Moving Mandy Rose to NXT was the best situation for her

After being on the main roster for quite some time, Mandy Rose most recently started appearing on NXT, the reason for her being there as mysterious as how they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar.

Regardless, she’s evidently there to stay for a spell, as she hasn’t been seen on the main roster TV shows since. In this article, we’ll take a look at why moving Mandy Rose to NXT was the best situation for her.

“…Every rose has its thorn…”

Like the Poison song undoubtedly says, Rose is, respectfully speaking, a gorgeous woman. Perhaps that goes without saying, but the industry of professional wrestling has made it hard on women from the get-go.

All that the women in the sport have achieved has come from the trend-setters and the athletic women who took women’s wrestling from the archaic representation of the Divas, to where it is today; stars like Trish Stratus, Mickie James, Gail Kim, Beth Phoenix, Lita and, of course, Molly Holly.

To say that Mandy represents both schools of thought, though, would be fair. But she’s an athlete first.

She started in the fitness industry, having even competed in bodybuilding. Yet after placing second on Tough Enough, she was still signed to a contract with WWE, she obviously having impressed the powers that be.

She started in NXT and eventually moved up to the main roster. But, to stick to the point made in the header of this section, she packs a wallop in the ring, her style similar to the legendary Trish Stratus.

Her work improved as the years progressed. It was obvious she was working hard on her wrestling technique, and as time went on, her matches got faster and sturdier, her balance showing through, as well as her confidence and conviction.

Running with Sonya Deville

Her most notable time on the main roster definitely came during her run with then-tag partner Sonya Deville. The two were obviously well-matched in style, stamina, and conditioning.

They were first teamed up as a faction involving Paige. They were named Absolution. But after the disseverment of the trio, Rose and Deville stayed together. According to Wikipedia, it was at the Evolution pay-per-view, that a possible seed hinting at a feud between the team members would be planted in the minds of anyone watching, as Rose eliminated her partner in a battle royal.

Regardless, the two continued on as a team, with Rose eventually working a pretty popular angle with Naomi…a love-triangle-type storyline worthy of Days of Our Lives. Eventually, the two would go their separate ways.

Putting her with Dana Brooke was perhaps not the best idea

After her feud with Deville ended, she would be paired with Dana Brooke after yet another love story angle with Otis, this time in 2020. She and Brooke were paired together because of similar backgrounds in fitness.

Brooke hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since the company abandoned a feud between them and the women’s tag champions, Natalya and Tamina.

The two did their best to push the angle, between posing and flexing, complete with biceps poses, and trying to look as similar as possible in the wardrobe department, but it has since been abandoned. And while we’re at it, abandoning angles quite suddenly seems to be a thing lately in WWE, doesn’t it?

What she can accomplish at NXT

So, seeing that WWE has decided to send her over to NXT, maybe she can revitalize her career; essentially remind people what she’s all about, and it isn’t just her looks. She most definitely has a lot to prove, and to the naysayers especially.

She is a tremendous athlete and if you take a look at the matches she’s already put on, she was doing the work necessary to deliver that message loud and clear. Unfortunately, it wasn’t heard by one and all, which often happens in pro wrestling.

At 31, she isn’t at all old enough to be considered one to only get other women over. On the NXT platform, wrestlers are somehow allowed to shine quite a bit more. As we’re seeing with Karrion Kross on Raw, there’s an invisible ceiling on the main roster that caps them off somehow.

Either that or absolutely everyone who passes through Gorilla on Raw and SmackDown gets a bad case of stage fright, but I don’t think so. I’ve mentioned this before, and we’re likewise seeing it once again with Finn Bálor.

On NXT, perhaps Rose can show off her style, and reestablish some momentum that doesn’t take her in the direction of another love triangle, or where she has to wear only the types of clothes that people expect to see her in.

Maybe on NXT, she can have the career she always and obviously wanted—one she can most assuredly deliver. We’re definitely excited to see what she does with this opportunity.