Originally published to 8 News Now on November 15, 2024.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — From a loveable hugger to a “role model” with a killer instinct, WWE superstar Bayley has been one of the performers guiding the company’s new era. As the road to WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas kicks off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with the Royal Rumble, she said it’s one of the most exciting events on WWE’s calendar.

“It seems like WrestleMania comes around quicker every single year,” Bayley said. “This is going to be my 12th year with WWE, and it feels so fast, but it’s exciting. It’s like the holidays for WWE — stressful, but the best time of the year.”

Indeed, the “holidays” of sports entertainment, lovingly dubbed the “Road to WrestleMania” by fans and WWE officials alike, start on Feb. 1 in Indianapolis. Bayley said the excitement surrounding the events leading to the “granddaddy of them all,” WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, is palpable not only among the WWE Superstars but also the fans, who play a major role in making the events special.

“The fans are getting more excited every year,” Bayley said. “I might be a little biased, but we [in the women’s division] steal the show most of the time.”

Bayley, a pioneer in the women’s division of WWE, had one of her most defining moments in Las Vegas in 2019 at T-Mobile Arena when she shed her fan-friendly hugger persona in exchange for that of a more devious “role model.” She clipped her trademark ponytail and physically slashed her wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men, the “Bayley’s Buddies” that accompanied her introduction. Bayley admitted it was a pivotal point in her WWE career.

“When I became a bad guy, I felt like I lost a genuine connection with the fans,” Bayley said. “It was a genuine disconnection. But I knew I needed to make a change to extend my career. I always wanted to do everything — be a bad guy, a good guy, have crazy storylines.”

She credited the WWE for allowing her to take that leap, adding that it has been an essential part of her growth as both a character and a performer. “That was something I needed for my career,” she said. “I don’t regret it at all.”

The Royal Rumble is a match where 30 performers enter at intervals, and the last person standing, that is to say, not eliminated by being tossed over the top rope with both feet hitting the floor, gets to face a champion of their choosing at WrestleMania, professional wrestling’s biggest event.

Bayley, the 2024 Royal Rumble winner, hopes to claim her second victory, a task that no one in the women’s division has yet achieved. Bayley said that the countdown to a new superstar entering the Rumble, a staple in WWE fandom, is an experience that can’t be replicated.

“There’s nothing like standing up with 60,000 people counting down 10 seconds 60 different times,” she said, referencing the 30 competitors entering both the men’s and women’s Rumble. “It never gets old.”

Tickets to the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis are available now via Ticketmaster. The first stop on the Road to WrestleMania at Allegiant Stadium is at Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 1.