Roxanne Perez Got Close With This WWE Star While Rehabbing

As one of WWE's brightest young stars, Roxanne Perez has had plenty of mentors along the road to becoming the "WWE NXT" Women's Champion. But during an interview on a recent episode of the "Under the Ring" podcast, Perez said there's one former NXT champion who stands out as a guiding light for her in recent months.

"There's a couple people, but one that really sticks out to me is Bayley," Perez said. "While she was down in the PC for rehab, we kind of got close. She kind of took me, Cora [Jade], Jacy Jane, and Indi Hartwell under her wing and she gave us so much advice."

Bayley missed more than a year of action from 2021 throughout most of 2022 after tearing an ACL and spent some time at WWE's Performance Center in Orlando rehabbing her injury. During that time, Perez was first breaking into the WWE scene after six years on the independent circuit.

Perez said she has a photo she took with Bayley when she was 14 years old and showed her at the PC. "Her mind was blown, she was like, 'Oh my gosh, my goal was always to inspire the younger generation but I don't know if I was ready to work with them yet.' "

Even now that Perez, 21, has become the "WWE NXT" Women's Champion in her own right, she said Bayley, a former NXT champion herself, still texts her to offer advice.

"She's so awesome," Perez said. "She was always so open to me going up to her and asking her wrestling questions or even just life questions. She's been like a big sister to me and it's cool because I've looked up to her for so long."