For the first time, Mandy Rose speaks about her exit from WWE.
Following the NXT Deadline Premium Live Event, Roxanne Perez challenged Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship. Their match was originally supposed to take place at tonight’s New Year’s Evil special.
Perez went on to become champion and the following day, Rose was released from WWE. It was first reported by Fightful Select that WWE felt they were put in a position where they had to release Rose due to the nature of the content she was posting on her FanTime page, which garnered her a million dollars in a month.
For the first time since her departure from the company, Rose spoke publicly on the matter and appeared on the Tamron Hall Show. Going into the NXT Women’s Title match, Rose was told they were capitalizing off the momentum from the Premium Live Event.
No, I didn’t know why (I was losing the NXT Women’s Championship). I was just told that I was going to be losing the title and we were going off the momentum of a pay-per-view event and this is how it works and like I said, anything can happen so was I shocked? Yeah, of course I was shocked but there was some inclination of just how it went down… what was going on.
Rose was asked at what point was she told the FanTime content was the reason for her being released. She stated that-that was never told to her.
When she found out she was losing the title, she kept things professional and wanted to have a ‘business as usual’ mindset.
I was never told that (my departure was linked to the content I was posting on the fan site)… And regardless of what happens, there’s obviously some confidentiality when it comes down to it too but no, I was never told that and I just, as the professional woman that I am, when I’m told I’m gonna be losing the title, that’s what I’m gonna do and I’m gonna get to work.
She could not dive into the specifics of the conversation she had with WWE but did share that a warning was issued to her about the content and she complied.
Well, unfortunately, like I said, it’s confidentiality and I can’t really address that but, there was one warning to take it down and I complied and that was it.
A photo of Rose with the NXT Women’s Title and NXT UK Women’s Title covering her body was shown on-screen. It was mentioned that WWE reposted that image and Rose was asked to share if she feels there is hypocrisy going on.
The studio audience agreed with the point that it is hypocrisy on WWE’s part which drew laughter from Mandy. She does not feel she was wronged by the company and is grateful for them. She added that she was more hurt and disappointed by how things ended.
So, I don’t have any control on how they [WWE] run their business or what they think is right or wrong. That’s their thing…
I don’t think I was targeted. I think it was just more, you know, everyone has their own opinion. I don’t see anything wrong with that photo as they didn’t either and everyone has their own opinion of what they think is appropriate and whatnot.
Because of everything that’s happened since then, everything happens for a reason and I can’t even say I was wronged because I am so forever grateful for everything the WWE has presented me with. So, I can’t sit here and say I was wronged or not because — I’m hurt, 100 percent. I’m very hurt. No one wants to get that call that they’re being fired from any job, right? So I was very hurt, I was very disappointed. I was disappointed so much more because of everything that I’ve put into the business but just the last year-and-a-half, I was champion for 413 days, I unified those two titles that we just saw. I was the third-longest reigning NXT Women’s Champion. I also created this must-see faction with two other women that I really brought up and I got to see so many women develop their characters and they’re all a lot younger than me and really in the beginning of their careers and to me, that was so important because it was so rewarding for me and so losing the title was obviously a gut punch. I was so disappointed but at the end of the day, my purpose was gone and I think that’s where I kind of felt lost and I felt confused because of all the hard work I put into (it) and driving home from that, a lot of things were going through my mind. You always think there’s a lot of unanswered questions and all that but, at the end of the day, I love what I’ve done in the WWE and I love the platform, what it presented me with so I am forever grateful for them.
As the conversation progressed, Rose opened up about her late brother, Richie. She became emotional while speaking about him.
She would go on to express her excitement about the future and on the topic of a potential return to WWE, Rose has a ‘never say never’ mindset. If one of their terms was she had to take the FanTime page down, there would need to be a conversation about that.
I would say, obviously, never say never. I’m not moving on and looking back and being like — yes, that is my past but, I would say never say never. I don’t know what the future holds.
It’d have to be a conversation (if WWE wanted me to take the fan site down in order to return).
The former NXT Women’s Champion confirmed that she made $1 million from her FanTime page. She said money is not everything but she’s realized the control she has over her brand and likeness. She stated that everyone has to set themselves up for the future.
Yeah (it’s true that I made a million dollars off the fan site)… Long-term (I could have made that at WWE). It would have took me a while for sure.
We all know money isn’t everything… I think what I’ve realized and learned from this whole thing is that my name, image and likeness is extremely valuable and I know big organizations kind of have all the power and they reap the benefits off of that but I what I learned was that — and this is why I say I’m so grateful for them but, the future and what the future holds for me is now I can self-monetize my N.I.L. and I can have complete brand control, complete creative control, a direct relationship with my fans and that right there was I think the moment of empowerment that I have felt and really, really realized because you know, in show business and like you just said here too, you could be here today and gone tomorrow. We all have to set ourselves up for the future.
Rose’s significant other, Sabatino Piscitelli (Tino Sabbatelli) was present for Mandy’s appearance along with fellow members of her family.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the Tamron Hall Show with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
