Aliyah recently sat down with Denise Salcedo on her YouTube channel and discussed everything from her time in NXT, her journey to the main roster, and the differences between both brands. When asked about her journey to where she is at today, Aliyah was filled with gratitude.
“Just for it to finally happen, I’m just so blessed, so grateful, so thankful, and the journey doesn’t stop,” Aliyah said. “The hard work doesn’t stop, I’m going to continue to keep grinding, keep working and keep training. Like I said, I’m still training at the Performance Center twice a week so that’s never going to stop with me. I’m a thoroughbred.”
Aliyah also recalled the process of going to the main roster. She would describe what the day was like when she found out about the move.
“I had no idea, I was clueless, to say the least,” Aliyah said. “I was in a program with Robert Stone, he was my manager and one day, I came to TV or I found out the day before TV. You know this is what’s happening, this is what you’re going to be doing. And I just remember my drive that morning to the Performance Center to shoot, I was just in tears. I could not stop crying ’cause I couldn’t fathom that that was the last drive that I was going to make there.”
After finishing her final program on NXT, she would then describe the following weeks. She discussed her new role on the way to becoming an official member of the Smackdown roster.
“The next week or a few weeks after that, I was booked on doing dark matches,” Aliyah said. “So I did the dark match one week and then the next week, I got invited back and just kept getting invited back. Dark matches, dark matches, dark matches, and eventually, the contract was offered and it was there. Haven’t looked back since.”
Now off to a record-breaking start on Smackdown, Aliyah would then chime in on the biggest differences between NXT and Smackdown. Citing the most notable difference being her travel schedule.
“The biggest change is now I am just traveling more,” Aliyah said. “I still feel like I’m the same Aliyah. I still feel like the same Aliyah that wants to get in there and do everything and just have fun. I don’t think that will ever change. So just the travel, it’s a lot different.”
