WWE: Naomi has always been one of the company’s best superstars

After returning to WWE during this year’s Royal Rumble and as this month is Women’s History Month, it’s time to have a look at the career of one of the most important wrestlers in WWE today: Naomi.

Naomi (Trinity Fatu) made her return to a WWE ring during the 2020 Royal Rumble after being absent from television since July 22 on an episode of Main Event. However, since then, Naomi has already shown why she’s such a unique and amazing wrestler from her performance in the women’s rumble and her match with Bayley at Super Showdown.

Her return was met with huge cheers from the crowd and it was a testament to how loved Naomi is by the WWE Universe. For me, she is one of the reasons I got into wrestling and is one, if not, my favourite female wrestler in the world.

Here is a look at Naomi’s career from being a dancer to one of the most inspiring women in WWE.

Naomi was born in Florida and started her entertainment career as a cheerleader and dancer for the NBA Orlando Magic basketball team.

In 2009, Naomi signed a contract with WWE where she started attending the development territory FCW where she was the inaugural FCW Divas Champion. She was then announced as part of the third season of NXT with Kelly Kelly as her pro. Although she lost to Kaitlyn, she made a huge statement and impact on the WWE Universe.

After this, Naomi made her main roster debut as part of The Funkadactyls with Cameron who acted as valets for Brodus Clay. Over time, the duo started having more matches and feuds with the likes of the Bella Twins which included the famous cancelled WrestleMania 29 match. This was also around the time that Naomi joined the Total Divas cast and became a main character in the popular E! series (which is how I found out about wrestling). Through this and her improved wrestling, fans were really started to connect to Naomi and fall in love with her.

In 2015 however, something changed. Previously, we had seen Naomi in a lot of tag matches, small scale singles bouts and accompanying her husband Jimmy Uso and his tag partner Jay Uso.

After failing to capture the Divas title off Nikki Bella, Naomi formed an alliance with Tamina and then, after the announcement of the Divas Revolution, NXT Divas Champion Sasha Banks which created team B.A.D. This was the first time Naomi had been a heel and it breathed new life into her character allowing us to see a completely different side to her.

For me, Naomi’s time really came in 2016 during the WWE Brand Split where Naomi was drafted to SmackDown. It was on Aug. 16 on SmackDown Live when she debuted her new Feel the Glow Gimmick establishing herself as the babyface we all knew she was at heart. From this split, Naomi was getting more and more television time and higher calibre matches with less women to compete with for exposure.

The climax of this high was on Feb. 12 during the Elimination Chamber where she beat Alexa Bliss to win her first title on the main roster. More importantly, it was also the first time an African American woman captured a title. Unfortunately, the company’s long-term approach to Naomi was on the show sooner rather than later.

After injuring her ankle, Naomi was forced to relinquish the title nine days later as she wouldn’t be able to defend the title as required by the 30-day clause. For me, this wasn’t right as so many stars had gone longer than 30 days without defending and never had to relinquish.

Luckily, Naomi finally got her Wrestlemania moment that year recapturing the title in her hometown. It was a victory so many Naomi fans have been begging for and it was some sort of hope that the company was ready to invest in the glow.

Her reign was full of amazing title defences and was most notable for the amazing ‘Feel the Glow’ makeover to the WWE SmackDown Women’s title which really cemented Naomi’s legacy as a champion. This reign almost made up for the tragedy of Naomi’s first title reign and she held the title for 140 days before losing it to friend Natalya at an amazing match during SummerSlam.

Naomi then continued to shine making a huge impact during the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank. Yet, Naomi then seemed to vanish from television and it was soon revealed as being due to bereavement and to focus on her health.

However, Naomi returned a few months later in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble to an amazing reaction. Her performance showed us why Naomi is such a special talent. After making a statement that she was back and racking up important wins, Naomi was granted a title match against Bayley during the Super Showdown.

Although she didn’t win the title, I feel like this might just be the start. Even with these opportunities too far and few, Naomi fans are able to see a glimpse of what the future could hold.

One day, it will be Naomi’s time to take over the entire women’s division again including RAW, SmackDown and NXT.

Personal Take:

On a more personal note, here’s my own personal views on Naomi because she is such an important part of my own wrestling journey.

I love Naomi. Plain and simple. It was because of seeing her online and the clips during Total Divas that I fell in love with wrestling. For me, she is talent that has been majorly overlooked since the rise of talent from NXT despite her amazing wrestling skills, personality and gimmick that was all of her own making. For me, her innovative wrestling style is something we haven’t seen from another superstar in WWE.

Despite winning the SmackDown Women’s Title and being given opportunities, I don’t think that WWE realise how special she is and haven’t utilised on these amazing qualities Naomi has. With her gimmick and wrestling talent, she has the ability to be one of the best champions possible as well as a role model for people everywhere.

Naomi has grown immensely over the years through the Divas Era and now cementing herself as a huge part of the Women’s Evolution. The world is still her oyster and the world will always need to feel more Glow.