The former Rok-C has made her official WWE NXT 2.0 debut.
Tonight’s NXT 2.0 episode featured a vignette that looked at how Roxanne Perez grew up watching WWE over the years, and how WWE was her escape when she felt like an outcast in school. Perez said she knew one day the virtual world would turn into the real world, and next week she was taking that step into real-life.
Perez was then interviewed backstage by McKenzie Mitchell, about how nervous she was for next week’s surreal debut. Perez was quickly interrupted by Toxic Attraction’s NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin. They tried to intimidate the up & coming NXT Superstar, and Rose advised her not to set her bar too high because she’ll never get there. Jayne taunted Perez some more and suggested she move her debut up to tonight’s show. Perez didn’t say yes or no, but said she would figure something out. She then walked away to end the segment.
Instead of Perez making her NXT 2.0 debut next Tuesday, she ended up wrestling on tonight’s show and picked up a win over Jayne. The fairly short match saw Wendy Choo distract Toxic Attraction on the big screen, showing them how she was destroying the Toxic Lounge. Perez took advantage of the distraction and went on to hit a Code Red to Jayne for the pin.
Perez actually made her WWE in-ring debut on last Friday’s NXT Level Up episode, defeating Sloane Jacobs in singles action. Perez also used the Code Red to defeat Jacobs in that match.
As seen in the video below, McKenzie Mitchell caught up with Perez after the match for her reaction. Perez talked about how she’s been working to get to WWE her whole life, and she’s put blood, sweat and tears into this business since she was 13, just so she could end up in WWE. Perez pointed to her “4/8/16” tattoo, the date of her first match, and said moments like this are why she’s pushed all these years.
“I had my first win in my debut for WWE NXT, and it feels so crazy to say that,” she said. “Because like I said, I’ve wanted this my entire life. This is all I’ve ever dreamed of, and now it’s real.”
Perez also tweeted on tonight’s match and wrote, “This is a fever dream”
WWE’s Senior Director of Content & Development Jeremy Borash was among those who congratulated Perez on tonight’s NXT 2.0 debut.
“[thumbs up emoji] Congrats on your @WWENXT debut @roxanne_wwe! #WWENXT,” Borash tweeted.
The 20 year old Perez previously trained under WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and his Reality of Wrestling promotion/school. She became the inaugural ROH World Women’s Champion back in September at Death Before Dishonor XVIII, and held the strap for 119 days before dropping it to Deonna Purrazzo. Perez was signed in the same mid-March WWE Performance Center Class that also featured Jacobs, Fallon Henley, Kiana James, Bianca Carelli, Troy Donovan, Channing Lauren, and others.
Stay tuned for more on Perez in WWE. Below are several related posts and shots from tonight’s show, along with footage from Friday’s match for those who missed it:
.@roxanne_wwe makes her NXT 2.0 debut RIGHT NOW on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/XK1c02lLkU
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 20, 2022
Welcome to NXT 2.0, @roxanne_wwe 🥀#WWENXT @jacyjaynewwe pic.twitter.com/xn6lhOxCRt
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 20, 2022
Off a distraction from @therealestwendy, @roxanne_wwe picks up the win in her NXT 2.0 debut! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/5pkXxCN36V
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 20, 2022
.@therealestwendy has decided to do a little redecorating in #ToxciAttraction's locker room. #WWENXT @jacyjaynewwe @WWE_MandyRose @gigidolin_wwe pic.twitter.com/1f5LULbpY4
— WWE (@WWE) April 20, 2022
After winning her debut match on #WWENXT 2.0, @roxanne_wwe reflects on how she has worked for a moment like tonight since she was 13 years old. 👏 pic.twitter.com/VTKegaAjlc
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 20, 2022
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Congrats @roxanne_wwe! 😴 https://t.co/FmqXkW2SLE
— Wendy Choo (@therealestwendy) April 20, 2022
👍 Congrats on your @WWENXT debut @roxanne_wwe! #WWENXT https://t.co/0J2FtKqo0E
— Jeremy Borash (@JeremyBorash) April 20, 2022
Congratulations @roxanne_wwe making her debut on USA Network on @WWENXT pic.twitter.com/Hnujmwlvq5
— Reality of Wrestling (@TheOfficialROW) April 20, 2022
This is a fever dream https://t.co/GWY00d6gNh
— roxanne (@roxanne_wwe) April 20, 2022
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