13 Things We Learned From Bayley On Talk Is Jericho
12. Becoming Bayley
Chris asks about the origins of the Bayley character and how it came to be. She responds that when she came to NXT she was initially going by her real name of Pamela Martinez after working her career on the indies under the name Davina Rose.
Jericho jokes that Rose is the female version of Star or Storm, but she adds that Rose is actually her legitimate middle name with Davina being a moniker she chose because she liked it, as well as it being the name of her trainer's ex-girlfriend. Once he approved it she even spent time practicing her signature for autographs.
Upon her arrival in NXT, Corey Graves was extremely hard on her and brutally honest when assessing her promo skills, telling her that he "didn't believe her" when she spoke. Graves was someone who Dusty Rhodes would always look to for his opinion because he knew he'd tell the truth.
Bayley said his criticism made her feel terrible about herself all the time "but in a good way" and she knew she needed to work and come up with something new. One day Rhodes called her up in front of the class and told her to cut a promo on Summer Rae.
She began talking about her blonde hair, her height and looks and the promo inadvertently came off as stalkerish, and despite that not being her intention the writers were impressed and told her to come back next week and try a superfan type approach.