Blair Davenport has arrived in NXT UK and now we know a bit more about how the woman known to fans as Bea Priestley made it all work.
Davenport recently spoke to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy and explained how she ended up signing with WWE under its NXT UK brand, calling it “the right opportunity and the right timing” for herself.
“There were so many other things that I wanted to do first and I didn’t want to be in the position where I would make such a big jump in my career and wish I could’ve done things before coming here. I wanted to do everything that I wanted to do, then come to this part in my life,” she explained. “During the pandemic, there was a small window. Obviously, I got cut from AEW because my visa expired and there was no hope for a new visa happening at that time.”
Davenport explained how she went back to Japan when there was a small window that allowed travel in August 2020, but then started to feel like she accomplished all that she could in Stardom and looked for something new. She says she got in touch with WWE from there, and although she spent some time at home, NXT UK is “definitely where I want to be right now.”
Changing her name from Bea Priestley to Blair Davenport wasn’t her call to make, but the former Stardom Champion says she knew she could make it work and looks at it as a new opportunity.
“I was offered a bunch of first and last names. It wasn’t my first choice,” she noted, “but it was put to me like, ‘Can you make it work?’ I’m quite confident like, ‘I can make anything work, we’ll work it.’
“It’s like a fresh start. Bea Priestley is awesome but even from my last match in Japan in April, I am not that version of me anymore. I’ve progressed from that point and this is the new element of me. It’s a new way to recreate yourself and feel refreshed. It’s not a clean slate because I don’t want to forget everything I’ve done, ” she explained, “but this is the next level now.”
Read More: Bea Priestley Arrives In NXT UK As ‘Blair Davenport’
