WWE NXT's Bayley talks about being in Philadelphia, NXT's women's division and more

NXT superstar Bayley sat down to talk with philly.com Thursday before an NXT even at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.

Here's a transcript of the interview:

Vaughn Johnson: What are you thoughts going into tonight? This is a big show.

Bayley: This is going to be the second-largest crowd I've ever been in front. The first was San Jose [California], which is my hometown so that was extra special no matter how many people were there. It's really cool, especially for wrestling. I grew up watching wrestling and Philly is such a huge wrestling community. With all of the history, even in this building, it's really cool to be a part of.

On the plane ride here I was thinking a lot about it. Like "I can't believe I'm going with NXT and representing them and being a part of this huge show." It's only like our second or third time outside of Florida having shows and I've been lucky enough to be a part of all of them. On this show we have Sasha [Banks] and Charlotte in the main event so it's really cool just to be on a show where the divas are represented so well. It's special for everyone I think.

Johnson: What do you think about how NXT has just exploded in the last year as a brand?

Bayley: It's really crazy. I noticed it the first week when NXT aired when the [WWE] Network first started, and the first week of the network I think NXT was show that the network aired. I noticed even on Twitter where I got such a bigger following and a lot of newer fans seeing NXT for the first time. It feels like ever since the network [launche] it just kept going and going and going. I knew big things were happening, but I didn't really expect it to happen this fast. I don't think any of us really did, but in a way it's not surprising. It's just, "Wow!" It's really cool.

Johnson: You go to NXT thinking you're going to be kind of hidden away, but now you're sort of on the forefront.

Bayley: Yeah, it's weird. These fans see us much more than I see myself because I feel like I'm just this kid living my dream and lucky enough to be represented by this company and surrounded by all of these awesome people. [The fans] appreciate it so much and you can tell when you get to meet them at these signings.

Just on the Florida shows, we meet a lot of cool people that come from anywhere in the United States. We get a lot of people from England that come to our Orlando shows for Disney World or wherever, so they're like, "We wanted to make sure NXT was a stop for us." It's awesome. I love hearing it. I wish we did meet-and-greets when we do these shows so I can kind of talk to people and figure out how they got into it or when they got into it.

Johnson: What do you think about how the women are treated on NXT?

Bayley: That's been like a huge topic today actually. I always get emotional talking about it. It's really, really cool and I feel like all of us that are involved right now, it's so amazing because we're all here at one time and I'm such a believe in things happening for a reason. There's a reason why we're all here at one time. It seems like ever since the first ArRival we had Emma and Paige and they set the bar so high, so at the next event we had to step it up. They just keep stepping it up.

We were talking about people putting pressure on us like, 'Man, you guys are so good. What are you going to do when you get to the main roster?" It's not pressure. It's like a challenge. We just keep overcoming all of these things and working together. There's an amazing group of girls right now. You see Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky [Lynch], myself, all of us that are on these shows all of the time, but there's also girls coming up like Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke and those girls and it's all growing. It's amazing.

Johnson: Your character is always bright, bubbly, positive kind of attitude. What kind of effect does that character have on the fans you meet?

Bayley: I get a lot of people who just feel like … it's just a feeling. They go, "Oh, your personality is so contagious." It's just cool. It's just a natural connection, and I honestly think it's from being a fan from when I was a kid to being on this side and being on that side of the guard rail. I've been there so I know how they're feeling and how they feel when they see this going on so it's just like a friendship kind of.