Bayley PART ONE - SAS CLASSIC

Summary

The Steve Austin Show — Bayley PART ONE - SAS CLASSIC

Date: December 23, 2025
Guest: Bayley (WWE Superstar, former RAW Women’s Champion)
Host: Steve Austin

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Episode Overview

In this special two-part episode, Steve Austin welcomes WWE Superstar Bayley into his Hollywood home for an in-depth, honest, and lively conversation. They discuss Bayley’s journey from indie wrestling to WWE stardom, her approach to in-ring psychology, her relationships in the locker room, the art of character development, and her upcoming first trip to Japan with WWE. This episode is full of insights, memories, and the genuine camaraderie between host and guest.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How This Last-Minute Podcast Came Together

• Steve Austin shares how Bayley reached out about his Broken Skull IPA and agreed, last-minute, to appear on the podcast since she was in town for RAW at the Staples Center.

  “She came over, we started shooting a breeze, talking about the business of pro wrestling, all kinds of stuff…” (02:00)

2. Bayley’s Trip to L.A. and WWE Schedule

• Bayley was in Los Angeles early for CrossFit training before RAW, visiting family, and searching for Austin’s beer. She details the upcoming WWE tour with stops in Tokyo and Shanghai.
  • First-ever trip to Japan:

    “I’ve never been there. So it’ll be your first time?... I’m really excited... especially to go with Sasha.” (18:05–18:30)

  • Why traveling to Japan with Sasha Banks matters:

    “She’s definitely my closest friend...we’re just the same.” (18:31)

3. Chemistry with Sasha Banks

• Bayley explains the bond she shares with Sasha Banks, both on the road and in the ring.

  “We listen to your podcasts on the road all the time... it would have been such a cool thing for her to be here...” (19:01)

4. Wrestling Styles, Working with Asuka, and “Receipts”

• Discussion of Japanese wrestling culture and working with in-ring talent like Asuka.

  “Her kicks were a little stiff, but it was okay...you don’t feel it until afterwards.” (21:08)

• “Receipts,” or hitting a snug move in response to rough work, are still part of wrestling's backstage code.

  “If it’s dangerous and …they're not calming down...you kind of have to give them one.” (22:15)

5. Transition from Indies to NXT

• Bayley’s path: From local California indies to a WWE tryout, having no real character as “Davina Rose” but impressing with leadership in tryouts and emotional promos.

  “I cried during my promo, which was really bad, and that was it.” (27:41)

• Details on the physical and emotional toll of WWE tryouts, and how her ability to lead untrained participants helped get her noticed.

6. Developing Bayley’s Character in WWE/NXT

• William Regal’s advice:

  “Basically, he said we’re missing a demographic for little girls…you have that about you.” (46:34)

• Bayley credits Dusty Rhodes with helping her embrace her true self:

  “He’s like, just be who you are... don’t be a wrestler. Just be you and enjoy it.” (47:52)

• Being “100% herself” on screen, turned up for TV, made everything—including psychology—easier.

  “Once I accepted that it was okay to be myself and not try to be a wrestler...then it just got really fun.” (48:16)

7. In-Ring Psychology and Growth

• Depth on learning psychology over time, watching her matches repeatedly, and focusing on leading newer talent in the ring.

  “I always tell people…watch it like three or four times...one to watch just myself, then my opponent, then without sound, then just listening to commentators.” (51:29)

• Working with commentators behind the scenes to get key points across on TV.

8. Main Roster vs. NXT

• Difference between NXT and main roster chiefly the crowd size, passion, and match time.

  “The NXT crowd’s very passionate...with WWE, it kind of takes years to get that.” (54:00)

9. Embracing WWE’s Demanding Travel and Lifestyle

• Training on the road, travel routines, and the motivation to stay in peak form, especially among wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Cesaro.

  “Sometimes when you see guys like them...you kind of feel motivated.” (36:52)

• The dynamic of riding with friends vs. veterans and the value of a trusted confidant like Sasha for venting and decompressing.

  “We like to complain to each other and kind of vent to each other about everything.” (39:50)

10. Fan Reactions, Confidence, and Handling Negativity

• Bayley honestly discusses the sting of tepid fan reactions and how those can shake confidence, as well as how to handle negative fans, drawing from John Cena’s example.

  “If sometimes you don’t get the reaction that you need, do you go out there and try to rush things?...No, I’ve probably done that before...” (60:52) “I had this...I went up to the turnbuckle...this guy looked me dead in the eye and he goes, 'You suck, Bayley.'...I just smile. I said, 'Thank you, sir,' and I turned around.” (61:33)

11. Eddie Guerrero’s Influence

• Steve and Bayley share admiration for Eddie Guerrero—his in-ring “magic,” emotional connection with fans, and Bond between wrestler and audience.

  “When he won, it felt like everybody won. Like you were a part of him and he made you feel like we all did this together.” (42:43)

12. Navigating a “Weird Spot” in Her WWE Career

• As the episode closes, Bayley discusses feeling “in a weird spot,” still adjusting to differences between NXT and WWE, and seeking advice from peers and veterans—including Austin himself.

  “I’m still figuring them out. I’m at a weird spot right now.” (64:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Steve Austin on Bayley’s authenticity:

  “When I see you, I know that it’s not a gimmick...that’s who you are. And the same thing with Stone Cold...that’s who I am turned up to a 10 or 11.” (48:16)

• Bayley on learning psychology:

  “It just makes it all easier, makes it make so much more sense...you don’t have to think as hard. All you have to do is go out there and be you.” (50:29)

• Bayley on handling criticism:

  “I’ve seen it happen...I’ve had to stay off Twitter before because that can definitely mess with your head.” (63:20)

• Steve Austin on the importance of self-leadership in the ring:

  “I like to call a match because I don’t hear stuff very well...But when I’m out there...I can feel every single person that’s in that damn building.” (62:17)

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Important Timestamps

• 16:00 — Bayley arrives, banter about the recording setting and Clutch chair.
• 17:15–18:05 — Bayley on coming to L.A., searching for Broken Skull IPA, trip schedule, first Japan tour.
• 21:08–22:15 — Discussion of Japanese wrestling, Asuka, and giving "receipts."
• 24:36–29:00 — From indies to NXT: tryout stories, nerves, and learning the ropes.
• 30:57–33:10 — Bayley’s athletic background and CrossFit training.
• 37:10–39:50 — Traveling partners, lifestyle on the road, and how the “Wild West” has changed.
• 46:34–48:16 — Development of Bayley’s WWE persona.
• 51:29–54:00 — How Bayley reviews her own matches and works with commentators.
• 58:17–62:17 — Fan reactions, managing nerves, handling negative chants, staying tuned with the crowd.
• 64:43 — Bayley discusses being in a “weird spot” in her career, tees up for next episode.

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is warm, honest, detailed, and full of mutual respect, with Steve’s trademark laid-back, direct style, and Bayley’s humility and charm providing a genuine behind-the-scenes feel. Both reminisce about wrestling’s past and reflect on the industry's present, offering invaluable advice and relatable anecdotes.

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Next Week:
Part Two continues with Bayley’s reflections on her current career position, her Extreme Rules match with Alexa Bliss, dealing with Vince McMahon, and a detailed discussion about her classic NXT match with Sasha Banks.

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Transcript

[Steve Austin]

The following Program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California, by way of the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin Show. Give me a Hell yeah. Now here's Steve Austin. All right, everybody. Welcome to Steve Austin Show. I'm coming to you from Mean Streets, Los Angeles, California. Today I got a hell of a podcast for you now that you've hit the download button and your eardrums are ringing because you can hear my voice. I got WWE Superstar, former RAW women's champion, World Champion Bayley on the show today and she will be on the show next Tuesday as well because this is a two part podcast. She came over, we started shooting a breeze, talking about the business of pro wrestling, all kinds of stuff, even in the back part of the conversation. On part two, next Tuesday, we talk about her epic match with the legit boss Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover in Brooklyn. And man, what fun that was because that is one of my favorite matches in the last few years. Anyway, I was sitting here at the house and all of a sudden I looked down, I got a text message, a direct message, some kind of message, and it was Bailey. And she says, where can I find your beer? So I texted her back. I said, are you in la? She goes, yeah. I said, what are you doing here? And she said she came down early to work on some CrossFit activities with her coach. She was looking for the Broken Skull IPA to have a beer afterwards. So I told her where she could get the Broken Skull ipa. So I sent her another text message and I said, hey, no pressure. Do you have time to do a podcast? And she texted me back, well, let me think about it. Yes. Anyway, I got on the phone with Bailey. We started talking about what would work for her time schedule and what would work for mine. And she came over and, man, it was good to see her. Came over here live and in living color. Looked fantastic out there, working out, doing a CrossFit grind, traveling all over the world and just having a blast. And it was a breath of fresh air to talk to her and just shoot the breeze with her. I had a lot of fun. Bailey, I'm glad you reached out to me. It was a pleasure talking to you. And we'll see if Bailey likes the Broken Skull IPA later on in the podcast. Again, I am talking to Bailey today and next week on the family friendly show. Here's one spoiler or heads up or warning. I drop one single cuss word when we're talking about a building, the San Francisco Cow Palace. So there's one cuss word in this entire family friendly episode. And there's you got to use a cuss word to describe that building. So I did. But those of you with delicate ears, there's one word coming at you, but other than that, it is indeed family friendly. Talking with the class act that is Bailey and a lot of fun. She got a chance to come over here to 316 Gimmick street over there at the other place. I got painters over there. I got some new lights being put in. That's going to be, I guess that's going to be my place where I start recording the podcast. And that place is under construction. So we just kind of cobbled together a little setup and had our conversation. And I'll be damned. Last night as I record this podcast. It is Monday afternoon right now, WWE is getting ready to go live in about one hour at the Staples center here in Los Angeles. This there's been word on the street, on my Twitter account, on all the sheets, that Stone cold Steve Austin has indeed been spotted at the Staples Center. Well, I can vouch for you or I can clarify that right now. If somebody thought they spotted me, they was wrong. I'm at 316 Gimmick street in Marina del Rey. Staples center is about 20 miles from my house. I ain't nowhere in sight. I ain't wearing camo. You can't see me because I ain't there. I'm here at the house laying down and open for this damn podcast. But anyway, back to the story, because all the WWE Superstars are coming into town and Bayley came in early to visit her family and friends and get her CrossFit workouts in. Man, I'd been wanting to talk to Luke Gallows and Carl Anderson for a long ass time. Those guys had a hell of a damn run over New Japan Pro Wrestling. They're having a hell of a run over here in wwe. They were coming through. And I'll tell you what, Carl Anderson came in from Cincinnati. His flight was on time. Luke Gallows was leaving out of Atlanta, gl, the atl. And I tell you what, his schedule, his whole entire trip got caddywampus sideways and scrambled up and he got delayed by a long time. Those guys were going to come over last night and we were going to go over to 317 Gimmick Street. I had all my neon clocks, had my neon beer signs going. I had a couple of broken skull IPAs in the refrigerator. I even cut back on my calories during the day so I could jump off this eating Regimen for one night to have a couple of shots of whiskey with those guys as we shot the breeze and recorded an epic session of Audio Whoop Ass. But it turns out Luke Gallows was going to get in so damn late, we decided we would postpone the podcast until next time. I believe they're coming back maybe sometime in September. Hopefully I'll be able to get in with those guys at that time. There's some. I was really looking forward to talking to those guys. We'll get it done on another day. And there's some people coming in from the New Japan program, Pro wrestling scene, obviously. I just talked to Josh Barnett a few weeks ago. Jumping Jim Ross, White Meat Babyface from Norman, Oklahoma is going to come by the crib here in a couple of days. We're going to talk. Don Callis of New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming by. My buddy Paul Lazer, me, my stunt double from back in my Vancouver movie days is coming into town and a couple of other people. So, man, I got some good people coming by and shooting a breeze with me. It's been an absolute mess over here at 316 Gimmick street and place next door. The painters over gussing that place up like I said. So it's all kinds of hassle over here, but it's all good. God dang it. I tell you what, just a while ago I got in the car with my wife and we were going to go down to this furniture place and look at some couches. That's right, we're still looking for some freaking couches. So anyway, we're going to the couch place and we sat on a couple she said were comfortable. And she said, I hope you like these couches. I said, I hope I like them too, because I ain't buying them based on anybody's opinion. And I love you and I trust you, but when I'm sitting my ass on a piece of furniture, I want to make sure that it conforms to my standards and it is indeed as comfortable for me as it was for you. Well, it turns out I go down to this damn place where I can't remember the name of the store. I sit down on the couch and I immediately say, this ain't worth a damn. This thing ain't comfortable. So she sits back down on the couch and she goes, yeah, you know what? It doesn't seem as comfortable as I thought it was last time either. So, man, I took off my hat. I'm already sweating bullets. We got the heat wave going through Los Angeles. We drove all this away over here to get on this couch and give it a try, give it a test run. Let me sit my ass on this couch, put my leg up on a damn coffee table and it wasn't worth a damn. It was like sitting on a cotton ball, a bunch of cotton balls that were wrapped in a burlap sack. And I'm like, man, what kind? I went to get up and I would have needed a couple of damn crutches to get up or either a couple of damn gymnast rings hanging from the ceilings, pull myself out of the damn couch. It was absolutely ridiculous. And my wife says, well, we could go down the coast to Mesa. There's a bunch of furniture stores over there. I said, goes to Mesa. I said, how far is that? She says, well, according to my phone, it's 34 miles away. Hell, we done driven about 10 or 15 miles down past LAX. I figured I got plenty of food packed up in the car. I can turn in my podcast open later, give me something to talk about. I said, let me flip this thing around. We'll go to Costa Mesa and try out all the couches they got. I'll be damned if we didn't walk into about five, six, seven damn stores. And it's the same old thing. They got the long ass, deep seats and the short back which is tilted way back. I guess if you're trying to look cool, if you're trying to pick someone up or you're at the lounge at a lobby or something like that, I guess those things are just fine. But when I'm sitting my broke down, crippled up ass on a couch, I want to sit up about half ass vertical. I kind of want that thing to be overstuffed cushions. I won't be able to put my foot on an ottoman or something and just sit there. And for some reason, the way they're making all these couches these days, I don't know who they're making them for. Our couch that we got right now is 11 years old. We went back to the place that made that couch that we originally got. Those things are just wore out. They don't make them no more. I don't know why they stopped, because they couldn't have gone out of style. How can good furniture that's comfortable that lasted us 11 years with always having three dogs in our rotation jumping up and down off of them, climbing on them, sleeping on them. But we done wore those things slap out. But why would they stop making that couch the stuff they make these days? I don't Know, I don't know where to crap or why my watch. It's hard to find a damn couch. But anyway, we finally went to this one damn last store, went over there, started walking around, you know, doing the whole circuit, walking around, walking the floor. And then people are watching you like a hawk, saying, come over and pester you while you're trying to buy a couch, and you got to do your due diligence, try everything out, and you always got to have that table in front of you so you can kick your legs on top of it. Because we're back to the regular couches. Everybody. Y' all all sent me emails to questionsteveausonshow.com and I was looking for those electric reclining couches, and you said, stay away from them. They all break. So we're back to the regular couches. And finally, I'll be damned if I didn't finally find a couch with a pretty high back, proper armrest. The cushions look pretty damn sturdy. And I sat in that dang thing and I said, hey, out of all the couches that we done sat in, I said, this is my favorite one. Of course, my wife's nowhere to be seen. She's in a different part of the store. I finally see her, I flag her down, and she comes over there and she sits on that couch. I said, I'm telling you, this is the most comfortable couch we've found so far. Finally, here comes a dude from the store. He goes, well, if you like this one, you might like this one over here. We go over there, that part of the store, and I'll be damned if that wasn't the most comfortable couch out of all the couches we sat on. We finally found it. And of course, the other couch was halfway across the store. I kept going back and forth, back and forth. I couldn't just go as the crow flies. Had to walk between all the furniture and zigzag my way around the way they had everything situated in the store. Went back and forth about eight times from couch to couch to make sure that when we pulled the trigger and decided to purchase this couch, that we're going to get the right one. Because you know when you kind of get something and you don't give it a proper test drive, whether it's a car, a couch, whatever, and all of a sudden you get that thing in the house and you're like, oh, man, this thing ain't that good. Because by the time you order the couch in the color that you want it in, and it gets there all of a sudden, if the damn thing ain't what you thought it was, hey, usol out of luck, you done purchased it, it's yours in the story. So I'm gonna make sure if I'm gonna put down my hard earned cash and sit my ass on a couch, I want to make sure I like it, I want to make sure my wife likes it, and I really want to make sure that my three dogs are going to like it. But if my ass likes it, they're going to have to take my word that I say it's comfortable and that's the bottom line. So anyway, long story short, we bought the couch. Well, we're going to turn in our order and those things should be here in about two weeks. And I will be extremely happy that we will have finally solved our couch situation at 316 Gimmick Street. Case closed. Hey, I got an epic podcast with one of my favorite WWE superstars, Bailey. She's coming up next and she will be on next Tuesday as well. And on part two, the podcast, @ the very end, we break down and watch and enjoy her illustrious match with Sasha Banks at NXT.

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[RealReal Female Voice]

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[Bayley]

RealReal. I've always loved collecting designer pieces, Gucci bags, Prada heels. But my style keeps evolving. Selling with the RealReal game changer. I earn more. And they do.

[RealReal Female Voice]

Everything. Seriously, just drop off your items or schedule a pickup. We handle the photos, descriptions, pricing, even shipping. You just sit back and watch your items sell fast to our 38 million.

[Bayley]

Members. And I get peace of mind knowing I earn more selling with the realreal than anywhere.

[RealReal Female Voice]

Else. Exactly this. That's the sound of your closet working for you. The real real. Earn more, save time, sell fast. And right now you can get an extra $100 site credit when you sell for the first time. Go to therealreal.com to get your extra hundred dollars. Therealreal.com that's therealreal.com the Steve Austin.

[Steve Austin]

Show. The Steve Austin Show. Where you want to start from the beginning, I.

[Bayley]

Guess. I don't know. How do you. It depends on what you want to.

[Steve Austin]

Do. I'm sitting there talking one of my favorite WWE Superstars, former WWE RAW women's champion Bailey. How are you? Welcome to my.

[Bayley]

Crib. Well, thank you. I'm really good. This was so last minute type thing. So I'm excited to be in Stone cold Steve Austin's home. Oh my.

[Steve Austin]

Goodness. Tell them what I'm sitting.

[Bayley]

On. You're sitting on a clutch chair. The 316 video game chair. Just freshly put together. Saw with my own eyes. Looks.

[Steve Austin]

Comfortable. It's very comfortable. My wife put this thing together for me. Yeah, you were fixed to come over. My wife says, I'm gonna put your chair together. I said, you can't put that chair together because I thought it was gonna. I opened the box and there's a bunch of pieces in there. I said, man, I ain't gonna try to put that thing together. I gotta do some research on Bailey because short notice. But my wife did an awesome job. Thanks to Clutch. Check chairs for the Austin 316 chair. Here's a message for you, Clutch. Come out with a Bailey chair.

[Bayley]

Hello? Yeah, dude, you guys have the Sasha one? Macho man one. That's. Now you guys need a Bailey.

[Steve Austin]

One. Okay. You heard it here from Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bailey coming out with the Bailey Clutch chair. Hey, you're out here on the mean streets of Los Angeles. You're from.

[Bayley]

California.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. What are you doing prowling around my.

[Bayley]

Neighborhood? I was looking for your beer, first of all. So I wanted to the Broken Skull ipa. I did find it. I came out here early to we have Monday night Raw Monday at Staples Center. I came out a little bit early to train with my trainer Josh at Paradiso Crossfit. And then my friends came. My sister and my brothers are coming down. We're gonna go see my dad. And now I'm here. So I guess it's all worth It. We have it. We have the weekend off this weekend. We're going to Japan right after Raw, so we were lucky enough to get some time off right.

[Steve Austin]

Before. How many dates y' all have in.

[Bayley]

Japan? We're doing two nights in Tokyo, and then we're doing a night in.

[Steve Austin]

Shanghai. Okay. Now, I was reading some interviews about you. I know you wanted to go to Japan. You've probably been there a few times.

[Bayley]

Now. I've never been.

[Steve Austin]

There. So it'll be your first.

[Bayley]

Time?

[Steve Austin]

Yes. What do you think about.

[Bayley]

It? Yeah, I'm really excited. Yeah. It's crazy that my first time going is going to be with wwe. This is not the way I would have ever expected, expected my career to go or anything. I had. I almost had an opportunity to go right at the end of my independent career, but I was already signed, so I couldn't do it. So now I'm really excited, especially to go, like, with Sasha, and you know that it's her first time, too. It's a lot of our first time, so it's going to be really.

[Steve Austin]

Fun. How close are you with.

[Bayley]

Sasha? We're pretty close. She's. She's definitely my closest friend, aside from Carmela. I would say she's my closest friend here. We're just the.

[Steve Austin]

Same. So she's excited about going to Japan.

[Bayley]

Too? Yeah, she. She. If you know her, she loves her Asian culture and she loves her Japanese wrestling and people. She's gonna call herself, like, the Japanese princess or something weird like that. She likes to do that, and she's really jealous I'm here right now.

[Steve Austin]

So I'm a big fan of the legit boss. And you were gonna try to bring her over with.

[Bayley]

You. Yeah. So she's doing BET Awards tomorrow night, so she has a signing tonight, and I. When I found out that you wanted to do this, I was like, let me see if she can come over here, because we listen to your podcasts on the road all the time, so it would be such a cool thing for her to be here and do whatever, but she's too busy for me, so I'll just rub this in her.

[Steve Austin]

Face. Two outstanding young ladies in the business of professional wrestling, sports entertainment riding down the road. Listen to my podcast. Y' all ain't got nothing better to.

[Bayley]

Do. Dude, it's the.

[Steve Austin]

Best. Come.

[Bayley]

On. But we don't want to talk to each other. No, no, yours is. That's. That's what made me want to message you in the first place to how we first started talking, because you. You Just watch it all the time still, which.

[Steve Austin]

Is. I'm still a.

[Bayley]

Fan.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Love it. Hey, let's talk about Japan real quick. As far as work style. Sorry we don't have. I'm not podcasting from my normal situation here. So we kind of jam for knee room here. Double knockdown, double down. Here we go. I didn't call a high spot. You know, when you go to Japan, the crowd is going to be a little.

[Bayley]

Different.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Because you watch any Japan.

[Bayley]

Wrestling.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Do you watch New Japan on Axis or do you follow the product at.

[Bayley]

All? A little bit? Yeah. I'll watch it when they have like their bigger shows. But I used to get the channel and now I don't get the channel anymore. So sometimes I'll watch it. But I know how the crowds.

[Steve Austin]

Are. It's a little bit different when you're kind of making your decisions in the ring and try to get a flow going because the American crowd and the Japanese crowd, I mean they respond.

[Bayley]

Differently. Yeah, I'm kind of. That's why I guess I'm kind of nervous about. I know Oscar is going to be on our team so maybe she can kind of help us with.

[Steve Austin]

That. She's awesome. How to get along with.

[Bayley]

Her? Great. She's awesome. I always mess around with her because she like speaks little English to us. So I kind of just. When she. She won the title, I. Every day I would just go up to her and kind of like take the title from her and she's like, ah. And she just start hitting me. She's so funny and she's one of. I miss being in the ring with her because she always made me up my game because her style is so different and you have to really be like quick, quick minded and quick on your feet and everything. I miss wrestling her, but it'll be.

[Steve Austin]

Fun. She has a very physical style. How is she to work with? Is she.

[Bayley]

Snug? She can be. Her kicks can be, but she's very. It was actually easier than I thought. Like, I've only worked with a couple Japanese women before I got to wwe and that was with Shimmer. And I was. I didn't really know how to approach them either. I was like, well, I know some type of lucha style wrestling that I guess I could incorporate with them. But I didn't. I didn't know what to expect from Asuka because she's been wrestling for a long time. But I would say I think we meshed pretty well right away. We only had a few matches before we had a Takeover match. And her kicks were a little stiff, but it was okay. You know, with adrenaline, something you don't feel it until.

[Steve Austin]

Afterwards. What, do you send something back to.

[Bayley]

Her? No, because I get scared. You know, certain people, you have to. Because you have to put them in their place. If they're going to get you, you gotta. You gotta get them back and give them a receipt. But her, I was like, okay, I know that's your style. It's all.

[Steve Austin]

Right. So how do you go about when. Hey, all right, this is a little much. Here's one back. What's your barometer as far as, Hey, a receipt.

[Bayley]

Time. If it's, if it's dangerous. You know, like there's. There's times that people are snug, but it's in safe spots or it's, you know, it's just with. Everybody gets like the adrenaline and gets, you know, into the moment and everything, so you can't really blame them. But if it's like dangerous and it's rushed and it's because they're nervous or whatever and they're not calming down no matter how many times you tell them, then you kind of have to give them.

[Steve Austin]

One. I'm so glad to hear you say that because I was just worried, you know, without head to head competition, without anything really other being out there than WWE being the big.

[RealReal Female Voice]

Dog.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. You know, when you had WCW and wwe, I mean, you had somewhere else to go and, you know, sending receipts is just a part of the history of the.

[Bayley]

Business.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. So, you know, I just thought in today's system, it's a pretty tough system. You guys have a. It's very tough, I think, for the position you guys are in now. But to hear that receipts still exist brings a smile on my face because I'm stuck in the old school. And I was listening to an interview that Triple H did with Dave Palumbo and he goes, listen, everybody that worked thinks that the generation they were in is better than the next generation. So I kind of cackled about that because he was kind of.

[Bayley]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. But it's a tougher system now, I think, than it was when I came up. Because we could just have. We could try almost anything because almost like the wild, wild west, especially with the competition of Monday Nitro. I mean, it was like you could literally do no.

[Bayley]

Wrong. Yeah. I think, like, it depends on the person also. I don't know if anybody else. I'm sure maybe some of the guys send receipts, like, quicker than I would or whatever. I guess it Depends on the person. But coming up now, I, I go back and forth about that with. Me and Sasha talk about that all the time too. Just like being backstage or like the politics and all that stuff behind it and getting into storylines or what they're doing and coming, even coming up from nxt, it's all. It could either be a smooth ride and real easy, depending on what the company's looking for or who you are or whatever. Or it can be, you know, you can be at NXT for a long time and then finally get there and have a big debut and then kind of have a rough start too. And it's, it's so different, but I guess it has its pros and cons from like back then and.

[Steve Austin]

Now. How did you end up in NXT after being on the indie scene for as long as you were? Not that you spent a long.

[Bayley]

Time. Yeah, no, I'm just saying. Yeah, I got noticed out and I did a show for this company called ewf, which is somewhere in Southern California. I forgot exactly where and I wanted to. What was her name? Her name was Mischief. I remember I just wanted to wrestle her. It was a match with her and I had hyperextended my knee and I was almost. Didn't do that show, but I was like, I really want to work with Mischief. So I went and did this show and somebody, Marty Elias, he was at the show and he just pulled me aside and was like, hey, have you ever thought about, you know, sending stuff in, blah, blah, blah. And I thought he meant to, like he said to Funaki and I thought he meant to go to Japan or go to Mexico or something. So I sent him my stuff. Funaki sends my stuff to wherever, not knowing that he works at wwe. And like a week later I get called and I'm like, what the. I didn't know what I was doing. And then I got invited to a tryout here in la and it was a three day tryout and a very long wait for a call back and I got, I got.

[Steve Austin]

Hired. Tell me about the tryout. What did it consist.

[Bayley]

Of? It was, it was crazy. It was a lot of. I was the only female wrestler there and there was like six other girls there that were like track stars and there's a stunt woman and all kinds of different stuff. And it was just in a big warehouse in LA with a ring and like, it was like Bill Demott and William Regal and Jim Ross. Everybody was there. And it was just a lot of drills. Like they just killed us and ran the ropes for three minutes at a time and all kinds of, like, grape squishers, which was the worst? And then the last.

[Steve Austin]

Day. Explain that to the.

[Bayley]

People. Grape squishers is when you're just standing into the, like. Yeah. Hold on a turnbuckle and get high knees for, like, three minutes. And then they made you run the ropes for three minutes, and your legs are jello, and you're, like, crisscrossing with the other person. So if they're tired or they're going too fast, you kind of have to, like, time yourself with them. And I. It was a bigger ring, which I trained in. I think mine was 16 by 16, and then this ring is 20 by 20, so. So that was a little hard to adjust to right away. But then we had the matches on the last day, and everybody was having matches except the girls, because they weren't trained. And they were like. I think it was. Bill demott told me, can you just put this girl through what we learned this week? And they just learned lockups and roll offs and forward rolls. A schoolboy. So I kind of put this, like, little drill together, ran it with one of the girls, and then he said, so? And so, get in. And he said, do it again with her. So I had to call it to her. Then he sent every single girl in, and I just called it to her this little, like, a minute and a half drill. And I think that's really what kind of got me my job, because I was able to lead these girls who did it for two days in these little drills and kind of make it look like a match and help them out through it and everything. Like, I wasn't. I wanted them to look good as well, because I knew it would make me look good. And then I cried during my promo, which was really bad, and that was.

[Steve Austin]

It. What do you mean you cried during your promo? Why'd you.

[Bayley]

Cry? Because I. First of all, I suck at promos. Well, I was even worse back then. Like, I was.

[Steve Austin]

Just. First of all, you don't suck at.

[Bayley]

Promos. Okay, well, thank.

[Steve Austin]

You. Let's talk.

[Bayley]

About. Okay. Back then, I was really bad at.

[Steve Austin]

Promos. No.

[Bayley]

Confidence. No confidence. I didn't even know what to talk about, and I was so.

[Steve Austin]

Nervous. No.

[Bayley]

Okay. I was just this chick wrestling. I had no character gimmick or.

[Steve Austin]

Anything. Pre Davina.

[Bayley]

Rose. Yeah. Okay, so what. This is. Yeah. Who I was. Davina Rose was just a.

[Steve Austin]

Wrestler. Just a.

[Bayley]

Name. Yeah. I didn't really do anything special or anything that stood out or anything, but I cried and then they put me in this other one that was with some guy, and I had, I forgot what we had to act like. Like he was my boyfriend, but I was, had a crush on John Cena, so it was like improv stuff, which, that stuff was fun, so maybe they saw a little bit of personality there. But I was so.

[Steve Austin]

Nervous. Was it crying out of anguish or did you incorporate that into the.

[Bayley]

Promo? No, it was just, I, I, if I remember it correctly, I think I was kind of just explaining who I was. Not really like a wrestling promo, but just I started this and this. I love wrestling and blah, blah, blah. So kind of just telling my story, but usually when I talk about wrestling, I get really emotional. So mixed with, like, nerves and cameras and people staring at me, I just broke down and, yeah, it was.

[Steve Austin]

Terrible. So you were able to lead those women through some drills, kind of a little bit like a.

[Bayley]

Match.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. So how are you in the ring? Would you consider yourself a ring.

[Bayley]

General? I like to think so. A lot of, I mean, it depends who you're in there with too, at this point, for sure, with a lot of the girls who started after me, and a lot of the girls don't come from the independents nowadays, so you kind of have to. I learned that in nxt you kind of have to lead most of the girls through, except obviously Sasha and I can talk in there forever. And like, sometimes she, A lot of the times I have to just follow her lead because she's, she thinks really fast and like, most of the time we work together, she was the heel, which was kind of like, she's more in control for all that. But I like leading. It's, it's fun. That's something that I actually miss being in NXT is helping people and having them rely on me and having good matches and, like, being able to learn from me and stuff. That's. Or being able to teach. I kind of miss those, those little.

[Steve Austin]

Matches. Where are you more comfortable or worry the most comfortable in the ring, leading or following? And if you're following, you have someone really, really good, like Sasha.

[Bayley]

Leading. Yeah, I kind of, I prefer leading because. I don't.

[Steve Austin]

Know. But with Sasha, it almost seems like you guys can read each other's minds because the chemistry that y' all have is so unbelievable. It's like you're always on the same page thinking the same thing if the other one's thinking. And obviously a call here or there, but done extremely.

[Bayley]

Well. Yeah, that's. She's probably, like, the only person I can do that with. And even if I'm not, say I'm in the ring with a Becky or Charlotte or whatever you. Even if I'm not calling things, I'm usually just talking. I'm not saying, go here or do this. Let's do this. I'm just speaking what I'm thinking so that we know we're both on the same page. Even if they don't say anything back. I just talk the whole time because it's easier for me. I guess I'm just used to it.

[Steve Austin]

Now. You've been working since.

[Bayley]

2008?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. How long did it take you to pick up the mechanics of the business? I mean, because you said you came here to LA to train with your CrossFit.

[Bayley]

Coach.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. I didn't know that you did CrossFit training. You played sports as a kid. Oh, tell me about your athletic background. A little.

[Bayley]

Bit. Let's see. Well, I played high school or high school basketball. CrossFit, CrossFit, cross country.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And you're kind of a.

[Bayley]

Tomboy. Yeah, as you would say, I'm totally.

[Steve Austin]

Tomboy. What kind of cross.

[Bayley]

Country? Whatever. Like the ones that I had to do in high school. Yeah. They like trails and hills and all this stuff. My basketball coach in high school made me do it to keep me in shape through the off season. And I hated. I was so mad at her. But afterwards, I really started to like it. And I. Because I'm. I'm. I love competition and I. I want to, like, win stuff. So when I'm really bad at something, I'm like, dang it, dude, I gotta get better. So in the. In the races and everything, I had started getting pretty good at.

[Steve Austin]

Them. Tell me about your CrossFit training and how it affects your wind or your performance in the.

[Bayley]

Ring. Well, I just started training with my trainer maybe a month before Wrestlemania. He's also Seth's trainer. He's Becky's trainer. He does stuff with Cesaro. So I, you know, look, they're all incredible shape and they can do amazing things. So I'm like, okay, let me try this out. I just like structure and someone tell me what to do in the gym. And I wasn't in the PC anymore, so I just needed some type of structure. But it's so crazy because everything's a new movement and it. It kind of changed my body right away. You know, when you start doing something different with your body and it just drastically changes. So for Mania, that was great. But then to keep it consistent and try to get better and better after that. Like, after mania, I, like, dropped off because, well, let me just take a week off. And then next thing you know, I'm like, oh, no. I'm getting lazy and fat, and I can't stop eating. But now I learned, like, four new movements from him this week, and it's been cool. It's kind of. I've definitely gotten stronger, and I just like learning. So anything that's different that I can learn, that's physical is.

[Steve Austin]

Cool. Did you train.

[Bayley]

Yesterday?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Then what was your wad. Your workout of the.

[Bayley]

Day? My workout of the day? It was actually pretty easy yesterday. Well, I learned how to clean and jerk, and I learned how to clean and split jerk, I.

[Steve Austin]

Guess. That's a tough one.

[Bayley]

Dude. Yeah. So hard. But I really like it. And then my workout was just. I had to find, like, a heavy deadlift. And then the workout was 2115.9 of deadlifts at 155. And then box jumps. You know what that is? Yeah, yeah. You know what do you clean and.

[Steve Austin]

Jerk? No, you know, the. The explosive stuff like that. You know, the broken skull challenge. We're gonna start filming that show in about. I think it's about four weeks. So, Man, I deal with a lot of crossfitters out.

[Bayley]

There.

[Steve Austin]

Oh. And some of the guys that are, you know, on the production team are big CrossFit guys, and they're like, oh, Steve, man, you can do this. You know, I had my shoulder repaired and all this other stuff. I'm like, dude, I don't care what you had done. My body feels a little bit different than yours, than yours does. And you ain't been hitting head with a bunch of steel chairs and taking bumps all over the world. I enjoy a lot of the movements. I enjoy the training principles or just the. Like, just take 2115. 9 on some. On.

[Bayley]

Thrusters.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. You know, if you're starting with X amount of weight, whatever it is for guys, and just trying to go for time, just the way that you're always trying to improve. Improve yourself just with a certain amount of weight against some time, I think it's awesome because, you know, it's. Rather than putting more. Well, you can put more weight on the bar, but I just think there's a lot of great things about it. Just explosiveness out of it. A lot of those guys that would come out there to the challenge, and they would just square up and down by burpees, and I'm like, dude, I said, you guys always keep telling me about the burpees. I said, why do you love them so much? And he said, steve, we don't love them, we hate them. They're just very effective at getting you wind. So do you do any burpees and stuff like that? Tell me about them. Because there's one girl out there, she was from Palmdale, right down the road, and she was doing 100 burpees a day. And I said, hello, I'll do that. And she gave me some reason for doing it. I can't remember what it was. Hell, man, I went out in my garage, first day, I did 10 of them and I was like, all right, I'm not in as good a shape as I thought I.

[Bayley]

Was.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Tell me about your relationship with these.

[Bayley]

Burpees. I hate them. They never get easier. That's the thing. You can get better at squatting or benching or mobility or whatever it is, but you can never get better at burpees. Like, it's just always going to be the worst. I was doing them, like I had this workout where you had to row, row, row and then do the burpees over the rower. And I was actually doing like a full on push up. So going down and then push up and then burpee. My. My trainer was like, don't do the full on push up. Just kind of go down and like cobra your way up and then do it. So it's a little bit easier and faster and it made a world of difference. But it's still. It's the worst, but it's the.

[Steve Austin]

Best. Do you have your trainer send you a workout every single day, or how are you able to incorporate that with the travel lifestyle that you're on right now as a WWE.

[Bayley]

Superstar? Making the loop, yeah, it's hard. But he sends me week by week, so then I kind of just pick. I could do a couple at home and then get a couple on the road. Luckily, he gets us gyms most of the time on the weekends, so he kind of. He knows a lot of people in the CrossFit world. So we, wherever we are, he finds a gym for us. And Sasha, myself, Seth and Claudio or Cesaro normally go in.

[Steve Austin]

There. So how competitive is that, hanging out with those guys? Because I know Seth is a hell of an athlete. He's been in CrossFit for a long time. I know Cesaro's amazingly strong. Been doing whatever he's been doing for a long.

[Bayley]

Time.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And those guys, I mean, so I've seen cesaro left on YouTube. I'm very technical and very.

[Bayley]

Strong. Yeah, so it's just kind of like motivational. We don't do the same workout, so. No, no.

[Steve Austin]

No. It's.

[Bayley]

Just. Yeah, it's. It's just something. I don't know. And sometimes if you. You know how it is, you just feel like a rundown or you don't really feel like working out. You could take all the pre workout in the world and you don't want to lift a weight. But then when you see guys like them, you know, doing that kind of stuff and you kind of feel motivated to do it and you're on.

[Steve Austin]

The road, who are you traveling with? With? Because I saw y' all were doing a. What's it called? Periscope. I got my arm up here like a periscope. Like a submarine. You were traveling? I guess it was with.

[Bayley]

Carmela. Oh.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And so who do you normally travel.

[Bayley]

With? Well, in NXT was always Carmela. We're like, she's one of my best friends, and it was so much fun. But now she's on Smackdown, which is fine. And I travel with Sasha, which is.

[Steve Austin]

Just. Is she doing CrossFit too? She.

[Bayley]

Just. She kind of. She has her own trainer, too. She does. Does like half and half, I guess, like bodybuilding and CrossFit. Ish. She also does burpees, so, you know, she also hates.

[Steve Austin]

Them. Tell me about living on the road. Back in my days, man, it was. It was a wild, wild west, man. We were riding down the road. This is way back in the day. This is in the 90s. Drinking beer.

[Bayley]

Do. What was that before.

[Steve Austin]

GPS? Way before.

[Bayley]

GPS. That seems like the hardest thing in the world. I don't know how you guys did.

[Steve Austin]

It. We had actual atlases. Well, you know, the true road, the true veterans had an atlas that you bust out or, you know, you have your regular map and you'd unfold it. Starts off being a rectangle, then you fold it so it's as big as the front.

[Bayley]

Seat. Yeah. All the way.

[Steve Austin]

Across. Trying to read the thing. But back in the day, we were riding down the road, this in the USWA territory, and we was running the same towns every single week, which is cool because you had to change stuff up every single night. Because the same people. Yeah, a lot of same people would follow the damn show. It was crazy. And we were all, well, I was starving. If you was green, you were starving. So I was starving and riding with a bunch of veterans, picking their brains and stuff like that. So going up and road. Going up and down the road these days with you Guys, what's the protocol? Y'? All talking matches, you booking the territory, trying to come up with a new gimmick or an.

[Bayley]

Angle. I think. I think the main difference, like, you're saying you used to travel with the veterans and stuff, and we've kind of. I mean, I guess it depends who you are and. But everyone just travels with their friends because it's easier. And, you know you're going to be on the same schedule with your friend, but for. I don't know how other cars are. I know the guys are. I've traveled with guys in nxt and they're always trying to book stuff and always talking. It's always wrestling. Always, always, always. With Sasha and I, we kind of. It's, you know, it's kind of still new to us being together all the time. So we kind of. It's either like, you know, we talk about friends or family or whatever, but we also. We like to complain to each other and kind of vent to each other about everything. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, there's only certain people that you could do that with. And she's one of those people that I can just let it all out and. Same with her. And then we can. Or we can just be like, huge freaking marks together and just be like, oh, I can't believe we get to do this every day. Like, this is the coolest.

[Steve Austin]

Thing. It is the coolest thing, but it is a business. But there is those times where it's like, jesus, I gotta get this off my back or off my chest or at least say it. But the other person's gotta be cool enough. Like your relationship with Sasha, the kayfabe bat, and not spread it.

[Bayley]

Elsewhere.

[Steve Austin]

Totally. It's that vent.

[Bayley]

Session.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Runs like that. If you're in far between in this.

[Bayley]

Business.

[Steve Austin]

Right. Talk about coming up. I know you've told your story a million times, seen some of your interviews and stuff like that. So I guess as you were a kid, you started watching the business way back in the day. Your dad was a fan, Your family was a.

[Bayley]

Fan. Yeah, my grandma, my dad, and then my brother and my dad would watch it until I finally caught.

[Steve Austin]

On. But you just crossed in front of the tv and Macho man kind of caught you.

[Bayley]

Right? Yeah. And it wasn't even. It was like wcw, and I never watched WCW even after that. But he was just the first person I saw that. I was like, oh. Because they would watch it all the time. And I literally was just crossing the living room and saw him, and I just sat down and watched it. And then I became obsessed. My dad was probably mad because then he spent so much money on.

[Steve Austin]

Me. But you go to a lot of.

[Bayley]

Shows. Yeah, I went to a bunch of them. After. After that we went to the San Jose. I don't know what it's called now, the HP Pavilion or SAP center or whatever. He would take me there all the time. We went to the Cow palace for no Way out when Eddie won the title. So we've been there a couple times and we'd go to the Oakland arena also for some of the pay per.

[Steve Austin]

Views. Cow Palace. I don't want to say this because this is a, this is my family friendly show, but I got to explain the Cow palace like I always do. But it had atmosphere. When I say that, I mean it with as a compliment. Someone was talking about the old Nashville fairgrounds a while back and they said that the building was the same as what I just said about the Cow Palace. But that was with respect. Those are the kind of buildings that, man, they got that cool, crazy atmosphere and you pack in a bunch of crazy ass wrestling fans. It just makes it that much.

[Bayley]

Better. Yeah, that, that was like I was all the way at the top for no way out. But I felt like I was right there because it's so small and everyone's. Yeah, it's just jam packed. Is freaking.

[Steve Austin]

Great. So you mentioned Eddie.

[Bayley]

Guerrero.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. What was it about Eddie? He's one of my favorites of all time. The guy was absolute magic in the ring. Just the little things he did. And if anybody could like him and appreciate what he did. But if you knew what was going on and you watched him and you saw the level that he could take it to. Just the little things he did meant so much. I just like something just as simple as if the guy he was working with was laying down right here by my recorder. And this is his face. He's laying face up that thing. He would just put his foot there and just do that little spin around. Just like rubbing his foot right on the guy's forehead or his nose, just mashing it. Just the way he did. That was. Was just magic. What did you see in the.

[Bayley]

Guy? Well, okay, the night at no Way out, this is, you know, he just had something about him that obviously he was a fan favorite. Everybody loved him for, for years. Like he had a perfect storyline building up to that match. But when he won, you, you just felt like. It felt like everybody won. Like you were a part of him and he made you feel like we all did this together. And that's the first time that I've ever really felt that as a fan or even still to this day. Like, that's something I'll always remember. Like the reaction when, when, you know, the bell rang and he was announced as a new champion. So it's just something so genuine about him that you could feel without even knowing him. But as far as wrestling and stuff, and him being amazing and being able to do it all, literally one of the guys that can do it all. I remember watching him. This was like a couple years ago, so I was already here and I was watching his old matches, like in wcw when he was just a heel coming out with like his hair soaking wet. He looked miserable. And you don't get that anymore out of heels being like coming out, like they're completely miserable. And that makes you like, ah, dude, if you don't want to be here, just don't come then. That's how I felt. Watching him is like, why are you even doing this if you don't even want to do it? And then he'd get into the ring, be so nasty and just have that look of like disgust. And he was too good for it all. I don't know. It was something about that, like I always told myself too, if I, if I were to ever be healed, I want to make myself so miserable. Because that's one of the most hateable things, I think. I don't know how to explain it, but I.

[Steve Austin]

Remember. I know what you're trying to say though, and it was easier done than we can say it as far as Eddie goes. But I also think that just kind of knowing Eddie the way I did, and most everybody on the crew probably knew Eddie better than I did. I requested to work with him because I respected him so much and liked his work so much. So there's people that know Eddie better than I did. But I think, you know, after it was all said and done, I remember going to his funeral many years ago. But Eddie was happy when he got to go to the ring. Whether he had that misery staying on or whatever, he was happy that he was fixing get in the ring and light it up. I think that was the happy time in his life. And then when he got out of the ring, I think that's when life's problems or the heaviness got on his shoulders. But he was actually taking you on a ride and that misery was just his heel state. But you bought into it because the guy was 120% in from the get go. I Thought the guy was.

[Bayley]

Phenomenal. Yeah. In being around Jericho now a little bit. With him on the road with us, hearing his stories about, About Eddie and like how. Exactly what you're saying, like how he was backstage, but then when he came out, it was. He just. You wouldn't even know if anything was going on or if he was, you know, actually feeling that miserable state at that time or anything like that. He's just. I mean, it's amazing for somebody to be able to turn it on and off like.

[Steve Austin]

That. And he could. As far as turning it on and off. Let's talk about for a second. You with, with respect to who and what you are within the structure of wwe or as a wrestler, sports entertainer, personality from when you came up as Davina.

[Bayley]

Rose.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And then you cut that promo there at wwe, you started crying, you know, whatever. And then you go to nxt. How did you decide to start honing this personality? On Wikipedia, they says, this doe eyed fan girl. I don't see you as that. I see you as someone who is a young lady who loves the business of pro wrestling and got into it because she's a fan. And now you're doing it and you kick ass. So how did you decide? Or did WWE say, or did NXT say, here's what we think you should be based on what you're showing us? Or did you say, hey, this is kind of who I am? How did that come to.

[Bayley]

Be? Well, at my tryout, William Riegel actually pulled me aside and said, basically he said we're missing a demographic for little girls. And he said, you have that about you. And I could see something in you that could, you know, get their attention and just bring in that demographic that we need that we're missing. And I was like, that's exactly what I want. Because from day one, I've always wanted to make kids feel the way I felt when I watched wrestling. And so that was always something that I wanted, no matter what. And I said I would, whatever you get. Like, that's what I want. Tell them that's what I want to do. Like, that's my goal, to get, you know, be a kid, kid friendly. And so he said, okay, well, if you ever, if you, if you make it there, then we're going to work on that. I was like, all right, so I get to NXT or in Tampa, but William Regal is like, never around. So I'm like, did he tell anybody? And I'm like, do they know who I am? I'm gonna be the Kid, girl. Like, I'm the girl that's gonna be. You know, I'm gonna have the little girl army. But, like, he was never around. So then I went back to cutting promos with Dusty and crying and being terrible. And Dusty was the one that really made me like. He's like, just be who you are. Just talk about what you want to talk about. Just talk about being a fan. And then it just kind of just went off like that. And then I think I. Once I accepted that it was okay to be myself and just kind of let myself go and not try to be a wrestler. You don't have to, like, don't be a wrestler. Just be you and enjoy it. And they'll be able to. They'll be able to see right through. I mean, they tell you that all the time. And then it just got really fun and I couldn't. I love doing promos after when.

[Steve Austin]

The light goes on and you finally realize you can be what you are. And that's real. So when I see you, I know that it's not a gimmick because we've had just a few times to meet in person and talk a little bit. Unlike, yeah, that's who this chick is. Just turned up a little bit because she's on television. But that's who you are. And the same thing with Stone Cold. Now we're just sitting here talking, but that's who I am. Turned up to a 10 or 11. And when you can be you and everybody should be them, whatever it is, it can work. But sometimes you try so hard and I still see people, and this is. I always like to say things. I'll talk about mean streaks and fire all the time because why do I keep doing it? Because I know people that like you ride down the road. Some people still don't get it. So I still talk about these things. But you realize when you get into the business. When I first got in and I started training in 89 and I broke in in 90, I was able to win Rookie of the Year. But in my mind, I was such a Flair guy. I was trying to, you know, emulate my style of what Ric Flair was. And so I still did that, even coming up through USWA for a year and a half, then through WCW now, I was never, ever as good as Ric Flair, nor could I be close to him before I got dumped on my head. But that's who I was trying to be when I finally got dropped on my head or when I went through ECW work with Paul Lee. I was able to like, hey man, here's who and what I am really in a competitive environment. And then came up with the stone Cold thing. All the stars lined up and then I found success. But it was like after seven and a half years of beating my head against, you know, the business and, you know, trying to work and figure it all out, finally I figured it out. You know, one about five years in wcw, hey, you can actually smile in this ring and have fun. And when you're having fun, it makes it a lot easier. But at first, you know, you're going through those paces of learning, okay, basic mechanics, stringing together some 101 psychology, much less 201, and getting into the different layers and telling a hell of a match with different levels. Yeah, so, but to your, go back to you just being who you are is very.

[Bayley]

Important. It's so important, it just makes it all easier, makes it make so much more sense. And you could just have fun and you don't have to think as hard. Like all you have to do is just go out there and be you. It's so like backstage I'm, I'm more, you know, laid back and just, you know, I'm even shy like around people or, you know, I'm not in the groups being all loud with people or anything. Like, I'm kind of more to myself and like with my friends and all that, I'm talkative. But once I go out there, I can, I'm able to express myself in the way that you can't anywhere else. And it's just, it's so fun. So that's, I don't know, like it is, I guess me turned up to 100 or whatever. But I think after, even after I like found myself, it made the wrestling psychology easier because you think what would make sense to me doing this? Or you could put your little character things here and it made everything.

[Steve Austin]

Better. So how many years were you in the business before everything really.

[Bayley]

Clicked? I don't think it was till I got to nxt because, you know, I love where I trained. I trained by this guy named Jason Stiles in Newark and he taught me the basic fundamentals, like perfectly. I couldn't thank him enough. And I kind of just knew how to tell a simple story in a match and I could put on a simple basic match. But once I got to nxt, that's when I really started figuring everything out. And that's just from training every single day and having these matches on the fly with whoever and rewatching My stuff, like, I watch my matches. I know a lot of people don't like to watch their matches because they get embarrassed or they're like, oh, it pisses me off seeing them. Like, you seeing yourself make mistakes is annoying, but you have to do it. And I always tell people, girls who are coming up or whatever, they'll ask me to watch their matches with them or for them on nxt, and I always tell them to watch it like three or four times because I always watch different things. So I'll watch one to watch just myself, then I'll watch it again and I watch my opponent and then I watch it again without sound. And then I watch it again just listening to the commentators so that, like, I could hear what they're saying and what I'm doing at that time to see why they made a big deal about whatever it was I was doing at that time or like to watch my body language or if I sold wrong or whatever. So I watch it a million.

[Steve Austin]

Times. But will you ever go back if you watched a match and maybe the announcers missed something and you go, hey, man, next time. Here's what I was trying. Here's the point I'm trying to get across here. Or this is what I'm actually trying to.

[Bayley]

Do.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. What is the relationship between the announce team and the guys and.

[Bayley]

Girls? When I was in nxt, I learned that pretty quick. I forgot who it was that told me that. It may have been, even our coaches may have been Sarah Amato saying, like, make sure you tell the commentators, point that out. So I was pretty good at, especially at the Takeover matches, I would write everything down like, this is what I need you to say. This is what we're trying to get to make it a point here. Whatever. And then even for the pay per view matches at WWE, I haven't been as good about it for TVs or anything, but I hope everybody does that. I know sometimes they're already told kind of what. What things to say or when, but it just makes it so much easier when you're able to, like, text Corey or text Byron or something and say, hey, I'm going to do this. Can you please talk about it? Or I'm wearing this gear and this is why it's significant. So can you. I just kind of want to get it out there, which I think.

[Steve Austin]

Is. Yeah. So you don't have to see. So they can.

[Bayley]

Organically. Yeah. All.

[Steve Austin]

Right. What is the difference between being on the NXT roster versus the main roster for Raw or Smackdown The WWE brand, NXT.

[Bayley]

Brand. I think it's really just the crowd, the size of the crowd because it's, you know, it's not big. A big difference from TV or that's where I learned how to work a camera or camera angles or how to take my time and pace myself so that the cameras can catch you and stuff. But I don't know, besides the people, I think it's just the, the size of the crowd. Of course there's the obvious things with like either not getting a match time that you want or some. The NXT crowd's very passionate and so they're into everything and everyone. Whereas wwe, it kind of takes years to get that because you can watch the, the main events with, you know, Seth and Dean and even Samoa Joe. Like the time that you get on TV just helps your live event matches because the people are so into it. But for some.

[Steve Austin]

Reason. Is that because NXT is always filmed in.

[Bayley]

Orlando? Yeah, it definitely helps that they're always there. So they see them like once a.

[Steve Austin]

Month.

[Bayley]

Right. And they are doing the local shows like every week. So those people go and watch those shows on the weekends and they get to know everybody. So then when they finally see them on tv, it really is like a family atmosphere in NXT with the fans in the locker.

[Steve Austin]

Room. Have you noticed which. I did like Chicago, I had a couple of towns that were good.

[Bayley]

Towns.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. But Chicago for some reason was a stronghold for me. And one time, I remember we were there, I think it was a six man tag match and crowd was kind of hard for some reason. And then I tagged in, we kind of lit it up and changed gears a little bit. And all of a sudden they started coming and I was like, hey man, I think we're on to something here. And then that's when I'd really kind of go on to start getting hot. But sometimes, I mean, you got to get around the horn and sometimes you go places. I mean like if you were ever a baby face and you'd got knocked out of the business because you're coming, you're coming back from an injury this side of whatever, and all of a sudden you had to come back and you're coming back at Nassau Coliseum. That's not a place as a baby face. A great crowd, great building, all that. But as a baby face, that's the last place you want to go to. Come.

[Bayley]

Back.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. You want to come back to Chicago or just one of the people, one of the places to blow the roof off of the building because man, in Nassau, sometimes that's a hill based crowd. Where do you figure your strongholds are? You're over and everybody loves you, but what are your strongholds as far as.

[Bayley]

Cities? It's hard to tell right now with wwe, I still kind of get the same reaction everywhere I go, which is not like amazing, like a Sasha reaction or a Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose reaction, but it's kind of just like, oh, yeah, they're happy, they're happy I'm here. But when I was in nxt, it was, I think, does Europe count? You know, when we're in, like English, in England and everything. And I guess wwe too, when I'm in Europe or England or anywhere over there overseas, I guess they kind of like me more there just because they're such a fun crowd and they want to be interacted with and they love to sing. For some reason. A lot of. A lot of fans over there like to chant. Do they have those football chants or these songs that they sing for me with my name in it? You just got to insert my name. And I guess that's. Right now it's overseas. But when I was. When I was in nxt, it was like Chicago, Columbus, Albany. We had a huge venue in Albany that we went to. It was amazing. One time we went to Detroit and they sang a cool song for me, which was really cool. And I was wrestling Nia Jax, and I tried to be serious and more like, all right, I gotta let me get this chick down first. And then we could have fun. But I couldn't help. And I just kind of sat back and let them sing for like five.

[Steve Austin]

Minutes. When you make your entrance now, when you're on the road, I'm imagining you don't have the inflatable. I do. You.

[Bayley]

Do? Yeah. They rent them in every city. Isn't that.

[Steve Austin]

Crazy? That's.

[Bayley]

Great. Yeah. I'm so lucky. And if they don't, then they'll do the.

[Steve Austin]

Cryo.

[Bayley]

Okay.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Nonetheless, sometimes you go out. What are you thinking when you go.

[Bayley]

Out? I get really nervous, even if it's an easy match and I say a little prayer to myself. I don't know, I'm just. It depends, I guess. Usually just really excited and nervous. Does that make sense? Can I. I can be excited and nervous.

[Steve Austin]

Right? Yes, you can. You can. But here's the thing I was trying to get at or I'll get to. Okay. Sometimes you go out there and like, God dang, I'm gonna blow roof off. That's what. And you'll Go out there and be. Oh, man. And that glass just broke. And I'm BMF. Walking out there, I'm like, that just was about 20 decibels lower than I had expected it to be. You know, it was almost, like, anticlimactic. I'm like, just boom. Roof go off place. So when you get one of those, how you.

[Bayley]

Feel? Yeah, it sucks. So, okay, that's happened.

[Steve Austin]

Recently. You live and die by.

[Bayley]

That. Yeah, that's happened recently where I come out and I'm like, oh, yeah, that was. It's like afterwards, I'm like, oh, that was a pretty good reaction. All right, this is going to be fun. Easy. And then I was working just singles with Alexa, and then Alexa would come out and she'd get a huge, like, bigger reaction. And I was like, oh, no, what am I going to do now? Like, then you feel like a loser and I should just go home. Like, damn. I was not expecting that. So it's really bad. It's. It's makes you work harder, but.

[Steve Austin]

It'S. It's, you know, hey, man, we would put some work in here to get people where we want.

[Bayley]

Them.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Or, you know, it's just going to be a tough day at the.

[Bayley]

Office. Yeah, Sometimes a little bit of.

[Steve Austin]

Both. And sometimes, you know, like, I used to, like, John Cena is not around as much as he used to be, but I used to got so much respect for that guy for being around as long as he has at such a high level. But also the way, you know, what does it say? Let's go, Cena. Cena sucks. Let's go. See, I mean, they all respect him. And so some people love him, some people act like they hate him. Everybody loves Cena. It's a game. But just when you get that amount of. Sometimes you get the amount of boos that he does get, it can really mess with a guy's head. He's mature enough and smart enough that he never lets that faze him. But a lot of times you start going out there and just get, you know, okay reactions, it'll start messing with your.

[Bayley]

Mindset.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And you can lose confidence. Yeah, I've seen that.

[Bayley]

Happen. Yeah, I'm scared of that. No, just kidding. I just run to you and ask you, so does that make.

[Steve Austin]

You. Does that make you. I was reading some stuff about you, and I think you were working with awesome Kong, and she said, hey, man, you might want to slow down a little.

[Bayley]

Bit.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. So if sometimes you don't get the reaction that you need, do you go out there and try to rush things, to try too hard to get the crowd. Or are you beyond that.

[Bayley]

Now? No, I've probably done that before where I get. And it may have been the first couple times where I just get nervous, like, oh, okay, let's just. Let's just end this so I can get out of here. It's awkward, but I actually learned from Cena because if you. You know, Cena, every time he does a promo and they start chanting at him, he always turns it back around and he just accepts it. Like, I had this. I don't know if this is the way to handle these fans, but the other weekend that I went up to the turnbuckle and I, like, raised my hand in my entrance, and then this guy looked me dead in the eye and he goes, you suck, Bailey. Like, he seemed so mad, like he really hated me. And I just smile. I said, thank you, sir, and I turned around. And then the girls around him, you could tell, he's like, oh, no. The girls around him were cracking up. So I guess you kind of just have to accept it in the matches, because this even happened when I was working with Sasha. Like, I guess I just hold the girl there and just kind of let the fans react. And you have to just let them do what they want and just go on with it, I think. I don't know, because I don't know if I would. You try to just, like, turn it around and make them how you want to. I know that's the goal, but I kind of like them on something like.

[Steve Austin]

That. Someone looks you dead in the eye and says, yeah, you're not going to change that person. No, no, Stone Cold ain't gonna change that person, and neither are you. And now it's not the time or place because I have. However many else are out there for me, that's just the guy that he paid his ticket. It's.

[Bayley]

Cool. Yeah, that was just.

[Steve Austin]

Right. Here's the thing. I always tell people, going back to what we were saying earlier about leading or following. I like to lead a match because I don't hear very good, so I'll miss a call, you know, And I had a lot of times out there, a lot of fun times with Triple H, because Triple H likes to lead as well. Well, so we're kind of going back and forth and he's such a ring general he wants to lead. But anyway, just. I like to call him a match because I don't hear stuff very well. But when I'm out there as Deaf as I am, I'm ultra sensitive. When I'm in that ring on a 20 by 20, I can feel every single person that's in that damn building. All of a sudden, man, if you got 20,000 seat arena, 19,999 are cheering me. And there's one dude up there in the corner is booing the hell out of me. I can hear him loud and.

[Bayley]

Clear. Yeah, like.

[Steve Austin]

That. Son of a gun. Kidding.

[Bayley]

Me.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. So I'm just. I'm very perceptive to what that crowd is.

[Bayley]

Doing.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. How in tune with the crowd are you as you go to work? You're trying to tell that story. As far as.

[Bayley]

Listening, man. And I hate to just keep comparing it with nxt. I felt I can do anything. Like, I knew exactly what they wanted and what. How they were gonna react to me and my opponent. No matter who it was. I knew what they can do to get a reaction and. And what I can do to get sympathy or anything. But with this, this crowd, I'm still kind of figuring them out with wwe. And I think it has a lot to do with, I don't know, this day and age. The crowds are. It's so different than back then. And they all want to cheer for the wrong person or they're on their Twitter, like. And that can mess with your head, too. It's just reading tweets and people telling you this and you start to believe it and you're like, wait, I've had to, like, stay off Twitter before for a while because that can definitely mess with your head. I've seen it happen to people. I hear people talk about it and it shouldn't matter because we're doing our job and what we're told to do and what we love. But I'm still. I'm still kind of figuring them out. I feel right now I'm kind of in a weird spot with my career. So when I first came, I felt like, all right, I'm this still from nxt. I felt like I knew exactly what I was doing, but I'm. Now I'm just, you know, we were talking like a couple months ago, or like, you're helping me out with matches and stuff and how I need to go about certain things. I'm still figuring it out. I'm at a weird spot right.

[Steve Austin]

Now. Let's talk about that weird spot next Tuesday because of Gimme to go home cue right now. So Bailey is coming back to 316 Gimmick street for next Tuesday's family friendly show. We'll talk about where she's at in her career right now, a little about her extreme rules match with Alexa Bliss relationship and dealing with the boss Vince McMahon and the NXT Takeover Brooklyn match he had with legit boss Sasha Banks. And now it's time for my video of the week. And because Eddie Guerrero was influential in Bailey's wrestling life, my match for you to watch is Eddie Guerrero no way out match versus Brock Lesnar from 2004. This is on www.daily motion and you get a chance to see the late, great, one and only Eddie Guerrero in action against the Beast incarnate. Holy smokes. This match is from 2004. It's 2017 now. Just look at the transition, the progression that Brock has made. But he was always awesome, even back in the day. And Eddie Guerrero one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots. And that's the bottom line. Hey man, like I told you guys, there's a new season of Broken Skull challenge starting production next month. Whatever you got to do to jump through the hoops. If you're still trying to get on board through the casting process, it's going to be harder than hell. And I will be there every second of every minute of every hour of the day pushing you to do your best. If you got what it takes to come out, go to CMT.com and that means I'm going to be having a bunch of bad and that means I'm going to be having a bunch of brand new badass shirts. Coming to prowrestlingtease.com steveaustin we're working on the new designs right now so I can wear them during the filming, which is going to start up, give or take, late July. And if you're looking for the best IPA on the planet because you've been out in the sun, get the Broken Skull IPA from El Segundo Brewing Company. Stop by the brewery if you're in la, pick it up at Whole Foods and Total Wines if you in Cali. Or order it from insidethecellar.com if you live in a state that they ship to. And I got one more thing to tell you about. I got my own page at Amazon and that's where you can find the cold steel Broken Skull knife and the new working man's knife. Just go to Amazon.com shop steveaustin and you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram eveaustinbsr. Hey folks, the 62nd AP news headlines are coming up next. Until then, my name is Steve Austin and I will catch your ass down the road. Thanks for listening to the Steve Austin Show. Check out new episodes every Tuesday on the Podcast One app or subscribe at Apple Podcasts or Podcast1.com. Pluto TV is free with all the best movies. The llama days are.

[Bayley]

Brutal. So is your.

[Steve Austin]

Feelings. Pluto Street Pluto TV Stream Pluto TV Streaming Pluto TV for free string stream Blockbuster hits like 21 Jump Street Ted, the Expendables and so much more on Pluto TV Stream Now Pay Never.

[Bayley]

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