. That’s why I wore white, and luckily, I had a couple other jackets for the girls to link us all together.”

Bayley returns to the ring Saturday in WWE's 'Clash at the Castle.' / Courtesy of WWE

Thus began a new platform for two incredible, underrated stars in Kai and Sky.

“Dakota is incredibly talented,” says Bayley, who is genuine in her praise. “Besides Sasha Banks, and I’m biased, Iyo is the best in the world.”

​Bayley and Banks are two of WWE’s most electric stars. But Banks has been missing in action since she and Naomi boldly walked out of the company over creative differences. If they were to return, it makes sense to challenge Bayley, Kai, and Sky. That feud could feature the tag titles, as well as battling for the top spot in the company. Competition is embedded in the heartbeat of both Bayley and Banks, and the layers to that storyline would be extremely compelling.

“I haven’t thought about whether they would join or whether we would be against them, but something would arise,” Bayley says. “I just want them to know I support them 100 percent, no matter what.”

​Bayley has created a plethora of genuinely great moments in pro wrestling, many of which also prominently feature Banks. Their TakeOver: Brooklyn match from the summer of 2015 is an all-time classic. Unfairly, it overshadows another phenomenal bout in their 30-minute Iron Man bout two months later, where Bayley defeated Banks, three falls to two, in the main event of TakeOver: Respect.

​Bayley and Banks also served as the centerpiece and driving force to WWE programming during the pandemic, carrying the product throughout the spring and summer of 2020 as a team before splitting that fall. The culmination of their story arc completed in October of 2020 inside the cage at Hell in a Cell, where Banks defeated Bayley in a match that rivaled their TakeOver bout.

“I heard a story recently about Macho Man, how he was always trying to one-up his match from WrestleMania III,” Bayley says. “He always strived for a better match, even though he knew it would be almost impossible. Then I wondered, ‘Are we like that? Do we know that we’re never going to top Brooklyn?’ It wasn’t just the match–it was the feeling around it. It was also the first time NXT had gone outside of Florida for a TakeOver. There was so much to it.

“Hell in a Cell was our trilogy. We had Brooklyn, the Iron Man match, and Hell in a Cell. I’m so bummed it wasn’t around fans. After the match, everyone in the back was like, ‘Man, if there were fans out there, you’d have had a standing ovation.’ That would have been cool, but I still don’t want it to take away from what we were able to do and the story we were able to tell.”

The timing did not perfectly fit, but that program could have been extended to WrestleMania 37. It worked out for Banks, who wrestled a superb, historic match against Bianca Belair, but Bayley vs. Banks belongs on a WrestleMania showcase.

“I’m happy we were able to do it on the main roster,” Bayley says. “I don’t have that kind of chemistry with just anybody. I would have loved it to be at WrestleMania.”

As hard as it is to believe, Bayley did not work a match at WrestleMania 37. She was a healthy scratch from active competition, instead used in multiple segments as a host. Although she certainly made the most of her screen time, not having a match was devastating for her.

“I’ve already put that in the past,” Bayley says. “It really did bother me so much that I wasn’t competing on the show. I felt like I had the best year of my career and took the whole division to a different level. Not being featured in a match was a tough pill to swallow. At least I can say I hosted a WrestleMania, and not many women on our roster can say that, so I’ll take that as a positive.”

This year’s WrestleMania represented another source of pain. After tearing her ACL while training last July, she did not recover in time to be part of WrestleMania 38.

“I thought I was going to be healthy enough to come back in time,” Bayley says. “Once I realized that my leg wasn’t healing as fast as I wanted, and that my knee wasn’t doing the things it was supposed to, I had to remind myself that wrestling is a year-round sport. Any other sport, there are seasons. We have no off-season, we have no break.

“WrestleMania is our Super Bowl, but we keep going. There is a show the next day. So I told myself that I’d get right back into it as soon as I was back. I still came to WrestleMania 38 and supported my friends having matches, doing the best I could in that situation.”

Her heartache over missed opportunities is real. One of the most passionate performers in the industry, Bayley is harnessing that real-life frustration in her current work. And if what you see from Bayley in the ring looks genuine and real, that’s because it is. She is pouring her heart and soul into becoming one of the best in the world, and this current stretch, remarkably, holds the possibility to be even better than what she has previously accomplished.

“This business is way too damn hard not to give 100 percent,” Bayley says. “My goal is to connect with fans, whether that means they’re annoyed, laughing, or cheering. Growing up, when I was in the stands, I was so connected to wrestlers who were my heroes. That’s the connection I want to create now.”

Back in the grind of competition, adding her distinct flair to the industry, wrestling is a bit more whole with a healthy Bayley in the ring. She plans to leave a lasting impression tomorrow at Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales.

“I can’t believe we’re doing a pay-per-view like this overseas,” Bayley says. “I have so many great memories from our tours over there, and I know the fans are going to be so excited.

“This is a great stage for Iyo and Dakota, too. I can’t wait for us to be on the show together, representing the group as a whole.”

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.