Damage CTRL’s Bayley has spoken about the impact that Dusty Rhodes had on her WWE career, and believes the Hall of Famer “saved” her.
After signing with WWE in December 2012, Bayley would debut in NXT the next year and would adopt a ‘superfan’ persona that proved to be incredibly popular with audiences.
Speaking to BT Sport, Bayley recalled being encouraged by Rhodes to embrace the character, as the American Dream worked at the Performance Center at the time. She said,
“I had nothing to offer except what I could do in the ring at the time, and he pushed me in promo class and brought out this character in me and brought out my personality.
“At that time women weren’t really seen like that and I didn’t think it was okay to be a fan and then that became my character, being the superfan. So, he definitely saved me and then I started having fun.”
Bayley would become WWE NXT Women’s Champion in 2015 before being called up to the main roster in 2016.
The Role Model has also held the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships, as well as the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.
