Zoey Stark breaks character to praise 26-year-old WWE star ahead of RAW

Zoey Stark has taken to social media to send a message to Kiana James after she was drafted to RAW during the 2024 WWE Draft on SmackDown this past Friday night.

The former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion was the second NXT star to be called up to the main roster during the blue brand, with the first one being Carmelo Hayes. James has played a villain for the majority of her run on NXT, and she has a heel businesswoman gimmick. Many fans were surprised when her name came up during the draft picks, but it'll be interesting to see how she does on the main roster.

After Kiana James shared a photo of herself on X reacting to being drafted to RAW, Zoey Stark retweeted it and praised the 26-year-old star before telling her that she deserved it.

"A damn hard worker and loves what she does. You deserve it," she wrote.

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WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus spoke about being paired with Zoey Stark

During the wrestling veteran's match against Becky Lynch at Night of Champions last year in Saudi Arabia, Zoey Stark made a surprise appearance and cost The Man the match. She went on to form a villainous alliance with Trish Stratus as part of the RAW brand.

While speaking to talkSPORT in an interview, Trish Stratus stated that Triple H approached her with the idea of Stark being her protege. She said she loved it as she was excited at the prospect of her and Stark calling back to the rivalry that The Game had with Batista in the past.

"That was an idea they came to us with, Hunter came to me with it, and I loved it. I sort of said ‘could it be shades of Batista and Triple H back in the day?’ and we felt like ‘let’s pin that to the board’ because it was a good idea," she said.

The two stars split up after Zoey Stark attacked Trish at the Payback Premium Live Event last year. She is currently involved in a team with Shayna Baszler.