Mandy Rose has just reached a highlight to her WWE career since returning to NXT.
For the first time since signing with the company, Rose has become a champion as she defeated Raquel Gonzalez this past week at Halloween Havoc. Not only is her career being elevated with her first championship win, but she has been highlighted in a leadership position with her return to the NXT brand.
After working mostly house shows her first run in NXT, Rose was fast-tracked to the main roster as part of Absolution. Along with fellow Tough Enough companion Sonya Deville, both women were taken under the wing of Paige who headed the faction. Now, several years later, Rose feels as though she is stepping into the role that Paige had for her at that time. She is heading Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne), who are now NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
While speaking on the last episode of WWE’s The Bump, Rose discusses how she feels being back in NXT and how she does feel as though she has stepped into a leadership role. When speaking on this full-circle moment in her career she had the following to say.
“Yeah, it does and you know, some people out there have made that comparison. Paige was always an amazing leader for Sonya and I, especially being so early in our career. She always kind of guided us and just gave us some little tips that maybe you don’t think that they’re going to help you in your career whether it’s not relating to wrestling, too. That’s what I feel like I’m doing right now. I have to say, you learn from the best and Paige is one of the best. I’m doing that not just with Toxic Attraction but with the other women as well.”
Rose continues, “I think when you’re developing and when you’re in NXT, sometimes it could be a little overwhelming and it can be stressful because you have a lot of cooks in the kitchen. You’re trying to develop your character and who you are, and it’s really stressful and that’s what I’ve noticed since I’ve been down there is trying to help the girls and just really be in the moment and enjoy the moment. Also, you know, be who you want to be because there’s a lot of people out there that think they know who you are, but you know who you are the most and you know the best. I know that the guys [Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss] can relate too because they went through it and we all have – we all been through it, but it’s one of those things where I’m very motivated by helping them. Also, it’s really rewarding for me because I see some of the girls and I was there at that moment and it’s really sometimes hard and you feel like giving up sometimes because you don’t know what to do. But having someone like me there, who has been in the business for, I don’t know, five, six years, not a long time, but just having some of that experience goes a long way.” [h/t – Fightful]
Check-in with NXT this Tuesday to see what the new reign of Toxic Attraction means for the women’s division.
Diva Dirt will have coverage of this week and every week’s NXT on Tuesdays.
