SmackDown star recalls "atrocious" WWE match: "Then I got taken off TV for a couple of weeks"
WWE is blessed to have a roster filled with talented young prospects such as SmackDown star Tiffany Stratton, who recently recalled a bad match she had early on in NXT and how it helped her develop in the ring.
For someone just 24 years old, Tiffany Stratton has already made waves in WWE, winning the NXT Women's Championship once and securing a title shot on the main roster.
Stratton's rise to the top has been relatively quick, and she addressed her NXT run during an interview with Chris Van Vliet. Tiffany admitted her first NXT match against Fallon Henley in 2021 was so forgettable that she was taken off television immediately.
Being pulled from WWE programming after her first match was a wake-up call for Stratton, who realized she had a lot of work to do inside the squared circle.
"My entire NXT run, I feel like everything just happened so fast. I had only trained for eight weeks before even debuting on TV. Yeah, so that was scary. And my first match was atrocious, it was so bad. Then I got taken off TV for a couple of weeks. And I was like, I'm gonna come back better than ever." H/T Insight with Chris Van Vliet
Tiffany Stratton felt her underwhelming first match was due to her lack of knowledge about working the crowd. Stratton was pretty much pushed into the deep end without much instruction, and she visibly struggled to ascertain what she needed to do throughout the match.
"Back then I really didn't know how to work a crowd or even, I didn't really know who I was in general. You know, it was kind of just thrown out there and, like, told to figure it out a little bit."
Tiffany Stratton returned to the WWE ring with a vengeance and hasn't looked back since
After being sent back to the Performance Center, Tiffany Stratton put in the hours and quickly improved her wrestling skills.
Although her second match against Iyo Sky was a losing effort, unlike her first outing, Tiffany Stratton had a great experience that showcased her true potential.
Stratton has not stopped learning and, as things stand, is one of the fastest-rising superstars in WWE and is very excited about her future. In the same interview with Chris Van Vliet, she said:
"So I worked really hard. I came back, I had my second match against Iyo Sky actually. And it was amazing. And then just I kept learning and I kept getting better with every single rep. And I think they saw that. And yeah, like, the sky's the limit for me right now."
Tiffany Stratton will compete in a massive Triple Threat match for Bayley's WWE Women's Championship at Backlash France. While the young challenger might not be favored to pull off an upset win, becoming Women's Champion could possibly be WWE's way of fast-tracking Tiffany to the top.