A Brief Guide To Roxanne Perez, WWE NXT's Potential Superstar
Returning to its original purpose as an out-and-out developmental brand, NXT has refreshed its ranks with a litany of exciting up-and-comers across every division. The NXT Breakout Tournament has been a method of earmarking talent for future greatness, and 2022 saw the first edition of the contest for the women's roster. The winner, Roxanne Perez, has all the potential to attain stardom.
There was a reason Perez's signing was so newsworthy earlier this year. At only 20 years old, Perez's 2021 saw her significantly raise her stock, quickly ascending onto the national stage and grabbing the attention of the wrestling world. Already boasting an impressive resume, Roxanne Perez could be the next major female star for the WWE.
Roxanne Perez's Road To The WWE
Though one of the youngest members of the NXT locker room, Perez has been training for several years, having first attended wrestling school at the age of 13. Later in her teens, Perez began to train with WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, joining the former world champion's Reality of Wrestling promotion. It was there that Perez made her in-ring debut under the name Rok-C, taking her talents to other Texas independents and claiming championships early in her career.
The next big step in Rok-C's career came with her first professional contract, signing with Ring of Honor in September 2021. There, Rok-C progressed through a tournament for the vacant ROH Women's World Championship, defeating former champion and joshi veteran Sumie Sakai, fellow upstart Quinn McKay, and TNA Knockouts icon, Angelina Love. The final took place at Death Before Dishonor XVIII, with Rok-C defeating Miranda Alize, becoming ROH Women's World Champion at just 19 years old.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long until ROH announced their hiatus, freeing all of their talent from their contracts following the Final Battle pay-per-view. Retaining against Willow Nightingale at the event, Rok-C was confronted by the reigning AAA Reina de Reinas Champion, Deonna Purrazzo. As one of her last matches before signing with WWE, Rok-C went title-for-title with Purrazzo in IMPACT Wrestling, losing the bout, but adding another milestone in her young career.
Perez's Potential As A Future WWE Star
With the news of the contract surrounding ROH's hiatus, Perez's potential had fans speculating where she was going to take her talents. Perez opted to join the redesigned NXT 2.0 and made her debut on an April episode of Level Up. She has clearly been impressing higher ups within the brand seeing as she has been thrown right into the mix on television. Just months into her WWE tenure, Perez has already won the NXT Breakout Tournament, earning a title shot of her choosing, in addition to being set to compete for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships at The Great American Bash alongside Cora Jade.
It doesn't take much viewing of Perez's work to see the potential she possesses. In the ring, Perez moves and performs with true grace, the result of plenty of time put towards mastering her craft and bettering herself. Added to this, she also has a natural charisma that can make or break whether a superstar is set to succeed in the wrestling business. It's incredibly easy to root for her, from her mannerisms and presentation of her character as "The Prodigy", to her impressive in-ring ability making each of her matches a joy to watch.
Its obvious that already having years worth of experience compared to her similarly aged contemporaries in the NXT locker room is working wonders for Perez. It is this wisdom beyond her years that has helped set her apart from the pack, and what must have caught the eyes of NXT management, both from signing her in the first place to elevating her into title contention so early into her tenure. Perez looks incredibly comfortable in the ring and in front of the NXT audience, thanks to all the experience gained on the independents. Whilst other NXT hopefuls have needed some time to work out the kinks, the 'duck to water' metaphor applies to Perez perfectly.
As such, the sky is seemingly the limit for Perez. Showing such tremendous promise already, she is sure to be a big part of the NXT women's division moving forward. Although there are a handful of talents that are likely to be getting the main roster call before her, it doesn't seem like Perez requires much more seasoning before heading to SmackDown or RAW. In the short term, it seems like Perez could be a big fixture of the NXT brand, and still being so young, she could also be a long term project that sees her rise into the upper echelons of the WWE.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKeoqqSowaa%2BjZympmenrLJuutetZJuqmZqzbrPUopueZaSkerO715qlp51dpbKzsdlmp6islaPBqq3LZqquqJWnwLWt0Wg%3D