WrestleMania 32 is this Sunday at AT&T Stadium, but that is by no means the only event of the week.
Friday night, right in the middle of WrestleMania Axxess, NXT (WWE's developmental show) invades the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center for NXT TakeOver: Dallas.
Included in one of the main events, NXT Women's champion Bayley will be defending her title against Asuka. Bayley opens up about that match, possibly moving up to the main roster, and gives a predicition for Sunday...
What are you most looking forward to about NXT TakeOver: Dallas and your match vs. Asuka?
Bayley: I'm looking forward to defeating her, that's the first thing. I'm really excited to go to Dallas, I've never been. We've taken NXT to Austin, San Antonio - so, I'm excited to see Dallas. I like to explore a little bit so hopefully we'll have a little time to do that between Axxess. Just the whole weekend is a really special weekend. This is my third WrestleMania weekend I'll be a part of, and to have a big show like TakeOver kick it off, and end it with WrestleMania, seeing so many former NXT people on the show this year - it's really going to be a special year for NXT.
As a long reigning NXT Women's champ, you've spent a lot of time there. Have you started to get the itch to be moved up to the main roster?
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Bayley: I go back and forth about it a lot because NXT is just home for me. I really have the best coworkers and coaching staff at the performance center. There's people from all over the world that I've met, and become like best friends with. So, I really love being there, but at the same time, it's your childhood dream to be on WrestleMania one day. As much as I love NXT, I would love to make the next step and really challenge myself sometime soon.
Have a prediction for the triple threat Diva's title match at WrestleMania between your friends Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte?
Bayley: Oh, man. This is tough...it's either Becky or Sasha. Becky's been really surprising me with how aggressive she's being toward both of them. She's showing a different side of her that we didn't even see in NXT. But I'm kind of pulling for Sasha because I'm a little biased.
Speaking of, in my interview with Sasha Banks, she called the match between the two of you at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn her favorite match of all-time. What were your thoughts about that night?
Bayley: I would definitely agree with her on that. Going into it, we knew it was just special to both of us. It meant a lot to the company. We had a lot on our shoulders, and it just kind of worked out perfectly in front of a perfect crowd - we both had our families there, our moms were front row and our brothers - so, it was special in that way, but with Charlotte and Becky coming out afterwards, and all of us being able to share that moment together was something that will always stick with me no matter what. The match was amazing, but I think it was the moments even after the pinfall that meant the most to me. Definitely one of the best matches I think I'll ever be a part of.
People have compared Bayley and Sasha to Lita and Trish Stratus, two transcendent WWE Diva's from the early 2000s, how do you respond to that?
Bayley: Definitely Lita was the one - growing up I was just obsessed with her. So, to be compared to her - We get a lot of tweets, meet a lot of fans that say that's who they think of, and that's awesome to hear because that's the rivalry that we remember as kids growing up. And Sasha and I grew up the same, just huge fans, now to think that fans are seeing us in that same sense is really cool. It means what we're doing is working, and everything we've been wanting to accomplish, we're slowly getting there.
