In a shocking piece of wrestling news this week, former WWE NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose has been released by WWE. She lost her NXT Women’s Championship on Tuesday night in a shocking upset to Roxanne Perez on this week’s NXT TV episode on USA Network, and now she is no longer part of WWE at all, as they gave Rose her walking papers.
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp tweeted that WWE had released Mandy Rose on Wednesday morning.
FORMER CHAMPION MANDY ROSE RELEASED BY WWE AFTER EXECUTIVES DISCOVER RISQUE SUBSCRIPTION SITE
According to Sean Ross Sapp, WWE officials released Mandy Rose after they believed they were in a tough position after they discovered she was posting mature content on her FanTime webpage. Officials of the company reportedly saw her account and its content as outside the parameters of her WWE contract.
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Rose later issued a statement on her account later on (via Fightful) her FanTime account. It reads as follows: “Hey guys, thank you for all the messages. I am overwhelmed with all the love and support from you guys. And don’t worry the page is still up!”
Mandy Rose had been with WWE since 2015. She signed with the company after becoming the runner-up on the Season 6 of the Tough Enough reality show. She later formed the Fire and Desire tag team on the main roster in Sonya Deville. She also had a memorable romance storyline with Otis that started in 2019.
Rose returned to the revamped NXT 2.0 in July 2021. There, she formed the Toxic Attraction stable with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. Despite returning to NXT, Mandy Rose had been enjoying the most success of her professional in-ring career up to that point. At NXT Halloween Havoc in October 2021, Rose defeated Raquel González to capture the NXT Women’s Championship, the first title of Rose’s professional career.
Rose would go on to have an epic run as NXT Women’s Champion, holding the title for 413 days. At NXT Worlds Collide in September 2022, Rose defeated NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport in a Triple Threat Unification Match to unify the NXT and NXT UK Women’s Titles.
WWE had essentially built the NXT women’s division around Mandy Rose and Toxic Attraction, making Rose’s sudden title loss and firing from the company all the more shocking. She is the third longest-reigning women’s champion in NXT history behind only Asuka and Shayna Baszler.
According to the website, FanTime is a community-building platform that allows content creators to connect with their fanbases and establish monthly recurring income. The website allows for content creators to sell monthly subscriptions to their fans and customers. They can earn money through monthly subscriptions, tips, selling standalone content, and private DM content.
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Some of the content Rose was reportedly posting on her FanTime was of a more risque, adult, and explicit nature. Previously, WWE enacted a policy in September 2020 that banned wrestlers from monetizing third-party platforms, including such websites as Twitch and Cameo. WWE was not comfortable with wrestlers and Superstars under contract with monetizing their WWE names and likenesses on these platforms. Wrestlers who had Twitch subscriptions or Cameos started earning significant income through those platforms, and WWE viewed their ring names and likenesses as their IP.
It’s unknown if the third-party platform ban is still in place. The ban was put in place during Vince McMahon’s regime, and McMahon retired as Chairman and CEO of the company earlier this year. New WWE Co-President Stephanie McMahon and Chief Creative Officer Triple H did make a number of changes once they were put in charge, bringing back a number of released talents who were let go under Vince McMahon’s tenure, and even reversing some of McMahon’s edicts, such as using the words “wrestling” and “wrestlers” on air.
So, it could’ve been a combination of Rose making money outside of her WWE contract on a third-party platform, even if it’s on her own time, along with the risque content, or it could have been WWE officials merely discovering the more adult product. In recent years, WWE has pursued a more family-friendly TV-PG rating. Rose’s content could’ve caused potential issues with WWE’s corporate sponsors.
With Mandy Rose out of WWE, she will likely become a top free agent depending on the length of her non-compete period. It wouldn’t be surprising if either AEW or Impact Wrestling attempted to sign her to a new contract.
Mandy Rose is currently in a relationship with former WWE Superstar and NFL player Tino Sabbatelli. The couple announced their engagement earlier in September.
What do you think of the news? Do you think WWE was justified in releasing Mandy Rose? Do you think they made the right call? Or do you think this was a bad decision, and they should try to work things out with Rose? Let us know what you think in the comments or on The Illuminerdi Twitter account.
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SOURCE: USA Network
