Mandy Rose is at the top of NXT 2.0’s women’s division. At Halloween Havoc Rose shocked the wrestling world by defeating Raquel Gonzalez for the women’s championship.
On the same night, her stablemates Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne won the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships leaving Toxic Attraction holding all of the gold.
Rose made her surprise return to the brand earlier this year. Since then she has changed her look, attitude and set up one of the most dominant stables in years, Toxic Attraction.
Speaking on to Fightful, Rose revealed when she and how she found about her return to NXT and becoming the leader of Toxic Attraction:
“I got the call and I didn’t really get much explanation, which is kind of the usual. I didn’t expect anything less. It was one of those things where they want you to help some of the other talent out, need a good heel, and I said, ‘Sure. Why not?’
I live in Florida. It’s not that bad of a commute for me. I kind of just went with it, and obviously, it worked out really well. I’m in the process of helping a lot of the other talents and a lot of the other women.
In that process, I think I really evolved myself in the best way possible. I kind of felt like I needed a little bit of a revamp or whatever it may be.
I think we all go through those moments where our characters have to evolve and change a little bit or find some other layers to your character in a sense. I have, and I’m really enjoying this ruthless side of me. I knew I always had it, but sometimes you have to have the time and the space for it.”
Rose’s newfound ruthless side has paid dividends as she now calls herself champion for the first time in her wrestling career.
Rose explains that Dolin and Jayne helped her discover her edgier side and Toxic Attraction is a collaborative stable.
“I didn’t really know them too well obviously when I first went to NXT. I knew they were different from me in the sense of characters and all of that. I knew they were just starting to get on TV, but I liked the idea that they were different.
I thought it was cool because we showed some clips of me and Franky Monet, and I think people thought I was going to join the Robert Stone brand or something like that because that was kind of the obvious.
I think it was cool that we didn’t go with the obvious and that we swerved them into showing that I was going to take these two women under my wing, yet they were very different from me.
Everybody thought they were just going to make the girls look more like Mandy or be more like Mandy Rose, but it was kind of a swerve in the sense that along the process of me helping them, I was the one that became edgier, and they helped me along the process.
It was a collaboration. I always say no matter how experienced you are or how good you are at something, there’s always learning. You do learn while you’re with women that might be in a different stage than you are.
I didn’t come from a wrestling background, but I was always on stage. I’ve always had confidence and had that stage presence. I was able to help the girls showing and being more confident whether it’s in the ring or walking out and doing a promo. It’s very motivating for me.”
h/t to Wrestlingnews.co for the transcript.
What do you make of Mandy Rose’s new ruthless side and Toxic Attraction’s dominance on NXT 2.0? Let us know in the comments below.
