Former WWE star Bea Priestley recently spoke with Cultaholic about various topics, including the challenges she faced during her time with the company as Blair Davenport. She discussed the creative limitations imposed on her, such as restrictions on changing her hair color and getting tattoos.
Priestley said, “I think I just did a lot of things that I wasn’t able to do while under contract. For example, I got a forearm tattoo recently. Back when I was in NXT, I actually asked for permission to get one. They gave me this whole spiel about how it would affect promotional photos, scanning for video games, and re-capturing my image for different platforms. If I had really pushed, maybe I could’ve gotten it approved, but it felt like more trouble than it was worth. So I just didn’t bother.”
On her long-standing blonde hair and the pressure to keep it even when she wanted a change:
“I stayed blonde for so long because they kind of locked that in as my look. If people remember me from STARDOM, I was changing my hair color practically every month. I actually liked being blonde, but there were times I thought about switching it up. Still, I felt like I wasn’t really allowed to because of how much promotion and branding was tied to my appearance. It was a strong, recognizable look, and if I changed it, I’d have to adjust to an entirely new version of myself. And I didn’t feel like I was in a position where a drastic change would have made sense. Like when Sasha [Banks] changed her hair color—it was tied to a heel turn, a whole character shift. I didn’t feel like I had that same kind of momentum to justify doing something bold.”
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(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
