Roxanne Perez Talks Her Emotions In Winning NXT Women's Championship

"The Prodigy" recently became the "NXT" Women's Champion. On December 13, Roxanne Perez dethroned Mandy Rose for the title after the "Toxic Attraction" leader's 413-day run as champ, giving Perez her first taste of singles gold since signing with WWE. 

Following her win for the championship, Perez declared on Twitter that her heart was "so full" as her lifelong dream had finally become a reality. In a recent interview with Corey Graves on his "After The Bell" podcast, Perez opened up about her emotions upon being awarded the title. "I'm sure as everybody saw, as soon as that bell rang, I just burst into tears, and they were real tears," she said. "I think just all of the trials and tribulations and everything that I went through since I was 13 years old to get to this moment, started replaying in my head."

Perez began training in 2016, before ascending quickly across the independent wrestling scene and Ring of Honor before eventually landing in WWE. "I was like 'Wow.' All of those moments — even the super bad moments — were so worth it, because in that moment, winning the 'NXT' Women's Championship, just becoming a WWE champion, that was my biggest dream since I was 10 years old." Though experiencing a flurry of emotions at that moment, Perez said the excitement outweighed everything else.

Holding a prestigious title such as the "NXT" Women's Championship and "living up to that lineage' also comes with a fair amount of pressure, but Perez is determined to hold up and continue on with that legacy with grace. "Past champions, we have Sasha Banks, Bayley, Paige, so many — a list of so many amazing women that have gone on to do amazing things, one day that are going to be in the Hall of Fame."