WWE's Bayley Opens Up About Initial Damage CTRL Pitch, True Severity Of 2021 Injury

In 2022, the original Damage CTRL brought Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY together after each had suffered some kind of career setback or uncertainty. While the stable's formation brought Kai back to the company and saw SKY debut on the main roster, Bayley was returning from injury, having hurt her knee in 2021. According to the former WWE Women's Champion during an interview on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," the injury was far more than just an ACL tear, though she said she isn't quite ready to go into details.

"It was a bigger injury than anybody knows," Bayley revealed. "There's a few people that are aware of it, and obviously the office and stuff, but that's the reason. It wasn't just an ACL thing, it was a bigger injury, and that's the reason why it kept me out longer." Bayley admitted the injury still bothers her to this day and has hindered her from being able to do things like leg curls or running for longer periods, but she always knew she'd come back.

Damage CTRL was her pitch to immediately fit into the WWE landscape upon her return. Bayley told Van Vliet she imagined a five-woman group that would protect her while she worked her way back from injury, only for Bayley to ultimately betray them. She also revealed that while she had several women in mind for the group, including current AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm, she, Kai, and SKY shot material with Raquel Rodriquez and Alba Fyre before the stable was ultimately whittled down to three — though her vision for the reigning Women's World Champion turned out to be prophetic.

"In my mind [there were] two tag teams," Bayley said, referring to the five-woman version of the group, "and then IYO was my champion."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.