Bayley Explains Excitement At Seeing Stephanie McMahon At WWE WrestleMania 40

More than a year after resigning from her position as co-CEO of WWE, Stephanie McMahon made an onscreen return to the company last night at WWE WrestleMania 40. McMahon appeared near the beginning of the broadcast to welcome the crowd, proclaiming it the first WrestleMania of "the Paul Levesque era." During the post-show press conference, WWE Women's Champion Bayley shared what it meant to her to see McMahon back.

"She's just such an awesome person to have around," Bayley said. "She's so genuine and real. She takes care of you. She looks at you in your eyes when you're talking to her. She cares, you know? One time, I saw the makeup people spill bobby pins on accident. She got on the floor and helped pick them up."

Having McMahon open up last night's WrestleMania sends a huge statement, according to Bayley, showing that women can fill important slots like that just as well as the men who have done it in the past. Reflecting on WWE's booming business, Bayley said that it was hard to believe she holds a world championship with everything going on.

In the match prior to last night's main event, Bayley defeated her former Damage CTRL partner IYO SKY to capture the WWE Women's Championship. The match had no interference from the rest of Damage CTRL, with SKY instructing her stablemates to stay out of the fight. This wound up coming back to bite her as Bayley was able to put away her former friend.

It's not yet clear if McMahon will return to a backstage role within WWE. McMahon's 2023 resignation came after her father, Vince McMahon, forced his way back onto the company's Board of Directors. He had previously resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct — the fallout of which continues to play out.