After a month, Bayley was starting to get used to playing her new character. Initially, despite the fact that she had been the one to request a heel turn in the hope that it would revitalise her career, she had felt some reluctance to act out turning her back on her fans, especially the kids. Interacting with them had always been her favourite part of the job.
Overall, though, she had no doubt that the turn had been the right career move. Since the transition from the hugger she was undefeated, and had issued Sasha Banks with one hell of an ass kicking at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The match had been very well received by the audience, who were impressed with the new level of intensity and violence from Bayley – the kind of thing that had never been seen from her before.
If there was one problem so far it was that it was proving difficult to actually get much heat on the new Bayley. People seemed to like seeing her do so well, and most times when she entered arenas these days she would get a bigger pop than she had been getting when she was a face. Rome wasn't built in a day, though, as Hunter was fond of saying. The boss had already mentioned that he had plans for her character to commit more despicable acts that he felt sure would get heat on her.
The only slightly unfortunate thing about her heel turn was the timing of it. It had happened right before WWE had announced their plans for the new Women's Evolution brand. Since that announcement, it had felt like the Raw and Smackdown women's divisions were playing something of a waiting game until it all began again for them on their own show. There were only a couple of weeks until Summerslam, where Bayley would be going over Sasha again, albeit in a more closely-fought contest.
Meanwhile, off-screen, Bayley was getting into the groove of how her new character interacted with the fans when she attended meet and greet sessions. Even as a heel, as with any superstar, fans still flocked to any appearance she made. There were strict guidelines from WWE as to what was acceptable for heels to say or do when meeting fans so as to maintain a balance between keeping character and not actively alienating people who were ultimately WWE's consumers. It was something that Bayley had sought advice on from Seth. With his help, and a couple of sessions under her belt for experience, she now felt like she was close to being was on point with it.
After the last appearance she had done, she had described some of what had happened to Seth. His advice had been that she was doing well, but maybe she could take things up another notch with certain fans. It would be up to her to judge who the people were who could take things the right way, but if she pulled it off, she would get credit for some top quality heel work. It was now time to put his suggestion into practice.
Bayley had just arrived at a toy store where she would be meeting a lucky group of two hundred fans who had managed to get in line outside early enough to receive a wristband for the event, which was intended to promote the release of the new Bayley Funko Pop figure, which reflected her new persona.
Walking into the store from the staff entrance at the rear, Bayley supressed a smile by sipping from the cup of coffee that she had picked up from a Starbucks on the way over. She was dressed in the manner people were now accustomed to seeing from her character when she wasn't wrestling: boots, jeans, one of her 'I don't care anymore' shirt under an open leather jacket and leather gloves, with a pair of sunglasses perched on her head. She had seen that the fans had already been admitted and had formed a line, winding around the place and out of the door into the street. No matter the orientation of her character, seeing the fans always made her feel so happy inside.
At the front of the line was a table with a few sharpie pens on it and some eight by ten glossy promotional pictures for her to sign for those fans who hadn't brought an item of their own for signature. At one end of the table, several of the new Funkos were stacked so that they would be in the background of the fan's photographs.
As she approached, Bayley greeted the few staff members who were standing around waiting for her, as well as the couple of well-built men in charge of security. A young woman on the staff was apparently going to be the one to take photos for the fans using their cell phones.
Back in the days when she had been the hugger, Bayley would have chosen not to sit behind the table if possible, knowing that her fans loved to get hugs and that the pictures people got were a lot better when they didn't have to lean over a table to pose with her. Now, though, her character didn't care anymore, so she sat down behind the table and took another drink from her cup. "Alright, I'm ready," she announced.
The first ten or fifteen people to come forward were routine meets. She greeted them with a smile and a handshake if they offered one. High fives or hugs were refused. The new Bayley no longer had interest in that kind of thing. A few words were exchanged before she signed their item of choice and posed for a picture with them.
A guy in his early twenties stepped forward. I addition to the smile of amusement on his face, Bayley saw that he was carrying a Sasha Banks shirt. There was a guy of a similar age now at the front of the line, wearing a different Sasha shirt. They were obviously friends, and had thought it would be amusing to come and meet Banks's bitter on-screen enemy with her merch.
"Hi, Bayley," guy number one said as he approached the table.
"Hello," she replied, affecting indifference.
"Can you sign this please?" he asked, putting the Sasha shirt on the table in front of her.
"Nope," she replied, stone-faced.
"What?" he asked, equally surprised and amused that she was obviously going to keep character.
"I'm not signing it," she told him defiantly as she scribbled her signature on one of the glossy promos instead. "Here, take this and get out of here." She held the picture out to the guy, who had burst out laughing. Bayley was glad that she had correctly judged him as being someone who would be good for a real in-character interaction. To add a final touch to it, she picked the Sasha shirt up off the table and threw it in the direction that the fans had to head in when they left. "And take that piece of crap with you," she told him.
The guy laughed even harder, loving the special moment he was getting. "Alright, but what about my picture?"
"Fine, you can have a picture." Bayley posed with a deliberately salty expression on her face, in the knowledge that she was giving him a great story to tell his friends later.
"Thanks, Bay, you're awesome," he said as his phone was handed back to him.
"I know," she snapped as he departed, laughing yet again.
Now it was his friend's turn to come forward. He, too, was already laughing, along with a fair few people in the line who had been paying attention to what had just happened.
"Hey, Bayley," he said as he approached.
Without replying, she gave the Sasha shirt he was wearing a sour look.
"I was hoping you'd sign this shirt for me," he said, unable not to grin like an idiot in the process.
"Alright, turn around," Bayley told him.
"Wait, really?" he laughed.
"Turn around," she instructed, picking up a gold sharpie.
The fan turned his back on Bayley as she stood up, making like she was going to sign it. However, she had something different in mind. Without giving him time to react, she grabbed hold of the bottom of shirt and pulled it up hard, lifting it clean off him. The fans in line cheered loudly.
"What the hell?" the guy asked through his laughter as he turned around to face her, naked from the waist up.
"You want me to sign this piece of crap?" she asked angrily. "Fine, I'll sign it." With that, she tore the front of the shirt in half, completely ruining it, then signed it with gold sharpie. "There you go, signed."
"You're such a badass," the guy said, still laughing like an idiot. It was a relief to Bayley, who had been advised to pull that stunt by Seth and assured that it would be fine so long as she did it with the right person. He had been correct.
"I'm going to hold it up for our picture," the fan announced.
"If that's what you want to do," she said coldly, sitting back down behind the table.
The fan leaned across the table, holding the torn up shirt in such a way that the signature on it would be visible in the photo, as well as the fact the shirt had been torn. Rather than simply posing, he shouted, "Yeah!" while the picture was taken. For her part, Bayley affected the most unimpressed expression she could muster.
Content not to try and put the remains of the shirt back on, the fan gave Bayley one of the biggest smiles she had ever received from a fan. "That's some real heel work! Thanks, Bayley! We need more like you!"
Bayley appreciated the praise so much that she simply had to acknowledge it. She was, however, able to limit herself to just a nod.
A couple of hours later, Bayley was back in the car that had taken her to the toy store. When she turned on her phone, she immediately received a text message that had been sent while it was off.
Hunter Helmsley: I saw a video of you taking that fan's Sasha shirt off and tearing it up. Excellent work keeping character. I trust you to be very selective with the kind of person you do that sort of thing with. So long as there are no stories of kids crying, you have my backing.
Smiling happily, Bayley typed out a quick reply.
Thanks, Hunter. I already had that guy's friend at the table first, also with Sasha merch. It was obvious they came to try and get a reaction, so I gave them one. I'll be careful where and when I keep character to that extent.
"This is so much fun," she muttered to herself as she pressed send.
"Sorry?" the driver asked from the front of the car.
"Oh, nothing," Bayley replied, looking up and giving him a smile with the aid of the rear-view mirror. "I'm just having a great time with my job right now."
The driver returned the smile with a genuine one of his own. "Well, that's great. I hope it continues."
A/N: Thank you everyone who left a review last time.
What did you think of Bayley's work at the meet and greet? I have to admit I took inspiration from Ciampa as I saw him doing that kind of thing with fans at Axxess who had Johnny Wrestling shirts on. The people were lapping it up!
Now, as you know, we'll soon be making a start with the new Women's Evolution brand. As ever, I'd love to have some interaction, and for us to build the brand together. So, what I'm going to have you do is suggest tag teams you would like to see competing for the new titles that are going to be introduced. You can leave as many teams as you like in your review, using women who are currently on either Raw, Smackdown or NXT. I'll consider all suggestions, but please put some thought into them so that they make some sense in kayfabe.
I already have one team lined up, but I'm not going to reveal it as yet to avoid spoiling the story.
Have fun, guys! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.