WWE Women's Champ Bayley Opens Up To Cody Rhodes About What She Learned From Dusty

Current WWE Women's Champion Bayley has achieved it all in WWE, and she wouldn't have reached the levels of success that she has in her career if she hadn't embraced being herself early on. 

For that, along with much else, like so many other wrestlers of her generation, she heaps tons of credit onto the legendary Dusty Rhodes, as she explained while appearing on "What Do You Wanna Talk About?" with his son, current WWE Undisputed Champion, Cody Rhodes.

"I came into WWE just as a wrestler," Bayley said. "That was literally what got me my job. It was like, 'Okay, she can go in the ring a little bit' and I didn't have a character. I thought I could get by on my wrestling but I quickly saw that I needed more to me and Dusty [would spend extra time with] people that really needed work and he would find in us what we couldn't see in ourselves."

For Bayley, that meant leaning into what drew her to wrestling as a self-described "superfan." She had to shake off a touch of imposter syndrome and the disbelief she had in simply making it to the WWE Performance Center, and Dusty Rhodes was a huge part of her turning that corner. 

"[Dusty] told me to embrace what I was trying to hide," Bayley explained. "He allowed me to trust myself and really [show that] what you are afraid to show is okay. 'Let's just try it.' So I tried it, you know? Be a superfan."

Bayley said that Dusty Rhodes used a revelation with one individual as a learning lesson for the entire group. When he saw that a talent was "getting it" and believing in themselves, he'd pump the brakes and explain that epiphany. 

"He really did just find that [special trait in someone]," she recalled. "He didn't give up until we realized it and he made sure that everybody realized it as soon as we did. He could see when the lightbulb would go off in us and he would stop class and be like, 'Did you guys see that? That's it right there. Do that again.'"

As Bayley's character was being fleshed out, Dusty ensured she stayed true to the original vision, even in the face of a division that favored the "Divas" type of wrestler. 

"My first match in my character, I wrestled Alicia Fox [and] I came out with the ponytail but I didn't think WWE would approve it because we were still in a 'Diva' era," she noted. "So, when I got to the ring, I took my hair out and was like, 'Alright, now my hair's down, I'm such a Diva.' I came back and he was standing at the bottom of the stairs and he said, 'Don't ever take your ponytail out. Leave it in.'"

Though she's evolved since her side ponytail days, no one can question her success, which may never have been possible without the lessons from and confidence of Dusty Rhodes.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.