Mandy Rose competed in the 2015 edition of WWE Tough Enough and despite not winning the competition, finishing as runner-up to the late Sara Lee, she was offered a long-term contract by WWE.
Rose enjoyed a relatively successful run on the main roster, initially being paired with Paige (now known as Saraya in AEW) and Sonya Deville as part of Absolution in 2017, but has had somewhat of a career resurgence since returning to NXT in 2021.
Upon her return to NXT, Rose formed her own stable alongside Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, known as Toxic Attraction, and began to be taken seriously as an in-ring performer. At Halloween Havoc 2021, the ‘Golden Goddess’ defeated Raquel Gonzalez to become the NXT Women’s Champion.
Mandy Rose still holds the championship to this day and recently surpassed Charlotte Flair in total days as NXT Women’s Champion, putting her third on the all-time list behind Asuka and Shayna Baszler.
Mandy Rose Describes Her WWE Journey As A ‘Trish Stratus Story’
Mandy Rose has earned many plaudits for her work over the last couple of years. Despite being dismissed as ‘eye candy’ during her early years in WWE, Rose recently told Chris Van Vliet on the ‘Insight’ podcast that she always believed she would make it in the business:
“I always knew I had this, I always knew I could always get better at it, right? Like, everyone, you get better with time, but you need the opportunity, right? So it’s like, can’t really show anything if you don’t have that opportunity.”
Rose spoke about having to prove herself as a serious in-ring performer and compared her career to that of WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus:
“My biggest thing was to prove myself in the ring. I knew it was like a Trish Stratus story, you know, like, why can’t you be hot and still, like, be able to wrestle, right? Like, it’s been done before? Like, why do I get such like heat? Or why do I get so much backlash for looking like this? But I knew in the back of my head that like, it takes time, respect, you know, you have to kind of gain your respect you have to put your time in. So I just knew over time, eventually it would turn.”
Mandy Rose has earned the respect of fans and peers alike for her recent work, with wrestling personalities such as AEW star Thunder Rosa recently praising the NXT Women’s Champion.