Zeda Zhang Talks WWE's Plans For China Falling Through, Recent Visit To NXT Following Her Release
Former NXT Superstar and Mae Young Classic competitor Zeda Zhang appeared on Hot Mic this week with The Wrestling Inc. Daily's Christy Olson. Zeda discussed her 2018 release from WWE as well as her disappointing experience at the WWE Performance Center, and what happened to WWE's Chinese talent when the company's plans to expand changed.
Zhang talked about her experience at the Performance Center. She admitting that things weren't how she expected it to be.
"Before I went to NXT I trained basics at Santino Bros., and just from the two months that I was there they taught so much. So I was like, man I'm really going to learn a lot at NXT. But it wasn't like that. I was like, why am I not able to learn stuff that I want to learn and go try things out?" Zhang said. "I know what my body can handle, so I don't want someone to tell me, oh you can't even try to train this move. If I can't do this move, if anything I should train it more to be able to do it."
WWE had announced tryouts in China last year. Martial arts movie star Jacky Hueng was welcomed as WWE's first-ever ambassador to China as part of WWE's push to China. Zhang talked about why WWE's plans to build a Performance Center in China fell through and the effect on their then recently-signed Chinese talent.
"The whole point was to get China interested to push WWE in China. But things didn't go so well. WWE thought it would be easier to get in, but it wasn't, because of the Chinese government and all these different things. It was really hard to get in," Zhang said. "So after that, all of a sudden we don't have the camera crews following us around anymore. Next thing you know we're not getting much attention."
Zeda revealed that she returned to Full Sail to visit friends in late 2019. She noted that she was sat in the friends and family section at the show.
"They put me in the friends and family section. I'm like, sweet! I said hi to everyone, watched the show, you know, had fun," she said. "If someone says no to me in some sort of way, I am so obnoxious. I will just be like, oh yeah?! I'll be in your face and you're going to see me whether you want to see me or not!"
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