5 Things you didn't know about WWE's Mandy Rose

Mandy Rose has been an integral part of WWE's Women's Division for the past few years. Rose is a bit of an exception from an average WWE star because she has managed to stay relevant in the world of pro wrestling despite not having won a single Championship in WWE.

Although a WWE Women's Championship has eluded her so far, Mandy's name has appeared in famous lists regarding the top female pro wrestlers in the world for the last two years:

• Ranked number #15 in the top 30 female wrestlers in 2018 (Sports Illustrated).
• Ranked number #67 in the top 100 female wrestlers in 2019 (PWI Female 100).

From a feud with Sonya Deville to Mandy's highly publicized storyline with Otis, 2020 has been a year where Mandy Rose made the headlines on several occasions, yet some facts about her remain relatively unknown.

Here are five things you didn't know about WWE's Mandy Rose.

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#5: Mandy Rose has launched her own fitness app outside of WWE

On April 23, 2019, Mandy Rose announced that she would be launching her own workout app called "Fit with Mandy."

The app features a 12-week at-home program geared to participants of all ages and skill levels. Earlier this year, Mandy Rose exclusively spoke to Digital Spy and revealed that her motivation was to create something that "anybody can do anywhere."

Mandy Rose is one of the fittest WWE Superstars today, and she has been featured in multiple fitness publications, including Fitness Gurls, Fit & Firm, and FitFemme. She also bagged the first position in various fitness competitions before joining WWE.

Interestingly, Mandy Rose is a huge foodie at the same time.

She has partnered with her real-life best friend, Sonya Deville, to open a brand called Damandyz Donutz. Its main premise includes Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose embarking on a quest of finding the best glazed doughnuts from around the world.

#4: Mandy Rose wasn't a pro wrestling fan before she signed up for WWE Tough Enough

When Mandy Rose appeared on an episode of 'After The Bell' with Corey Graves, God's Greatest Creation revealed that she was encouraged by her trainer and her ex-boyfriend to pursue a career in WWE.

Mandy revealed that she didn't grow up watching pro wrestling, and she wasn't a lifelong fan of WWE, unlike many Superstars from the current generation. However, her ex-boyfriend was a huge WWE fan, and he was aware that the company was looking for new contestants for season six of Tough Enough.

Rose did some research to prepare for her Tough Enough audition, and she was initially skeptical about applying for the reality show as well. Still, Mandy Rose passed her audition and joined WWE's infamous reality show in 2015.

Interestingly, The Golden Goddess was about to be eliminated in episode six, but she was saved by The Miz, who was a judge during that season. Mandy made her way to the finale and became the runner-up of the sixth season of Tough Enough.

Despite finishing in second place, Mandy Rose made quite an impression on the company, and she eventually signed a developmental contract with WWE at the same time as Sonya Deville.

#3: Mandy Rose has only been featured live in two televised matches for WWE NXT

Mandy Rose certainly reached WWE's main roster in one of the most unconventional ways possible. As mentioned in the previous slide, Mandy Rose wasn't a huge wrestling fan, but she signed a developmental contract with WWE despite finishing in second place during the 2015 edition of Tough Enough.

Perhaps the officials were so impressed by her, that they decided she was ready for the main roster only after wrestling twice on NXT TV in a live capacity.

Rose made her first televised appearance on WWE NXT when she competed in a six-woman tag team match along with Sonya Deville, and Alexa Bliss, in which they were defeated by Carmella, Liv Morgan, and Nikki Cross.

In her second and last televised appearance on NXT, Mandy Rose was defeated by Ember Moon during September 2017.

Two months later, Mandy Rose would join Sonya Deville and Paige in forming a trio on WWE RAW called 'Absolution'. In the long run, Sonya and Mandy remained tag team stars until their infamous breakup in 2020.

#2: Mandy Rose named Serena Williams and Jennifer Lopez as her favorite icons outside of WWE

In an interview with FOX News, Mandy Rose revealed the names of her favorite icons outside of WWE and the pro wrestling industry, in general.

"I would say, Serena Williams, I've always looked up to [her]. She's just bad-- and I mean, she just speaks volumes, obviously. And I mean, there's just a lot of women out there that, you know, even like JLo [...] she just, you know, looks better and better with age. And she's just a huge influence to young girls that want to be out there in whatever industry it is. Music, entertainment, movies. So it’s just a great time."

The Mandy Rose character is often regarded as a great example of a mash between beauty and athleticism, so it makes sense why she would pick Serena Williams - one of the most inspirational female athletes - and Jennifer Lopez as her favorite role models.

On WWE RAW, Mandy Rose also paid tribute to Trish Stratus, who paved the way for the current generation of female pro wrestlers.

In Sportskeeda's exclusive interview with Mandy Rose, The Golden Goddess called Bayley a big role model for her in WWE.

Rose mentioned that Bayley helped her a lot back in WWE NXT, and the longest combined reigning SmackDown Women's Champion was actually one of Mandy's first matches in NXT at a live event.

#1: Mandy Rose didn't think her WWE storyline with Otis would become as popular as it did

Otis and Mandy Rose's onscreen chemistry was generally well-appreciated, although it recently came to an end on WWE SmackDown. The Miz pulled some strings to spite his rival (Otis) by trading Mandy Rose to the Red brand.

It's rare that a cheesy WWE storyline gets appreciated by fans today, so Otis and Mandy's storyline was certainly a glitch in the matrix, as one would say.

In an interview with Digital Spy back in March, Mandy Rose was just as surprised by the WWE Universe's affection for the onscreen couple as anyone else:

"It's like a Beauty and the Beast storyline and it's awesome. But I don't think I thought they'd be this much into it and this much behind it and care about it that much. It's really cool."

Speaking about her off-screen relationship with Otis, Mandy Rose revealed that in real-life, Otis is exactly the way as his character is portrayed on WWE TV.

After being traded to RAW due to The Miz's actions, Mandy Rose surprised everyone by stepping back into the tag team game alongside Dana Brooke as her new in-ring partner.