Cassie Lee, known to WWE fans as Peyton Royce, recently spoke on TMZ Sports’ Inside The Ring podcast about the creative differences she’s experienced between WWE and TNA. Now competing alongside Jessie McKay as The IInspiration, Lee praised TNA for the freedom it gives its talent to be themselves, contrasting it with the more restrictive and approval-heavy WWE system.
“Definitely, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we have so much fun at TNA, they just trust us,” Lee explained. “When we are able to cut a promo, or if we are doing a backstage segment, they just trust that we know ourselves well enough to deliver the message in a way that we truly would. Having that freedom to banter with each other and just be us, we know that’s where our money is… at WWE, one little word would have to be approved and that would take an hour to get approval. Do you wait outside of an office for six hours to see if you can get this line changed because it doesn’t really fit us? So that has been really nice with TNA. They trust us, and I know WWE would, too; it’s just they are a different beast.”
Lee and McKay rose to prominence in WWE as The IIconics, moving from NXT to the main roster and winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35. Despite their popularity, their run was plagued by inconsistent booking, and in 2020, WWE controversially split the team before releasing both performers the following year.
The duo reinvented themselves in TNA, debuting as The IInspiration and quickly capturing the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship. After a break to focus on motherhood, they’ve now returned to the roster and are once again in the title picture. They will challenge reigning champions The Elegance Brand (Xia Brookside & Tasha Steelz) for the belts at the upcoming TNA Victory Road special event.
