Dormer WWE NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose (Amanda Saccomano) was interviewed on the Power Alphas podcast. She discussed her time in WWE and the success she’s had since her release.
Being reassigned from the main roster to NXT:
“If you want that challenge and you want to strive because someone is also telling you that you’re never going to do this, or you’re never going to become this or you have no shot, that lights a fire under your ass and you’re gonna want to do it even more, and that was a big part of my whole career. That’s why I ended up only doing that one season at Total Divas because it was really important for me to go back to NXT and actually train. The schedule was way too crazy. I didn’t get any training. People thought I was training at the Performance Center when I really wasn’t. So of course, I wasn’t great and we all know it’s all about practice with that, you know, with a lot of sports, but it’s just the grind of wanting to prove to people, but prove to yourself as well, because it’s not always about just proving to people, but that business is you’re surrounded by your fans and they look up to you, but they also they sometimes are your worst critiques, right? They’re like, you know, the ones that you start scrolling on Twitter and it’s like, oh my God. I suck. I botched something. Me personally, if I botched one thing, like I was the worst wrestler in the world and I should probably quit now, hang up the boots, so the pressure was so intense. But for me, I like that. I was like, you know, it was a challenge and I know who I am. I know what I bring to this table. Give me an opportunity with the right training and the right time and the right booking whatever it may be, I know I will flourish and then obviously come NXT two years ago and being a champion for 413 days, I think I got that opportunity and that’s why I’m so grateful and I’m so blessed with everything because you know, there’s no regrets. Like, whatever my path was, I went to the main roster after two years, which was not a lot of training in NXT. I got sent back for whatever reason it was. I humbled myself. I worked my ass off. I did what I had to do and showed the world that I belong here and you know, I’m the baddest b*tch in the room.”
Helping the talent in NXT:
“I was so blessed and honored to be able to help the other girls there too. Like I said, I’m not an expert in wrestling. Some of these girls wrestled a lot longer than I did, but it really wasn’t about the wrestling. It’s not always about wrestling. I became very close with a lot of them. I helped them with just random things like when it comes to when they go up to the main roster and traveling and little things, car rentals, discounts, like you know, it’s all random things that people don’t tell you. Your coaches don’t tell you because it’s all through experience. So I had all that experience that I was able to help them with, so it was very rewarding for me at that moment, because at the same time, I wasn’t just flourishing with myself and my career and everything was going great and I was the, you know, at the top of my career, but I was helping other people, you know, come along with me, which is very, very rewarding.”
Having to do a PPV 10 days after her brother died of a drug overdose:
“Unfortunately, life goes on. Everyone has a job. They have bills to pay, and that’s kind of another thing that I saw, you know, there was a lot of people there for me, but at the same time, it was like, okay, you know, a couple of weeks go by then it was like, life goes on, right? Like, Mandy Rose has to be on TV and look like she’s having a great time, but obviously, there were a lot of things going through my mind, but you know, he was looking down.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
