In another news, Former NXT women’s champion Mandy Rose has reportedly been released by WWE less than 24 hours after suddenly dropping the WWE NXT Women’s Championship to Roxanne Perez.
Perez won the Iron Survivor Challenge at WWE NXT Deadline, where she was scheduled to challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship at New Year’s Evil on January 4, 2023. When that match was suddenly moved up to the very next night, speculation on Rose’s status with WWE immediately flooded Twitter.
Rose’s release comes in the wake of several nude photo and video leaks from her BrandArmy page, which is a paid content site similar to OnlyFans.
“WWE officials felt they were put in a tough position based on the content she was posting on her BrandArmy page. They felt like it was outside of the parameters of her WWE deal,” reported Fightful Select.
Mandy Rose did not respond to a request for comment. This article will be updated if and when she does.
WWE Superstars, who are classified as independent contractors, were forced to relinquish their third-party deals in 2020 (i.e. Twitch, outside sponsorships) at the behest of Vince McMahon. The edict led to stark controversy within the WWE locker room, and was even called out by Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who vowed to fight for wrestler rights in the event he was installed as the Secretary of Labor.
Rose’s situation transcends the third-party deal conversation, however, given the racy nature of what were supposed to be private photos for pay. WWE envisions itself similar to Disney as a family-friendly promotion with TV-PG programming, and it was strongly against one of its top stars sharing adult content, leaked or not.
Rose was moved from the main roster to NXT in 2021, where she formed the Toxic Attraction stable alongside Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin. While at the helm of the dominant stable, Rose carried the NXT Women’s Championship for 413 days. Rose made vast improvements on the mic and in the ring during what was her first championship reign of any kind in WWE.
In 2022, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked her No. 21 of 150 in the PWI Women’s 150, her highest such ranking. Despite the impressive ranking, the 400-day champion felt she was robbed.
WWE’s action against Rose sends a message to the locker room about the framework third-party content, and just how far WWE Superstars can go in sharing racy photos and videos online. And while Rose will be subject to a toxic online reaction, it should go without saying that she is free to whatever she pleases to create content for pay. Unfortunately, in this case, she had to deal with the consequences as a WWE Superstar.
Rose posted some explicit photos and videos on the page, and WWE reportedly felt they were "outside of the parameters" of her contract.
The 32-year-old Rose had been in the midst of one of the most dominant title reigns in NXT history before she shockingly lost the NXT Women's Championship to Perez on Tuesday.
Rose's reign of 413 days was the third-longest in the history of the NXT Women's Championship, behind only Asuka's 522 days and Shayna Baszler's 416 days.
At NXT Deadline on Saturday, Perez outlasted four other women to win the first-ever Iron Survivor Challenge and earn a future shot at the NXT Women's Championship.
Most assumed the match between Perez and Rose would occur at Vengeance Day in February, but when Rose attacked Perez after her promo on Tuesday, Perez challenged her to put the title on the line later in the night.
Rose obliged, and the 21-year-old Perez beat her, adding the NXT Women's Championship to a resumé that already included the Ring of Honor Women's World Championship.
Fans were left in shock by Rose's sudden loss and wondered if it was meant to set the stage for her to get called back up to WWE's main roster. Instead, it was apparently a precursor to her departure from the company.
Rose first joined WWE in 2015 as a cast member on Tough Enough. At the time, she had no wrestling experience, as she had come from the world of fitness competitions.
She eventually landed a contract with WWE and spent time in NXT before getting called up to the main roster as part of Absolution with Paige and Sonya Deville. A neck injury forced Paige out of action shortly thereafter, but Rose continued to team with Deville for the next few years.
After Rose and Deville broke up and feuded with each other, Rose formed a tag team with Dana Brooke. When they struggled to find success, Rose was sent back to NXT last year.
That was seemingly the best possible move for her career, as she formed Toxic Attraction with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, and won the NXT Women's Championship after only a few months.
Rose improved significantly in the ring, on the mic and in terms of character work, and she seemed destined for big things on the main roster in the future.
While her run with WWE is apparently done for now, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that the door could be open for a Rose return in the future.
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