As the leader of Toxic Attraction, NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose is shining on WWE NXT 2.0.
But once upon a time, she starred in an emotional romance storyline with Otis, which initially culminated in the two stars kissing at WWE WrestleMania 36.
In an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Rose looked back on this run and called one of its early highlights, when Otis memorably caught her in his arms at WWE Royal Rumble 2020, as one of the top moments in her career. She recalled how much she appreciated the crowd’s response because it showed that the fans were invested in the story she and Otis were telling. Rose also described how she and Sonya Deville were actively involved in the creative process behind the storyline, which branched off into a rivalry between the two partners.
“That was probably still, you know, top two, now I have obviously the Women’s Champion moment so that’s top number one, but that was definitely one of the top moments of my career because just getting that crowd reaction,” said Rose. “When I finally stood back up on the apron and the crowd just erupted and obviously the fans were really behind Otis and our storyline, and I think it was that beauty and the beast type. And they saw a different side of me as well, which was kind of cool.
“And the process of being involved with Dolph and Sonya, and there were so many parts to the story, and we were really much involved in that storyline in the creative aspect of it. Like Sonya and I were really on top of things because we really wanted to make this storyline and this kind of feud be amazing. And obviously a couple outlets in the end didn’t turn out the best because of the situation. But I think overall, that was during the pandemic and it was one of those moments, at WrestleMania as well, where we had no fans, but we had like the biggest social reaction of the year, which was really cool. And it was just a lot of fun.”
As Rose noted, the storyline may not have had the satisfying ending many fans were hoping for; she and Otis were split up due to an anticlimactic trade, and the romance somewhat fizzled out from there. Still, Rose described how this storyline let her show Vince McMahon himself her creative drive, as she took the initiative to appoach the chairman with the pitch for the program. The NXT Women’s Champion also shared her belief that McMahon a new level of respect for her.
“There was like a few interactions I had with Vince,” said Rose. “There was one right in the beginning when I first got to Monday Night RAW. And then the one with the Otis storyline, I actually went in there and pitched that whole thing. And I think that’s when, like coming from the reaction I got from Vince, is when, I think that’s when he kind of was finally like, ‘Wow, that’s an amazing idea,’ and that I took the initiative to go in there and come up with this idea and have an plan for how it ends, and the whole storyline and how it leads up to it.
“And I think he really gained a lot more respect for me in that sense because he loved the idea, but he also thought it was really cool that I took the initiative to come in because he likes that. So that was a really cool moment that I had with him as well.”
The full interview is available here:
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