Peyton Royce On Being Inspired By Eddie Guerrero, Training With Lance Storm, Her NXT Run
Peyton Royce was recently a guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia. During the interview, she discussed how she became interested in the professional wrestling business.
Royce grew up in Sydney, Australia and came from a dancing background. She said she was 13 years old when she realized she wanted to become a wrestler, and she revealed that it was the legendary Eddie Guerrero who inspired her to pursue a career in the industry.
"It never crossed my mind that I can do that. I hate that it comes back into my head, but it was the day Eddie Guerrero died. That was it for me. I used to pray at night and tell him that I was going to do this for you because you gave me all these memories and all these feelings and I just wanted to give back to others the way you gave to me," Royce said. "He was so charismatic. He would make me feel happy. He would make me laugh. He was so amazing to watch in the ring. He was so athletic and entertaining. I wanted to be able to speak Spanish, actually, I am taking Spanish now. I wanted to take Spanish in school because I wanted to talk like him, he was a big inspiration for my life."
Royce also discussed her time training with veteran wrestler Lance Storm. She spent three months learning under him and she said she enjoyed every minute of it. She said Storm is who helped her get her tryout with the WWE.
"It was the best three months of my life because you get to go to another country and experience another country and get to do what you love for three months. You don't have to work, you just go to training, go to the gym, eat some good food and you do it day in and day out. You meet people and form these relationships from people all over the world and you keep those connections. Lance [Storm] has been amazing to me ever since I have done the camp back in 2012, he's always been such a big supporter and motivator. He is still always there for me up until this day," Royce said. "Before I knew there was even a tryout, he knew how bad I wanted this. So, he had contacted me and said that I may want to send some of my information and he gave me an email address to send my information to possibly get a tryout. I thanked him and straight away I sent my information. I got an email back and they said that they were going to do a tryout and I was invited to it."
Royce was recently called up from NXT to SmackDown Live. As part of The IIconics, she and Billie Kay made an immediate impact by attacking then women's champion Charlotte. Royce said she is proud of her run in NXT and she is grateful for her new opportunity on the main roster.
"There have been so many times where I kind of reflect and think, man, I remember as a teenager dreaming about it and now I am doing it," she said. "So many people that didn't believe in me and thought it was a phase I was going through, I proved them wrong. It's such a wonderful feeling."
If any of these quotes is used, please use the h/t of Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia via Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.