Mandy Rose returned to NXT this week, confronting Alba Fyre on the brand’s October 18th head-to-head broadcast vs. AEW before they collide for Rose’s NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc. This marked the Toxic Attraction member’s first appearance since tragically losing her brother, who Mandy Rose had confirmed passed away recently.
In returning, Mandy clearly discovered she had a fan in WWE broadcaster Cathy Kelly. The WWE Raw backstage interviewer tweeted following Rose’s return that even she simps for the reigning NXT Women’s Champion, with the tweet going down well among the WWE Universe, who’re unanimously in agreement with the recently-returned Kelly.
Cathy Kelly was announced as returning to WWE on October 6th ahead of the 2022/23 season premiere of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, revealed as handling backstage reporting duties for the red brand alongside Byron Saxton. Prior to this, the beloved personality had been absent from WWE since NXT TakeOver: Portland in February 2020.
Mandy Rose Has Dominated NXT
Although Mandy Rose didn’t find much luck in her first run in NXT, several years spent defining herself on the main roster allowed her to flourish upon her NXT return in July 2021. Forming Toxic Attraction alongside Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin shortly after her comeback, Mandy Rose dyed her hair brown and became a renowned member of the roster.
The real-life Amanda Rose Saccomanno has reigned as NXT Women’s Champion since dethroning Raquel Gonzalez, now Raquel Rodriguez, during the 2021 Halloween Havoc special. With her reign now sitting at 358 days, she’s guaranteed to reach a full year as champion should she make it past Alba Fyre at Halloween Havoc 2022 on October 22nd.
She’s behind only Asuka and Shayna Baszler in the lineage of longest-reigning NXT Women’s Champions, with ‘The Empress of Tomorrow’ sitting at an astonishing 510 days, while ‘The Queen of Spades’ achieved 416 days in her second run with the championship.