Priscilla Kelly recently spoke with PWPonderings, where she opened up about her journey in WWE, her time alongside Toxic Attraction, experiences with Shotzi Blackheart and Tatum Paxley, her relationship with Zachary Wentz, and much more. The full interview is available to watch below.
When and why did you first get into professional wrestling growing up?
“I was around 12-13, and my brother was obsessed with pirates. I found an Undertaker action figure, and he thought it was a pirate, so I got it for him. He became obsessed with the Undertaker action figure, had to take it everywhere, and was very compulsive about it. I ended up getting him the 20-0 DVD set for Christmas. We didn’t have cable at the time, so we just binge-watched that whole DVD set. We just ended up going down the rabbit hole of wrestling, and we fell in love with it. Our first introductions to wrestling were obviously the big ones, the Hulk Hogan’s and Macho Man’s, but our first introduction as fans to wrestling was that 20-0 DVD set, so Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Giant Gonzalez, that was our introduction to wrestling. We fell in love and became obsessed. We went to WrestleMania 30, which was heartbreaking because Undertaker lost that year. We had my brother’s birthday party at a local wrestling company called NWA Atlanta, and I was like, I want to do this. I was freshly 16 and they told me I could start training, so I did. Here I am, 11-12 years later.”
When and why did you decide you wanted to begin training?
“I grew up in a strict household. My parents were very old-school. My family didn’t believe in women getting jobs, and that women should be housewives and mothers, and have that typical gender role of a woman. There’s nothing really wrong with that, but I knew from a young age that I was different from everyone else in the family, and I was kind of treated that way. I was a little bit of a weirdo, black sheep, if you will. So, when I started wrestling, it was already a little taboo in my family to join it. It just started as a hobby that I was able to get away with doing. I wasn’t allowed to do sports. I was a kid who stayed home and played video games. I wasn’t an athlete. I didn’t do anything before wrestling. Wrestling was the first thing I was allowed to do. My parents thought of it as a little hobby for me to do, and something to keep me busy. It turned into something I actually became pretty good at and began getting some bookings. It got to a point where some of my family wanted to know when I was going to ‘wrap’ this wrestling thing up and settle down and have kids. I’m getting to see other states, and it’s just developing. I had no intention of becoming a big wrestling star and being able to make a living off of this. It really was something I enjoyed, and it was just my way of breaking out of that strict upbringing. It kind of snowballed from there, and I accidentally became successful in something I never in a million years thought I’d be successful in.”
What was it like getting to sign with the WWE and learn under Shawn Michaels, Matt Bloom, and all the other great coaches at the WWE Performance Center
“Going to WWE was such a culture-shock to me. I did the Mae Young Classic, but that was like a one-and-done tournament for me. When I came to NXT full-time, it was such a shock to my routine. I was this snotty little indie wrestler who would work my a** off for three or four days a week and come home and sleep for the rest of the week. So to go into this machine, which is basically a 9-to-5, it is a grind. It’s every single day, working out at a set schedule time, training at a set schedule time, and then TV, live events, promo classes, you have to send in your promos on a website. There’s so much little stuff that goes into it. Even like some of the media classes, there’s so much in this machine. To go from this little indie wrestler to this wrestling machine of a job, it was an adjustment for me. I was so sore those first few months, adjusting to training and working out that much. It was a little bit of a shock. But I really felt like I grew to love everyone there at the PC, especially the coaches. Matt Bloom and I, he’s the head coach, and when I first got there, man, did we but heads. I think it was because I didn’t always wear my emotions on my face. I’m a bit more monotone, quiet, and kept to myself, and sometimes that can read a little bit wrong. I think it took Matt and me a little bit to figure each other out. But once we did, he really was the person who got me through some of my hardest days and was really the person who motivated my a** off because deep down he was always rooting for me from the very start. I really appreciated working with him and him always being there to give me that kick in the a** for me to keep going, and working harder even when I had my self-doubts at times, which comes with working there, it happens to everyone. Just so many other coaches, too, were so wonderful to be able to have the honor to train underneath them, like Terry Taylor, Fit Finlay, and Johnny Moss was my trainer for most of my time in NXT. I bounced around a bit. I trained with Terry, Fit, Sara Amato, and Brian Kendrick when he was there. For the main part, I was with Johnny Moss, which was absolutely incredible. He became kind of like a dad figure to me, because he makes you feel like you’re not just another trainee. He really got me into that second gear when it came to my wrestling. But everyone I worked with there, I had a very good relationship with. When you lose your job somewhere, especially somewhere like WWE, and there were ups and downs, I went through a bad depression phase when I was working there. At the end of the day, the relationships you make, you spend time with these people day in and day out for years. You become very close with some people, and the hardest part was seeing them every day for years, to not seeing them at all, cold turkey. Once you’re outside that bubble, you’re outside of it. I’m grateful for my time there. I learned a lot, not just about wrestling but also myself. I’m really grateful for the relationships I got to have and the incredible coaches I got to work with.”
What was it like working with Mandy Rose and Jacy Jayne, forming Toxic Attraction?
“When the idea was first pitched, I was definitely a little skeptical. I didn’t feel like the three of us looked like we’d be in a group together. I was the weirdo, punky girl. I don’t know what Jacy was, but then Mandy was always Mandy Rose. It’s one of those things where it accidentally became a very popular thing that just clicked and worked. For whatever reason, we ruled NXT for a full two years. It was Toxic Attraction’s show. It was really cool. I was only six months into my time at NXT, so to be able to take off right out of the gate with something that blew up so fast as it did, it was really cool. To go from, I just got here, to I’m an NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion now, was super cool. It sucks that NXT wasn’t traveling at the time because of COVID. If NXT had been on the road at the time of Toxic Attraction, it would have been really cool to see what we could have done there as a group. We didn’t really get that opportunity until right at the tail end when we started traveling more. That’s the only thing that really sucked about it.”
How important was Toxic Attraction to you and NXT in the grand scheme of things?
“That’s basically what put me on the map in NXT. Sure, I could have been a singles competitor, but with wrestling, sometimes if you come into a foreign space, such as a new company or roster, and you’re by yourself, it’s very sink or swim. There’s no in between. There’s always the chance that I could have just fallen into the mix with everyone else. So, to be put in a group like that with Mandy Rose, it was a big deal because it gave me that platform to basically bloom into the star that I am now. Without that, who knows how different my career would have gone. I’m sure I would have been successful either way, but it set the trajectory for me to just go up from there. Mandy was always a really good guide coming from the main roster, and she’s done so much in her career. Mandy was always like that big sister role. She was always helping me become a better and more elevated, and mature version of myself. When I went to NXT, I was 23-24, that’s super young. I just came from the indies. I didn’t come from other TV companies. I had worked with AEW, smaller TV companies, but this was the biggest scale thing I’ve done. Having Mandy there for a lot of these big matches and opportunities that were my first time doing, she helped guide me.”
What are your feelings on seeing everything Jacy Jayne has been able to accomplish recently?
“I’m happy for her.”
What was it like working with Tatum Paxley and Shotzi, and why was it cut short?
“I wanted to work with Shotzi before I got injured, and she got injured at the same time. For whatever reason, the universe didn’t want it to happen then. When we both got cleared, we both wanted to work together, and we had ideas, and they ended up throwing Tatum with us. It just worked. The stuff I did with Shotzi and Tatum was the happiest I ever was in NXT. It was the most excited, happy, and most myself I ever was in my entire time working for WWE. Shotzi is my best friend, and Tatum quickly became a great friend of mine. We just had great chemistry together, a great look, and I felt like we were something so unique. Not just unique, but we were so genuine. We weren’t playing a role of a character, look, or aesthetic. We were what we portrayed on TV. I don’t know what happened. We started hot. We had high-tier matches, and I really just don’t know. It’s always out of our hands as wrestlers. Unless you’re somebody that’s very high up on the totem pole, it’s always out of our hands creatively. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how good a thing you have going or how bad, it all depends on how you’re booked. You can be absolutely horrible, but if you’re booked like a star, people will think you’re a star, and you can be the best thing in the world, but if you’re booked like sh*t, people will believe you’re sh*t. It’s all perception. We tried to make the most of whatever we were given. We were on a very high note right at the end. Tatum and I, Shotzi came ringside, we won our Stand & Deliver match, we got a title match with Liv & Raquel the following Tuesday. We were doing stuff at TNA too; we were crushing it. I was like, this is it. We’re going to the main roster; we’re so undeniable as a group. I don’t know how anyone can see us and not think that it could be huge. Then I went from that high to, hey, WWE is terminating your contract. It’s very confusing. As wrestlers, a lot of people think we have control over stuff and that we screwed up backstage. The truth is, sometimes it just is what it is. It just happens and there’s nothing we can do about it but pick ourselves up and move on.”
What went through your mind when you found out you were getting released, and was it a blind side in a way?
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it. If I had gotten released a couple of years prior, when I was super depressed and gave up on myself and didn’t believe in myself, I would have been like, It makes sense. But I got released when I was at my highest point of my time in NXT. I felt like we were doing awesome stuff and that I was just really back to who I was. I felt like myself again for the first time in a very long time with Shotzi and Tatum and what we were doing. Like I said, we were having title matches, we were being told that we were going to go to the main roster after Mania. We were told that. To get released was a complete shock. The timing made no sense to me because of what we were doing and what we had been doing for the past four or five months. It’s one of those things where some people expect it, but I was at a very peak time personally, and it really sucks that it got cut short and we never got the opportunity to see what it would have been like to go to the main roster as a group. I came from the indies, so I bounced right back. I did everything before. I did Japan, all the countries, traveled, so I’m used to the grind of the indies and used to the differences. I went right back really easily. Where I’m at now, I just feel free, and I’m very happy. There’s a lot of stress that comes with working for WWE; it just comes with the territory. Just not having the weight on my shoulders and stress every day, it’s just such a relief. I’m just having fun now.”
How did you and Zachary Wentz connect, and what’s it like to work with him inside the ring?
“We met probably like 10 years ago at a CZW show. He remembers it a lot more vividly than I do. I don’t really remember because I was driving 15 hours and exhausted when I got there. That’s where we first met. I worked a lot of shows with him throughout the years on the indies, and obviously, we were in NXT together, so he’s kind of always been around. We have a lot in common. He was into a lot of the same bands as me and had the same personality as me. One of my best friends told me to invite him over and party, and have some drinks, listening to music. We ended up singing emo songs until like four in the morning, and Yellowcard started playing, and he gave me that smirk, and he leaned in and kissed me. He’ll say I kissed him, though. We’ve hung out every day since. It’s crazy how time flies, but it’s been almost four years. We are like attached at the hip. I’ll go in the other room, and he’ll be like, ‘What are you doing? Come in here,’ and I’m the same way with him. It’s not unhealthy; we just genuinely enjoy being around each other. We’re genuinely best friends. We like to do the same stuff and like the same things. We’re just best friends who hang out every single day. That’s our relationship.”
What’s it like to work with him inside the ring, too?
“He gets very sweaty. We didn’t even lock up yet, and he was drenched. We’re very much the same when it comes to how we see wrestling spots and matches, and how we feel a flow of a match should go. It was super easy and super fun. I definitely beat the hell out of him. He was covered in chop marks after the match. We do have good chemistry and love each other, and we’re best friends. But, when I wrestled him, there was that side of me where I was like, ‘I’m wrestling Zachary Wentz.’ We’re talking like PWG, TNA Rascalz, Zachary Wentz. For him, he’s probably just like, I’m just wrestling my fiancé. But for me, it’s a high-caliber match. I was a little nervous, and I think he and I should have more matches across the entire world. But we want to tag team now, that’s what we want to do. We have a tag match booked for Blitzkrieg! Pro on October 11th.”
