5 Facts you may not know about WWE Superstar Bayley

Bayley's name has dominated the headlines in the wrestling world over the past few days after the former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion was forced onto the sidelines through injury.

Bayley suffered a torn ACL earlier this week as part of a training session at WWE's Performance Center and will now be out of action for around nine months.

The injury means that Bayley has been pulled from her "I Quit" match for the SmackDown Women's Championship which was scheduled to take place at Money in the Bank next weekend.

Following Bayley's injury, the Money in the Bank Championship match has been canceled and Carmella will now challenge SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair next week on SmackDown instead. Carmella was taken out of the Money in the Bank contract match as a result and was replaced by Liv Morgan.

The following list looks at just five interesting facts that every member of the WWE Universe needs to know about the former SmackDown Women's Champion.

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#5. Bayley's WWE name is a tribute to the Bay Area of California

Bayley was known as Davina Rose throughout her Indy career before she was signed by WWE and the company forced her to change her name.

The former SmackDown Women's Champion noted on an appearance on Talk is Jericho that WWE offered her the name "Bailey," but initially she wasn't a fan until she was able to change the spelling to "Bayley."

“I was like ‘if I choose this one, I have to spell it b-a-y because I’m from the bay area,” she said. “I thought I was so cool. Like, ‘yeah, it has to mean something to me.’ So then I went with that and now I love it.”

Bayley was born in Newark, California, and grew up in the Bay Area of California, so she took the opportunity to pay tribute to her hometown when WWE offered her several new ring names back in 2013.

When Bayley was choosing her new WWE name after signing with the company, she had one request, which was that the name was gender-neutral and it appears that Bayley was the only name that fitted the bill.

#4. Bayley grew up as a huge WWE fan and met several wrestlers in her younger years

I’m the REAL (rumble) winner. Winner of my damn dreams and aspirations and goals and decisions and work and LIFE. #rolemodel pic.twitter.com/v4LAYI4RJB

— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) February 5, 2021

Many aspiring wrestlers grew up watching the WWE product, but it appears that Bayley went above and beyond when she was a teenager.

The former NXT Women's Champion noted whilst one Talk is Jericho alongside former WWE star Chris Jericho back in 2016 that she met many WWE Superstars in her younger years.

These stars included John Cena, Edge, Victoria, and Rey Mysterio, whom she got to sign and take photos with, which have been shared out on social media since Bayley became a WWE Superstar in her own right.

Bayley noted that she waited in line for around five hours to meet John Cena and Rey Mysterio at one point and used to hang out in the parking lot of shows afterwards so that she could catch a glimpse of WWE Superstars.

One star that she revealed once caught her attention was Matt Hardy, who rolled down the window and threw up a "peace" sign which was a cool moment for Bayley at the time.

#3. WWE Superstar Bayley was once engaged to AEW Superstar Aaron Solow

pic.twitter.com/EjQcHRHNJ1

— Aaron Solow (@aaronsolow) February 20, 2021

WWE star Bayley and AEW's Aaron Solow were in a relationship for a number of years and even announced their engagement before this was called off when Solow announced that the couple had split earlier this year.

The current AEW star and former SmackDown Women's Champion had been dating since before the former NXT Women's Champion was signed to WWE back in 2013. Throughout Bayley's WWE career, Solow pushed to be signed by the company before instead opting to join AEW.

Solow himself broke the news of the couple's split on Twitter and made it clear that despite this being the end of their relationship, the two stars will continue to support each other throughout their careers.

"We have a lot of great memories together that we'll forever cherish, we've agreed to remain friends and will continue to support each other in our careers and lives" Solow wrote.

Bayley is yet to speak publicly regarding her split from Solow, despite the fact that it took place back in February.

#2. Bayley started training to be a wrestler as soon as she was old enough, joined WWE four years later

As already noted, Bayley grew up watching WWE and dreaming of becoming a wrestler. As soon as the former NXT Women's Champion was old enough to begin training she decided to pursue her dream.

Bayley started training when she was just 18 years old back in 2008 and was then signed by WWE in December 2012. Former WWE Superstar Serena (Straight Edge Society) was Bayley's mentor early in her career and helped steer her in the right direction.

Before Bayley joined WWE, she had already crossed paths with several current WWE superstars, including Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez.

Given her experience, Bayley was able to make her debut for NXT just a month later in January 2013. Bayley later went on to become NXT Women's Champion and one of the women who both defined and started the Women's Revolution in NXT.

Bayley made history again on the main roster when she became the longest-reigning SmackDown Women's Champion in history last year.

#1. Bayley originally debuted under a mask for WWE

Bayley debuted for WWE back in January 2013 but much of the WWE Universe won't recognize this Bayley since she was under a mask.

For her debut match and for the only match of her career, Bayley debuted as a luchador and was under a mask for the NXT live show match where she teamed with Charlotte and Paige to defeat Summer Rae, Audrey Marie, and Emma.

Bayley wasn't given her ring name until after the match and surprisingly this was the only time in her career that she put on the mask. The star has since become a prominent figure on both NXT and since her move up to the main roster.

It is unknown why the company decided to put Bayley under a mask for her first match, or if this was Bayley's own idea to get a feel for the NXT crowd before she made her official debut.

Bayley didn't debut on NXT until two months later when she took on Paige in a losing effort. This was almost a year before the NXT Women's Division was given a Women's Championship and Paige became the first Champion.