Rozanne Perez hasn’t even been the NXT Women’s Championship for two weeks, and yet, she’s already been tested considerably, not so much in the ring – no offense Toxic Attraction – but for how she won the title and who she won it off of.

That’s right, while Mandy Rose’s run with the strap was clearly coming to an end, she wasn’t supposed to lose the belt on a random episode of NXT immediately following Deadl1ne, with a bout at New Years Evil or even Vengeance Day seeming like far more realistic last stands for the leader of Toxic Attraction. Then again, when Shawn Michaels and company found out about Perez’s Fan Time page and the sponsors reportedly weren’t too privy on the content she was posting, a change had to be made, and Perez, the winner of the first-ever running of the NXT Iron Survivor Challenge, got her title shot and title a little earlier than anticipated.

Fortunately, Perez doesn’t feel any ill will toward Rose for overshadowing her victory. If anything, Perez credits Rose for helping her to get where she is today, as she detailed to BT Sports.

“Mandy is so amazing,” Perez said (h/t The Wrestling Observer). “She honestly is one of the best and sweetest humans I’ve ever met. Since the moment I stepped into NXT, it’s nerve-wracking to be surrounded by people that you’ve been inspired by and one of my first few matches was against her for the NXT Women’s Championship. She’s always been so sweet to me, she’s always given me the best advice. Before and after the match, she gave me a big hug and we were both crying together. It was cool because she was really happy that she was able to pass it down to me. I’ve gotten so close to her within the last few months. No matter what, she’s going to be amazing, she’s going to do amazing things.”

Is Perez just being nice? Eh, maybe a little bit, but Rose seemed genuinely popular among the ranks of NXT, with Grayson Waller, who isn’t exactly a friendly guy externally, declaring that she was a pillar of the brand alongside himself, Carmelo Anthony, and Bron Breakker. The members of Toxic Attraction also seemed genuinely disappointed to see Rose go, and not just because she was the leader of their faction and the person who was going to continue to work with her on the main roster when the act was inevitably called up. Even if Rose’s run was likely headed for an ending, and she may have even made the jump back up to the main roster alongside her pals, it’s still nice to know that Perez had her moment with the former champ in a sort of backstage changing of the guard.

Roxanne Perez credits Booker T for her whirlwind run in NXT and Ring of Honor.

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Interviewed elsewhere by Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick on After the Bell, Perez was asked about learning the ropes from Booker T as part of his wrestling school and how that experience has affected her in-ring career. Understandably, the lovefest between Perez and Booker is completely mutual.

“I’ve always been such a little mark so the first time I met Booker I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is so crazy.’ Just being able to learn from him and pick his brain and before and after all my matches, I’d go up to him and be like, ‘Hey, do you have any advice for me? What can I do better?’ And he’d always be so open to just help me with anything he could,” Perez said. “I’m so grateful for him, he honestly is like a dad.”

Because of the seasoning, Booker added to Perez’s natural talent, the Texas native was able to run the show in the Ring of Honor women’s tournament and become the first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion, defeating Miranda Alize for the honor. Asked about winning two world championships in the same year, Perez was grateful for the opportunity, even if it wasn’t her ultimate goal in professional wrestling.

“Winning the Ring of Honor Championship, that was so surreal just because of the fact that it made me realize that all of my dreams could truly be possible,” Perez said. “Obviously, my biggest dream was becoming a WWE Champion but becoming the first ever Ring of Honor Champion at 19 years old, it just clicked and I realized all of my wildest dreams are still possible and it honestly just kind of lit a bigger fire in me to just keep going so I can get to that end goal. I still have so many other goals here in the WWE but just accomplishing that one is amazing.”

For how much Perez is attempting to hold the company line and focus on WWE as much as possible, it’s cool that she acknowledged her win and that Graves actually asked the question. No matter how much Perez accomplishes over her career moving forward – which could last what, a few decades? – fans will forever know she was ROH champion first and did it all thanks to some help from Booker T.