WWE NXT women’s champion Charlotte appeared on the new episode of the PWI Podcast and spoke about being voted as the “Rookie of the Year” for 2014 and more. Here are the highlights.
On being voted Rookie of the Year: “I was shocked when I read the news because there’s so much great talent out there, especially this year, especially with NXT getting so much exposure,” she said. “A lot of talent was shown to the world and to be voted by the fans… especially that they believed in me and they thought that I had progressed enough in a pool of so many amazing talents in NXT—in the whole world, I guess—I’m just honored.”
On her start getting into the wrestling business: “Honestly, I grew up always playing sports,” Charlotte explained. “I never in a million years thought that I was going to be a WWE/NXT Diva. I was in Miami when the Four Horsemen were inducted—it was me, my little brother Reid and my dad. We were sitting with Johnny Laurinaitis at dinner and they were just kind of talking and joking like, ‘You know, Ashley, you should really give it a go’ and at that point I was just personal training in Charlotte and my little brother was an aspiring wrestler… and he was pretty much my motivation. I wanted to do it with him and I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’ But of course, my dad had a huge pep talk with me and he said, ‘Listen… if you’re going to do this, you have to put your whole heart into it. Don’t just go down there because this is one huge opportunity and… it’s not easy. You need to get mentally tough and you have to put everything into it—as much as volleyball, gymnastics, cheerleading—into it to wrestling (in) FCW [now NXT]’.”
