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Reigning NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose broke character today to send a heartwarming message to a coworker in WWE.
Rose is set to defend her title against Zoey Stark at NXT Heat Wave on August 16th. Zoey recently returned to NXT 2.0 and won a 20-woman Battle Royal to become the #1 contender. On last night's episode of NXT, Zoey defeated Cora Jade and hit Mandy with her finisher following the match.
The NXT Women's Champion was able to put all that aside today as she took to Twitter to wish a happy birthday to NXT commentator and former WWE Superstar Stu Bennett. Stu wrestled in WWE as Wade Barrett and was the leader of the NEXUS invasion in the early 2010s.
"Happy birthday @StuBennett !!! Thanks for all ur kind words all the time!! Hope it's the best day ever!!" tweeted Mandy.
Mandy Rose on moving from WWE's main roster to NXT
The 32-year-old had a successful run on the main roster before heading back to NXT last year. She teamed up with Sonya Deville in Fire & Desire and also had a memorable romance storyline with Otis, culminating in the two sharing a kiss at WrestleMania 36.
Since joining NXT, Mandy Rose has become the Women's Champion and founded the Toxic Attraction stable with Gigi Dolin and Jayce Jayne. On a recent episode of the After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph, she discussed being taken aback when she first learned she was going to NXT:
"I have to say, you know, in the beginning, I was a little taken aback. Of course. But I knew in the back of my head, the back of my mind that this is going to be something really good and anything I've ever done in my past before wrestling I've always kind of, you know, had the drive and had put in the hard work, to create whatever I wanted to create." (00:25 - 00:49)
Mandy Rose added that going to NXT would be really good for her because it gives her the opportunity to showcase more of her character. Mandy also thanked RAW announcer Corey Graves for her former nickname:
"It's a blank slate, so I can create whatever I want, and at that moment I just was like, I think this is going to be really good for me. A really good opportunity to showcase more layers to my character. I was the golden goddess, god's greatest creation, thanks to Corey Graves." (00:50- 01:06)
Are you excited for Mandy Rose vs. Zoey Stark at NXT Heat Wave? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
