Sol Ruca Discusses WWE Recruitment And Tryout

Sol Ruca's WWE career started with a DM, according to the "NXT" newcomer.

Ruca, a.k.a. Calyx Hampton, told Fox News this week that her first interaction with WWE came when the company's recruitment page direct-messaged her on Instagram, imploring her to come to a tryout last March. "At first I thought it was not real because I didn't know how people got into WWE," the ex-University of Oregon gymnast said. "I wasn't a super big fan at the time. So, when I saw that, I was like there's no way. So, I showed my boyfriend and he's like you have to do this. That's insane. I looked into it and figured like, if I go to the tryout and don't make it, it's one hell of a story to tell people. I got the opportunity to try out, how crazy is that? If I do make it, then we'll see what happens."

Hampton said the tryout was "one of the hardest things" she's ever done, but did well enough to receive a contract offer. The former NCAA athlete debuted as Ruca as part of the "NXT Live" tour in June and eventually made her television debut the next month.

"It was a bit of a struggle at first," she said, adding her biggest learning curves were acting and cutting promos.

"But now that I'm here, I'm slowly but surely finding that love for it," she said. "I just think that everything that I've been through and all the sports that I've done, and even social media entertainment aspects, has led me to this. I wish I would've been involved in WWE before, at least been a bigger fan. But now that I'm here, I'm like, this is exactly what I should be doing."