Last autumn, WWE announced WWE ID, a program aiming to support and further advance independent wrestling talents and schools. WrestleZone’s Ella Jay recently caught up with indie veteran Ray Lyn to gather her thoughts on the program, which she describes as an “amazing opportunity” for her peers.
“It’s helpful for them,” said the two-time ICW Women’s Champion. “When you get into indie wrestling, you make no money at first. So you’ll see these talented people come and burn out really quick. They get hurt, they run out of money. I think [WWE ID] is awesome because they’re feeding into it to help these young wrestlers get more reps in, be able to make towns that they might not have been able to make.
“I think that’s incredible to help develop the talent before they get to TV,” she continued. “The [WWE] Performance Center is great and all, but working in front of a live audience and going to different towns and working with people that you maybe met 10 minutes ago, there’s nothing to replace that experience with that you can throw at someone at the Performance Center.”
Ray Lyn Makes Her Pick For The WWE ID Tournament
Next weekend, WWE will kick off the inaugural WWE ID tournaments in Las Vegas, with the winners being crowned as the Men’s and Women’s WWE ID Champions, respectively. The Women’s ID Champion will be determined through a round robin format.
All current female WWE ID prospects — Kylie Rae, Zayda Steel, Zoe Sager, and Zara Zakher — are confirmed for this tournament. Rising star Izzy Moreno will have an opportunity to enter it as well when she takes on Zakher in a non-tournament match as a part of GCW’s The Collective on April 16. Should she defeat Zakher, Moreno will officially be added to the round robin mix. If not, the women’s tournament will default to the four aforementioned WWE ID prospects.
Who should be the first-ever Women’s WWE ID Champion, though? For Ray Lyn, her heart lies with fellow veteran Kylie Rae.
“I am [rooting for Kylie], but Zara Zakher, I saw her on this show and I was like ‘Who is this?’ The athleticism, I can’t even. I think they said something she was like 10 months in at the time. She moves like she’s been in the ring for 10 years. That’s awesome,” Lyn said.
“Zayda, I watched at MCW when she started there. She’s really, really improved so much in the ring and her personality is larger than life. I love it, I don’t know much about Zoe. I’ve seen a few of Zoe’s matches, I don’t really know as much about Zoe as the other three. I’m pulling for Kylie, vet card, let’s go Kylie.”
Watch our full interview with Ray Lyn below:
