Original plans for WrestleMania 41 called for Bayley to team with Lyra Valkyria to challenge Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.
Instead, she was written out of the Show of Shows with a storyline injury following a backstage attack, and Becky Lynch returned to team with her fellow Irishwoman. The following night on RAW, she turned on Valkyria, kicking off a new feud and heel run.
As for Bayley, she's been shuffled back into the midcard. Now, in the midst of teaming with Valkyria, she's also, sporadically, part of what seems to be a split personality storyline. For many fans, that's a major source of frustration.
During a recent interview with The Undertaker on his Six Feet Under podcast, Bayley talked in detail about being pulled from WrestleMania the night before the Showcase of the Immortals was held in Las Vegas.
"It was the day before. It's a test. I feel like every time I get thrown stuff, I'm just being tested. Not by the company, the universe and the world is trying to test me. It was rough; it was a little bittersweet. I became really close with Lyra in real life, so I was super excited for her to have her first WrestleMania. But it was also, 'I was told this is where we were going, I'm gonna be in this storyline in a tag team with this girl that I don't even know.'"
"I remember first telling her, 'This is what we're doing,' and I'm just talking about WrestleMania as a tag team, 'Don't you think that's strange? You're the Intercontinental Champion, and we don't even know each other.'"
"So I felt a bit weird about it, but throughout the time, we had a few matches. I'm like, 'Damn, we have good chemistry. Then we had this tag team gauntlet match to get to WrestleMania, we had 5 matches in one night, it was an hour of wrestling, and I was like, 'Holy sh*t, we're a good team, I felt genuinely connected to her.' She's one of the girls who grew up loving wrestling and a huge fan. She's so good, and that had a lot to do with it."
"Then, when I was told what was happening, I was bummed. For one, I'm not at WrestleMania, but for two, we put all this work i,n and I really tried to make us look like a team so that it's believable when we get to WrestleMania."
"It was rough, yeah, but it becoming part of a storyline and becoming what it is now made it a little bit nicer. It was rough. It was definitely one of those times where...I had a long conversation with Punk about it, and a lot of people were reaching out. Everybody has been in these positions, but yeah, I don't know."
"I think my love and passion for this is what saves me in those moments. Thank God I love this so much, because I don't know how people who don't love it go through with all this stuff. I'm on John Cena's retirement tour, hanging out with these guys in the back, watching my friends fulfil their dreams. Like watching Lyra win the Tag Team Championship, and the Rhea, Bianca and IYO having that match that weekend, beautiful.
"I do have those moments, but I feel like I need to have that piece of me that's pissed about it because I have so much more work to do, and I love that, I need to have that."
You can watch the full interview with Bayley in the player below.