Mandy Rose Talks Moving to NXT – The ‘God’s Greatest Creation‘, Mandy Rose, has just reached a highlight to her WWE career since returning to NXT, as she’s now helding a Title for the first time since signing with the company.
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.
Rose was interviewed on the Fightful podcast to talk about her main roster run, her return to NXT, working with Otis, Vince McMahon and more.
Here are some highlights:
Mandy Rose talked about her move back to NXT:
“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 on working with Toxic Attraction:
“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.”
Rose talking about working with Vince McMahon and pitching the idea for the storyline she had with Otis:
“When you had a creative idea and you wanted to go right to Vince, I would wait by his door, obviously, just like everyone else and hopefully get in there. He’s a very busy man and very hard to get to. Sometimes you would wait all day and literally like he would just walk out and you don’t want to bother him. There were a few interactions I had with Vince for sure. There was one right at the beginning when I first got to Monday Night RAW. Then the one with the Otis storyline, I actually went in there and pitched that whole thing. I think that’s when, coming from the reaction I got from Vince, is when I think that’s when he finally was like, ‘Wow, that’s an amazing idea and I took the initiative to go in there, come up with this idea, have a plan for how it ends, the whole storyline, and how it leads up to it.’ I think he really gained a lot more respect for me in that sense because he loved the idea, but he also thought it was really cool that I took the initiative to come in because he likes that. That was a really cool moment that I had with him as well.”
