WWE NXT: Candice LeRae Is Becoming The Determined, Tough Face We Needed
There is no doubt that Candice LeRae came into WWE NXT as one of the toughest wrestlers on the planet and the most accomplished intergender wrestler. LeRae has beaten up the likes of Kevin Owens on the Independent circuit, making her perfectly equipped to handle everything even the most remorseless of heels will throw at her.
WWE NXT is perhaps the best brand at booking babyfaces in all of wrestling, because they are able to build good guys that are eminently rootable. Bayley, Johnny Gargano, and Sami Zayn are just three faces who quickly became fan favorites in title chases, and Candice LeRae could easily become one of them soon.
LeRae’s accolades on the Independent scene in both intergender and women’s wrestling are well-understood. She even won the PWG World Tag Team Championship with Joey Ryan, as the two called themselves the “World’s Cutest Tag Team”.
The NXT Universe was initially disappointed that LeRae was seemingly typecast as the “concerned wife”, and she seemed a bit too dainty when she was taken out by Tommaso Ciampa. LeRae even seemed unwilling to support Johnny Gargano because his match against Ciampa was “too dangerous”. However, before NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, she handed a crutch to Gargano and told him to kick Ciampa’s ass.
That was the first sign that LeRae wouldn’t be watered down as a tough, bad-ass babyface in NXT. The second sign? What she did last night on NXT Television when she saw Shayna Baszler.
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A quintessential bully, Baszler is the NXT Women’s Champion, and she has absolutely no respect for anyone else in that locker room. She’s said as much in segments backstage, making the likes of Dakota Kai a punching bag for her. Baszler believes she is beyond reproach, and she is so entitled that she thinks nobody can step to her. Like any bully, Baszler inspires fear in the hearts of others, playing off of this fear in the hopes that nobody will stand up to her.
But LeRae has dealt with some of the most cruel and heartless wrestlers on this planet, even taking Adam Cole to the limit at one point in her career. So LeRae, who has bled out from the head and taken some of the most insane moves that one could imagine, wasn’t about to back down from a fight against Baszler.
While being interviewed by “reporters” outside Full Sail, LeRae saw Baszler just chilling by a production truck, and she called the Queen of Spades out for some insulting comments. Baszler wasn’t taking LeRae seriously, so Candice Wrestling decided to make a statement. And with a simple slap in the face that turned into a brawl, LeRae showed the NXT Universe why Gargano calls her his favorite wrestler in the world.
See, LeRae went blow for blow with one of NXT’s scariest wrestlers. Not only is Baszler the champ, but she’s managed to avoid getting a fight taken to her in this way. Nikki Cross played mindgames with Baszler, but what Candice did was more meaningful. Because she was the one who instigated the physicality with Baszler, and there’s a lot to be said for that.
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In my mind, Candice has the opportunity to be one of NXT’s most memorable babyfaces, and she won’t simply be covered by the shadow of Gargano. Candice has her principles and stands by them. She backs down to nobody. And she’s a future NXT Women’s Champion with her first opportunity to become a No. 1 contender coming next week in a Fatal Four-Way match with Kairai Sane, Bianca Belair, and Nikki. The question is, is she already ready to win that title?