After taking her NXT future into her own hands – literally – at Roadblock, fans eagerly anticipated a response from Roxanne Perez, the former Woman's Champion who notoriously never lost her belt before having it stripped last spring.
Finally afforded a chance to provide her side of the story, Perez celebrated her actions, noting that she's been overlooked for too long, including by fans eager to see the next big thing at the Performance Center, from Tiffany Stratton to Becky Lynch.
“Last week is exactly what happens when you get sick and tired of trying to play by all the rules. That sweet, innocent Roxanne Perez that was just happy to be here is no longer here, and it's in your hands. Because let's be honest, this isn't something that just happened overnight. No, this has been boiling up inside me for months and months and months. This is a culmination of an entire year. You guys remember Roadblock one year ago, after defeating a living legend in Meiko Satomura, and giving everything I had, I collapsed inside this ring. And yeah, of course, of course I collapsed. After four months of me carrying this entire women's division on the back of my shoulders. The pressure, the anxiety, the exhaustion that I had to deal with after having the best Rookie year in WWE history. And how was I rewarded? How was I rewarded? My title was taken from me. And no one cared. No one cared. ‘Don't worry, Roxanne. Your time will come again. You're so young. It'll swing back around. 12 months. 12 months of me busting my a** in Steel Cage matches, Weapons Wild matches, Devil's Playground matches, while everyone else was too busy drooling over Tiffy Time or Becky Lynch winning a championship she could never win,” Roxanne Perez told fans at the Performance Center.
“Oh, okay, you know what? Let's talk about Becky. Cuz I wanna talk about that. Me and Becky Lynch, face-to-face, inside this ring, and you guys acted like I didn't even exist. You guys wanna know something? I went home crying that night because of how everyone made me feel. How pathetic, right? How pathetic. So screw you guys, screw all of you guys for booing me and making me feel like I was worthless. But now? Now? I don't care what you guys think. I don't care about anyone's stupid opinions. I am the most decorated woman in WWE NXT history. At the age of only what, 22? Breakout Tournament winner, Iron Survivor winner, Women's Tag Champion, Women's Champion, I have won everything.”
Goodness, no wonder Perez is turning heel; being overlooked in what should have been one of the top moments of her career is enough to sour even the most optimistic grappler on their relationship with the fans. Fortunately, Perez is taking her future into her own hands and now has a chance to get back on top on her terms, even if she has to ruffle a few feathers along the way.
"Let's talk about Becky"@roxanne_wwe didn't hold ANYTHING back 😳#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/2Sq9YL7td6
— WWE (@WWE) March 13, 2024
Roxanne Perez believes it's her time to return to the top of NXT.
Continuing her one-woman tour through her NXT enemies list, Roxanne Perez turned her attention to Lyra Valkyria, the current Woman's Champion and performer she injured at Roadblock. After failing to land a rematch with the Champ fair and square, Perez believes the timing is right to get back on top.
“Which brings me to Lyra Valkyria. You know, after Vengeance Day, I expected Lyra to come up to me and say ‘hey! I'm sorry, Roxanne. I'm so sorry that that Latina dancing idiot and my weirdo friend I pretend to like screwed up our match. So let's run it back. Let me give you the rematch that you deserve.' No, my name never came out of Lyra's mouth. You know what she did? She went after the tag titles. Yeah. That's when I realized that the only way I was going to get what I deserved was by breaking the rules and doing it my way,” Roxanne Perez declared.
“And now, now everyone wants to cheer me, right? Now everyone wants to support me. But where the h*ll were all of you guys when Indi Hartwell was holding my championship? No one, no one cared then. The NXT Universe reminds me of little Roxanne Perez. Naïve, confused, you don't know what you want, but guess what? I know exactly what I want now. And I don't need anyone's support or anyone's approval. It's funny. It's so funny the way history repeats itself, right Lyra? One year later, you're the one taking that ride in that ambulance. And that pain you're feeling right now isn't the pain from your arm. No, that's the pain of your title being ripped away from you and awarded to me. So now, thanks to The Prodigy, you all have witnessed the rise and fall of Lyra Valkyria.”
If Valkyria is forced to relinquish her title ahead of Stand and Deliver, does Perez have a viable case to recapture the title moving forward? Maybe yes, maybe no, but if she can stack a few wins over the next few weeks, it'll be pretty hard to keep this new version of the “Prodigy” off the South Philly card.
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