WWE's Bayley has revealed the origins of her ring name andwhy she chose it in an instant.
Bayley used the ring nameDavina Rose in her indie career, but chose an altogether different name when debuting on "WWE NXT." In her recent appearance on The Undertaker's "Six Feet Under" podcast, she discussed how the name came to be.
"Well, I didn't choose Bayley. I remember in NXT, you had to give a list of your names. And so I wanted to use a unisex name because I felt nobody was really doing that. So I gave like a list of unisex names, and I don't believe I chose Bayley," she recalled. "But when they gave me my names back, it was a list of three different names. One was Bayley and then one was Davia, like no N, not Davina, just Davia. And I was like, that's not even a name. You know, they were trying to help me out and get me close to my indie name."
She remembered that she wasn't impressed with any of the ring names they suggested, but ultimately went with "Bayley" after being told she would be on television soon. She did make one change, altering the spelling from "Bailey" to "Bayley" as a nod to her roots.
"And I was like, 'I don't really care for all of that.' Like, Rob Naylor, who used to work with us,he was like, Dusty's right-hand man. And I said, 'I don't really care for these. Can I send in another list?' He's like, 'Well, I'm not supposed to tell you, but they wanna put you on TV this week, so you need to choose one of theseor else they're just gonna, you have to wait.' And I was like, 'Okay, I'll choose Bayley.' But they spelled it B-A-I. And so I said, 'Can I just B-A-Y'cause I'm from the Bay Area?' Lyra makes fun of me. I don't know why she thinks that's so funny," Bayley said.
Given that Bayley is from the San Francisco Bay Area, the name felt like a perfect fit for her, and the rest is history.
