Many Rose has held the NXT Women’s Championship for just shy of 400 days, having won the title back in October 2021. However, AEW star Thunder Rosa believes that the star deserves more respect.
Since moving back to NXT in June 2021, Mandy Rose has completely reinvented herself, and become a cornerstone of the brand. Along with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, the trio known as Toxic Attraction have stood tall over the women’s division for over a year.
“It’s Important We Give Mandy Rose Her Flowers” – Thunder Rosa
Mandy Rose was most recently in action on the November 15th episode of NXT where she successfully defended her title against Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing Match. Although the victory came with a surprise assist from Isla Dawn, Thunder Rosa named the star as her ‘MVP of the Week’ on Busted Open Radio.
During the conversation, Thunder Rosa commented on Rose’s evolution from the woman who left the main roster in early 2021, to the long-reigning champion of today.
“I’m gonna say Mandy Rose, and I wanna give an appreciation to her because she’s worked so darn hard in the last month representing the NXT brand and also working on her craft. When she was in Raw and SmackDown all that time, people did not have any respect for her, a lot of the time, because of her lack of skills, like there’s a lot of little things here and there.
But I feel like she really has took the time. She has developed her character really, really well. People tune in to see her. She always makes everybody talk about her. This last match she had, she’s showing a lot of fire in the fact that she’s taking a lot more risks as a champion. It really shows that she’s growing, and she is really committed to what she’s doing right now. She’s really committed to represent NXT’s women’s division as a champion.
She might not be a high-flyer, she might be super spectacular, but what she’s doing, I think it’s very important because that shows you if you give time to someone and if you believe in them, that’s how you can develop and that’s how you can become. I think Mandy Rose deserves a little bit more respect because she’s really working very, very hard,”
The AEW Women’s Champion continued by praising Mandy Rose’s booking which has helped her become a top star in NXT.
“This is important of booking, of booking a person the right way. Mandy and Toxic Attraction needed that opportunity and that storyline that they have to develop as the heels, the main heels of a company. Why? I can tell you.
When I was in NWA, working on the first season, how I was booked, it really developed the Thunder Rosa a lot of people really liked when I came to AEW. I feel what they have done with Mandy Rose in the last year, they have created an aura for her that she really has empowered herself and taken it over.
That’s why when you see her, in every match that she’s doing, with an extreme match or just a regular match, she’s delivering. I think it is important that we give her her flowers because she deserves that,”
Thunder Rosa added that the clear babyface and heel dynamics in NXT have helped Mandy Rose develop, and transition into become a major player.
“For me, one thing that I love is that she owns the fact that she pretty, that she’s beautiful, but she’s also a champion, and she’s also the face of the women’s division in that aspect. The dynamics that she has with the babyfaces there, I think at NXT, you’re either super, super heel, and you’re super, super babyface. T
hat’s very palpable. I don’t feel like there a lot of tweeners, and I think that helps her a lot more when she is doing her thing. I’m really enjoying her work in the last couple weeks, and I really enjoy her promos. They’re very entertaining, with her and Toxic Attraction,”
Despite still nursing a back injury Thunder Rosa remains the AEW Women’s World Champion. As her absence continues, Interim Champion Toni Storm has called on AEW to strip her of the title if she is unable to return soon.
H/t to Fightful