Bayley Pamela Rose Martinez ( June 15 , 1989 ) is an American female professional wrestler who is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment , performing on the Raw brand under the ring name Bayley , where she is the current WWE Women ' s Champion in her first reign . She is also a one - time NXT Women ' s Champion . Early life . Martinez states she has been a fan of professional wrestling since the age of eleven . Drawn to athletics , Martinez has competed in track , basketball and martial arts and has even done juggling and pogo sticking . At age 18 , she began seriously training for professional wrestling . Professional wrestling career . Independent circuit ( 2008 – 2012 ) . Martinez had been attending shows by Big Time Wrestling , a professional wrestling promotion in Northern California , since she was 11 . She started her professional wrestling career at the age of 18 in April 2008 by attending Big Time Wrestling ' s training classes by her head trainer Jason Styles , which was one of the reasons why Martinez considered Big Time Wrestling as her home promotion . She had her first match in September 2008 . On the American independent circuit , Martinez wrestled under the ring name " Davina Rose " . From 2011 to 2012 , Rose branched out to wrestle for other promotions like NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and Shine Wrestling . Rose first met her mentor Serena in October 2010 when they teamed together for a tag team match . When Rose made her debut for Shimmer Women Athletes in October 2011 at the tapings of Shimmer Volume 41 - 44 ; she became embroiled in Serena ' s feud with the Canadian Ninjas ( Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews ) . At the tapings , Rose lost all four matches wrestled including her debut match to Mercedes Martinez . Rose continued to wrestle for Shimmer in 2012 and she received her first victory on Volume 48 as she teamed with Mia Yim to defeat Melanie Cruise and Mena Libra ; on Volumes 51 and 52 , Rose picked up her first two singles victories in Shimmer with wins over Cherry Bomb and Rhia O ' Reilly . WWE . NXT ( 2012 – 2016 ) . Martinez joined the WWE in early 2013 , appearing on it NXT program under the name of Bayley . She wrestled her first match on the February 21 edition of WWE NXT , losing to Paige . Bayley competed in the first round of the NXT Women ' s Championship Tournament on June 12 , losing to Alicia Fox . She competed in her first title match in WWE , facing the reigning champion AJ Lee on the August 21 edition of NXT . On the September 4 edition of NXT , Bayley teamed with Charlotte against Aksana and Alicia Fox in a winning effort for her first win in WWE . On the September 25 edition of NXT , Bayley was defeated by the heel - turned Sasha Banks . On November 6 , Bayley was targeted by the BFFs ( Sasha Banks and Summer Rae ) , which led to Charlotte coming to her defense , despite being annoyed by Bayley ' s persona . On the following edition of NXT , Bayley and Charlotte competed in a losing effort against Banks and Rae , with the loss coming after Bayley was attacked by Charlotte during the match . On the December 11 edition of NXT , Bayley teamed with Natalya in a losing effort to Banks and Rae , but she would defeat Rae in singles action on the January 8 , 2014 edition of NXT . Three weeks later , Bayley defeated Banks in singles action . Bayley would defeat Banks again on the March 20 edition of NXT . On the May 1 episode of NXT , Bayley failed to advance in the tournament for the vacant NXT Women ' s Championship after losing to Banks in the first round . On the June 12th episode of NXT , Bayley scored the victory over the new NXT Women ' s Champion Charlotte in a six - Diva tag team match . On the August 7 episode of NXT , Bayley defeated Eva Marie . On the August 14 episode of NXT , Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to become the # 1 Contender to the NXT Women ' s Championship . She repeated the feat on August 28 when Banks challenged her to a rematch . At " NXT Takeover : Fatal 4 Way " , Bayley was unsuccessful in capturing the championship from Charlotte . On the September 25 edition of " NXT " " , " Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss in singles action , and later challenged Charlotte to a rematch for the NXT Women ' s Championship , which she lost on the following week . She was later attacked by Sasha Banks in a backstage interview segment , which led to a match on the October 23 edition of " NXT " , which Bayley lost via submission . She was later attacked by Banks after the match until Becky Lynch saved her ; however , Lynch would undergo a villainous turn and attack Bayley in the ring . Later , Bayley formed an alliance with former rival Charlotte to feud with Banks and Lynch throughout the following several weeks . On November 27 , Bayley was attacked by Banks and Lynch , injuring her knee in the storyline . She returned on January 21 , 2015 , saving Charlotte from an attack by Banks and Lynch . At " NXT Takeover : Rival " , Bayley competed in a Fatal 4 - Way match for the NXT Women ' s Championship , but she was defeated by Sasha Banks . Bayley was again defeated by Becky Lynch on the February 25 edition of " NXT " " . " Bayley began an angle with Emma on the March 4 episode of " NXT " , where Emma began mocking Bayley ' s niceness and stating that it kept her from winning the NXT Women ' s Championship , leaving Emma in the process of turning heel . Bayley was again confronted by Emma on the March 25 episode of " NXT " , and later argued against Emma ' s statements and said that the fans made her # 1 Contender for the NXT Women ' s Championship twice . In response , Emma delivered a slap to Bayley to solidify her heel turn . Bayley defeated Emma on the April 1 edition of " NXT . " " " On the April 29 episode of " NXT " , Bayley was defeated by Dana Brooke after a distraction by Emma . Bayley would gain revenge on Emma the following week , where she would attack her after Emma ' s loss to Charlotte in a match . At on May 20 , Bayley teamed up with Charlotte to defeat Emma and Dana Brooke . On the May 27 episode of " NXT " , Bayley was defeated by Emma via submission , and after the match , she and Charlotte were attacked by Emma and Dana Brooke . After some hiatus due to a broken hand , Bayley returned on the July 22 episode of NXT , where she defeated Emma and announced her goal to become the next NXT Women ' s Champion . Bayley would then challenge Charlotte to a match , which Bayley won , on the August 5 episode of NXT . On the August 12 episode of NXT , Bayley defeated Becky Lynch in a Number One Contender ' s Match to earn a shot at the NXT Women ' s Championship against Sasha Banks at . At the event , Bayley defeated Banks to capture the NXT Women ' s Championship . After the match , Bayley celebrated with Banks , Becky Lynch and Charlotte . Bayley successfully defended it against Banks at NXT Takeover : Respect in a 30 minute Iron Man Match . Bayley would continue to defend it against the likes of Nia Jax , Eva Marie , Carmella and Alexa Bliss , until Asuka unseated her at , by passing out to the Asuka Lock . On July 24 at Battleground , Bayley made her WWE main roster and pay - per - view debut in a one - off appearance as Sasha Banks ' s mystery tag team partner , defeating Charlotte and Dana Brooke . On the July 27 episode of " NXT " , Bayley asked NXT ' s general manager William Regal a rematch against Asuka for the NXT Women ' s Championship at , which he granted . Two weeks later on the August 10 episode of " NXT " , a contract signing was held between both women , which they would signed and subsequently accept . At the event on August 20 , Bayley failed to regain the title . Raw ( 2016 – present ) . On the August 22 , 2016 episode of " Raw " , Bayley officially debuted on the main roster and challenged the WWE Women ' s Champion Charlotte for her title , with Charrlotte denying the challenge and instead volunteered her protege Dana Brooke to face Bayley instead . Bayley won and challenged Charlotte for the title at Clash of Champions . That match resulted into a Triple Threat alongside Sasha Banks , which Charlotte retained . Personal life . Martinez cites Randy Savage , The Rock , The Hardy Boyz , Lita , Ivory , Victoria and Triple H as her influences in wrestling . She enjoys juggling , pogo sticking and playing basketball .