Reports surfaced on Thursday with details about a “fashion consulting” session that took reportedly took place backstage at NXT 2.0 a few months ago.
Former WWE Superstar Ember Moon (Current Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion under the in-ring name of Athena) told Chris Van Vliet that when Triple H left NXT, and the show was rebranded as NXT 2.0, there was meeting with the female talent to encourage them to “dress sexier” and to wear things that are more revealing. In the interview, Moon specifically stated Mandy Rose was referenced as an example of what creative wanted.
Moon stated the following:
“Like I see where this is going between booty butt cheek shorts meeting and them telling girls to alter their gear to make it more revealing. And some people were very uncomfortable with that. And they were like, ‘Nope, this is what they want. You got to do it.’ It didn’t matter how that person felt. And I was like, this isn’t what I signed up for anymore. This isn’t about the wrestling. This isn’t about the art that we create in the ring. This is turning into everything that I left on Raw and Smackdown.”
Now, according to Fightful Select, The talent meetings were held in October of last year.
It was noted that WWE brought in fashion expert Melanie Pace to conduct the meetings Pace advertises herself as an Orlando-based on-air style expert, a fashion stylist, and a virtual stylist.
Fightful Select also stated the meetings were held under the guise of “fashion consulting” and “fashion aid”, as a way to “play up the fact” that the women on NXT brand were larger-than-life Superstars. Fightful Select went on to say that it was noted by one NXT 2.0 talent how this was a stark contrast from before, as the talent on the NXT roster were originally encouraged to wear either just their ring gear, or an available merchandise shirt.
FightFul Select further noted that another talent said how they were encouraged to dress similarly backstage, and didn’t outright say that “dressing sexier” was spoken aloud, but it was certainly implied. It was also stated that several members of the NXT roster expressed displeasure with the meetings, and put the blame on WWE Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis after he regained power. The meetings were said to be seen as one of the big changes following Triple H’s departure when he took time off following his heath issues. It was noted however, that while talent put the blame on Laurinaitis, it has not been confirmed he came up with the meetings.
October of last year, Melanie Pace posted to Instagram she was taking a “Quick trip back to Orlando! Fashion talks with the best at @wwenxt.”
You can check out the Instagram post below, and the full interview Chris Van Vliet did with Ember Moon (Athena).