Heading into this year's WrestleMania, it looked like Bayley might face Roxanne Perez on the Grandest Stage of Them All. For whatever reason, WWE seemingly abandoned the feud and instead paired the former Women's Champion up with Lyra Valkyria.
However, a storyline injury saw Bayley removed from the match with Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, and Becky Lynch replaced her courtesy of a surprise return during WrestleMania Sunday.
It seems WWE never planned for Bayley to appear on the card, something many feel is a disservice to a woman who has achieved so much in the company.
In an interview which took place shortly before the Show of Shows, Bayley talked about not receiving the respect she feels she deserves, not from WWE, but from the fans.
"That sucks, because like I said, I don't let things get to me and I stopped reading tweets or comments and all that stuff a long time ago. But I do feel that, and I see that, and I'm just like, What am I missing? So that's the one thing that still gets to me, and maybe that's ego or pride or whatever. But I'm just like, What am I missing that you don't understand what I've done for this industry? It's hard to explain, especially now, because I feel like, okay, I've been wrestling for like 16 years altogether. So I'm like, Okay, well obviously I'm gonna slow down at some point, but now when I see sh*t like that, ‘She's not this or not this…’ Now I gotta prove them wrong."
"But there's also a part of me that feels and agrees with them. I was just telling Lyra this the other day. We've been doing a lot of bonding. I don't feel that I'm at a level of Charlotte or a Becky. We came up together and I wrestled Charlotte in her first match ever, I was signed to WWE before Becky. So to me, they're up here, and I'm just not there yet. Maybe that's kind of where people base it off, or where they judge it, or whatever. But I keep saying I get my feedback and opinions from the right people. So as many people think that I'm not at this level, or whatever, part of me agrees with them, because I don't think I'm there yet."
It's clear that Bayley is pretty hard on herself and, elsewhere in the interview, she strongly hinted at being unhappy with WWE pulling her from the WrestleMania card (being careful not to say too much).
The WWE veteran also shared her take on what it's like to receive a much smaller share of the spotlight than her fellow female WWE Superstars.
"I don't get on the press conference. I don't get on the posters. I don't get to do the talk shows. I don't know what else to do, and it's not like [there’s an issue], there's no heat backstage or anything like that. Hunter and I have a really good relationship. Bruce and I have a really good relationship, all the TR, I have such a good relationship with them, and I've always been professional."
"Even when I've gone to other shows to support my friends, we've had those conversations of like, the do's and the don'ts, and that was a little too much. We've had those conversations, so I think we're at a real respect level. Hunter has gone on a press conference being like, Bayley’s this, Bayley’s this, she's everything that you could possibly want out of a superstar, which I appreciate. But it's like alright, well what do I need to do to get me there?"
Talking at the post-WrestleMania 41 press conference about Bayley, Triple H said, "Don't worry, guys, Bayley will be just fine. [She's] A true pro. [I] Cannot say enough good things about her. True pro."
You can watch the full interview with Bayley in the player below.