Former Women’s Champion was asked to change out of a too-cleavage-revealing dress that WWE deemed ‘unacceptable’ during her tryouts

Bayley recounted an incident from her WWE tryouts when she was told to change her attire because it was too revealing.

Former Women’s Champion was asked to change out of a too-cleavage-revealing dress that WWE deemed ‘unacceptable’ during her tryouts

Bayley at NXT in Belfast (via WWE)

Bayley is one of the most decorated female superstars in WWE. The first-ever Women’s Grand Slam Champion has been a top star for an extensive span of his career. But as she started off her journey in the Stamford-based promotion, her too-cleavage-revealing look for the tryouts was considered unacceptable.

Bayley appeared on “The New Day: Feel the Power,” and shed light on the initial phases of her career in 2012. She spoke of her tryouts in Los Angeles and expressed her excitement at seeing the rings and so many people in a small warehouse. However, the writers had told her to wear something presentable, so she decided to wear a dress that would get her noticed. But later, they made her change her attire because they believed it was too revealing.

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Bayley recalled the WWE staff pulling her aside and stating, “What you’re wearing is unacceptable.” She then asked about their expectations of her and felt unsure whether she could sustain herself in this business. The Role Model even overthought getting fired right there and lost hope in the tryouts for WWE.

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Her thoughts after that incident were,“I was not me at all. I just thought that’s what they wanted.” In 2012, WWE had not entered the Divas Revolution and was hiring models to showcase them as Divas. The emphasis was put more on the looks factor than their wrestling ability while ensuring their company entry.

Related: Former WWE Women’s Champion to auction old ring gears for the first time to donate to the Hawaiian Community Fund

Bayley speaks about AJ Lee helping her back then

AJ Lee and Bayley
AJ Lee and Bayley (via BodySlam.net)

While speaking on the aforementioned show, Bayley stated that she realized being comfortable in her skin was necessary. She revealed that it was AJ Lee who helped her out and gave her a long talk on how she should be herself in WWE. The Role Model stated that the interaction happened when Lee was on NXT for a while in 2012.

AJ spoke of meeting the company halfway, finding yourself in the process, and making it work. Bayley then tried to be herself in the process of figuring out what was best and staying true to herself. Lee ignited the epiphany in Bayley and guided her in the initial stages of her career

The ‘Hugger’ gimmick of Bayley gained wide popularity and became her personality during her budding years. But a major change came when she turned heel and needed to experience her heel character. Following her change in character, she won the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in 2019.

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