This past June, Blake Monroe, formerly known as Mariah May, shocked the world when she made the jump from AEW to "WWE NXT," where she capitalized on her success in the Jacksonville-based promotion and took her talents to Orlando, Florida. When Monroe first made her "NXT" debut, many fans questioned if she would be allowed to keep "The Glamour" gimmick, or if she would be re-packaged into a different persona, and during a recent interview with"The Masked Man Show,"the former AEW Women's World Champion explained how WWE elevated her character.
"That's another amazing thing I've experienced here, is it's such a collaboration ... My character's shaped in different ways and I knew coming to WWE, they were going to take what I did and make it bigger. That was such a huge appeal," she explained. "I always loved that I was so glamorous, but my in ring work was legit, and that comes from training in Japan. That comes from being a wrestling fan ...something I talked with them about before I even came to Florida was how can we make "The Glamour" bigger and better?"
Monroe also believes that her in-ring work is consistent, but herwardrobe, makeup, and promos often change from a visual perspective, as experimenting with her character has been one of the main reasons she wanted to sign with "NXT" instead of the main roster.
Monroe continued by explaining why she chose to leave AEW for WWE, stating that she thrives on being challenged and wanted to begin storylines and wrestle talent that she's never locked up with in her career.
"WWE is just huge. It's such a massive entertainment company and I think for me, as a women's wrestler, that was the big appeal with WWE. And I've wrestled all over the world and I've moved countries a few times and I always pride myself on how I can adapt, how I can pick up challenges and that's kind of what motivates me ... there are so many women that are fantastic that I want to wrestle, I want to have storylines with and I think for me, it's just kind of focusing on what do I want to achieve at WWE and that's to tell these stories to make people feel something."
Monroe admitted that signing with WWE was a difficult life-altering decision, but its also been the most exciting experiences of her career thus far. Since signing with WWE, Monroe managed to capture the Women's North American Championship, but she was accidentally dethroned by Thea Hail last week when she reportedly was never planned to lose the title.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Masked Man Show" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
