Zoey Serrano says she was surprised by some of the backlash she received over a WWE NXT segment with IYO SKY.
During their time together on the NXT brand, Serrano and SKY were paired as a tag team, with WWE airing several vignettes designed to show the two getting to know each other. One segment featured the pair visiting a sushi restaurant, where Serrano’s character secretly tossed away the food while pretending to enjoy it.
During the latest edition of her Zoey 1001 video series (second video below), Serrano recalled the vignette when asked about a segment she particularly enjoyed filming.
“This is a good one. So this immediately makes me think of me and IYO SKY,” Serrano said. “When we were both in NXT, we were a new tag team and we did a vignette. We were at a sushi restaurant and of course they wanted me to not like sushi, which is not true, I’m a big fan.”
Serrano explained that the comedy came from her character desperately trying to impress SKY despite supposedly not liking the food.
“They had me throwing it up against the wall, over my shoulder and pretending to like it because I really wanted IYO to like me,” she continued. “It always makes me laugh. One, just because it’s a fun, goofy promo, right?”
While Serrano enjoyed filming the segment, she recalled receiving considerable criticism afterward, including accusations that she felt didn’t make sense.
“Two, boy did I get a lot of heat for this. People actually thought, one, I didn’t like sushi, and two, that somehow I was racist,” Serrano said. “I don’t, I don’t know how those two things link together.”
Serrano added that she was simply performing what had been scripted for the vignette and said the experience gave her an opportunity to develop a closer relationship with SKY.
“I was just doing what I was told, but I had a great time doing it, and it was an opportunity for IYO and I to actually get to know each other, which was a lot of fun,” she said. “I love her. She’s a sweetheart.”
Also during the video, Zoey Serrano shared an interesting never-before told backstage WWE story regarding a critical moment in her NXT run.
