The Hot Tag: NXT's Bayley Talks Women's Wrestling, Being a Role Model and Nashville

The Hot Tag is the Scene's weekly look at pro wrestling, the great American art form. 

Friday night, WWE developmental promotion NXT, a sort of minor league for pro wrestling (but not AAA, that's something else entirely), returns to War Memorial Auditorium as part of its road show.

Very limited tickets for the card, which begins at 7:30 p.m., are still available, and if the February show is any indication, the crowd, as NXT crowds tend to be, will be very smart and very loud.

NXT has been praised for its emphasis on wrestling rather than story lines and its unique mix of performers which are cut from a different cloth than those seen on the WWE. Of course, some of that stems from the desire of the NXTers to not just get over, but get noticed enough to get the call up. But it is also part of the broader strategy set for the promotion by the WWE executive vice president of talent, live events and creative Paul Levesque, better known to wrestling fans as Triple H.

NXT is also well-known for showcasing women's wrestling, which for years in the WWE was seemingly booked by 13-year-old boys with a heavy dose of bra-and-panties matches and hot tub matches and the like. The women of NXT don't dally in the nonsense and their in-ring ability led to a heap of call ups to the main roster and a total change in the way WWE views the distaff division.

One of NXT's most popular performers is Bayley, a sort of flesh and blood Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Woman … except, ya know, with a wicked suplex.

In this, the inaugural edition of The Hot Tag, a recurring Scene feature on pro wrestling, we chat with the former NXT Women's Champion.

How are these NXT touring shows different from working out of the home base (at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla.)?

It's really exciting for us to share the show around the country and it's a different feel. In Florida, they see us every week so maybe they aren't as excited as they once were to see new faces. 

What made NXT so popular?

Everybody is so unique and it is a whole different kind roster (from WWE). There is nobody like Finn Balor or Shinsuke Nakamura on WWE (Ed.: At least not yet). The women's division keeps getting stronger. Everybody is so hungry to get to that WrestleMania stage at some point.

We are a huge family and we motivate each other and compete to have the best match on the card. The tag teams, like The Revival and American Alpha, going 110 percent every night. ... Triple H has given us this huge opportunity and the best coaching staff at the performance center.

Who inspired you growing up?

Lita, who was so different and she was herself and was different from every woman on the roster at that time. The Hardy Boyz, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Triple H. Ivory and Victoria.

You are so popular with kids, especially with young girls. When you make your entrance, they go crazy. There are pictures of little girls crying after you lost the title to Asuka at Takeover. Do you feel a special responsibility to them?

It's cool because that is what I wanted to do. I wanted kids to feel like I felt when I attended wrestling shows. I wanted them to be involved and be excited and look forward to not just John Cena. It's the big kid in me. I am just acting like myself when I was 10 years old. It's so cute how passionate kids can be. And there is also a responsibility to the parents, who thank me for being a role model. I have to make sure I keep my head on.

When you wrestled Sasha Banks at TakeOver in Brooklyn in 2015 in the first Ironwoman match ever, did you feel the gravity in the run up? Did you appreciate it in the moment? Did it sink in later when it was on all these Match of the Year lists?

After Brooklyn, we were like, "Whoa." We wanted to go out on a great match because it was going to be our last match for awhile and steal the show. Man, that was really special that women's wrestling was such a huge part of the show. And it took a while for it to set in. It was only the 10th Ironman match (in WWE history) and nobody can ever take that away. It was crazy, but we don't wanna stop ever. We want to have that match on a WWE pay-per-view.  

After that match and then the Divas Revolution in WWE with all the call ups and the rebranding of the division from the Divas division to the Women's division, did it seem like the evolution of the women's division happened really quickly?

No, I think it's been a long time coming. ... All the momentum with women's wrestling was going on and there is no better way to rename a title than at WrestleMania. It was perfect timing to bring the women's title back.

There is a big difference in women's wrestling than when we were growing up.

I remember Trish Stratus and Lita and Lita and Stephanie McMahon main eventing Raw, so I remember the good and the bad, because there were also things like pudding matches and hot tub matches.

So what's next for you?

Well, I am excited to come to Nashville. It's one of my favorite towns and the crowd was so amazing last time. And I want to join the WWE (main roster). I really wanna have a match with Natty. She's been there and she's been a women's champion. And Nikki Bella after she comes back.

NXT's weekly show airs Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on the WWE Network. NXT TakeOver: The End is scheduled for June 8 at 7 p.m.