A former WWE star opens up about her disappointing NXT run.
Japanese wrestler and former IWGP Women’s Champion Sareee spoke to Tokyo Sports ahead of her 15th anniversary celebration wrestling event at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan, on March 22. During the conversation, she reflected on her time in WWE and described her NXT run as the most troubled period of her career.
Sareee signed with WWE in 2020, but didn’t make her debut until the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalled having to play a high school girl gimmick in the promotion, expressing her disappointment with her direction, as she originally entered the company wanting to showcase the strength of Japanese women’s wrestling.
The former WWE star also opened up about her struggles with overindulging in sweets due to stress.
“That was the most troubled period in my professional wrestling career. WWE has a huge number of members, so it was difficult to even get selected for a match, and then the pandemic hit, so I couldn’t have matches as I wanted. And then I ended up playing a high school girl character.
“I went there intending to bring the strength of women’s professional wrestling from Japan, but what was required in reality was different, and it was tough. The stress made me love sweets, and there were times when I would eat an American-sized parfait after lunch, then devour a huge Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and my face would be covered in acne. But even so, I did my best. Looking back now, I realize that everything was an experience that has become a valuable lesson for me, so nothing was wasted,” the former WWE star said.
Sareee didn’t have any regrets about not achieving anything in WWE
Sareee chose to leave WWE after her contract expired in March 2023. Speaking about returning to Japan without achieving any significant success in the United States, she said she doesn’t regret it. Instead, the experience made her realize that becoming the best in Japanese women’s wrestling was always her biggest dream.
“To be honest, I wondered if it was okay to return to Japan without accomplishing anything in the United States. But when I thought about what I really wanted to do, I realized that I should do the best I could in the limited time I had to do the kind of pro wrestling I believe in. I’ve been working towards becoming the strongest in the Japanese women’s pro wrestling world, which is where it all started,” the former WWE star said.
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