Peyton Royce has opened up on the decision by WWE to split up IIconics, which was a tag team involving her and Billie Kay.
The two stars had been paired together since their time in NXT and later when they were called up to the main roster. They’re also great friends in real life.
They split up last August after they lost to The Riott Squad. The match had a stipulation that the losing team would be forced to disband. In a recent interview with SK Wrestling’s Rick Ucchino, she noted that they didn’t know until either the day of or the day before.
“I mean, it was right there in that moment we found out what the stipulation was that day, maybe the day before, I don’t have a very good memory. It really was, Billie and I, we, more than just who we are as WWE Superstars; we have grown up together. For us to like, you know, our whole dreams, our whole journeys have been together. So for that to be just torn apart and like you said, so abruptly, I feel like I’m still digesting it, and I’m still trying my footing without her.” She added that Kay is thriving on SmackDown and she’s so happy for her best friend.
Instinct Culture by Denise Salcedo also has a new interview with Royce where she also talked about this decision.
“So I thought at first it was going to be liberating because we had been a team our whole WWE careers and I absolutely loved our time together but I was looking at the silver lining when it happened. I was like ‘how can I make the best of this opportunity?’ because it is what it is, it’s an opportunity to go out and see what I can do on my own. That happened late last year and I feel like I’m still trying to find my footing on my own. Billie is my tag team partner, in real life she’s my best friend so to not have her with me even just at work, we work on separate days now, she’s just my support system that I feel like I have lost and I am trying to rebuild that within myself. I am trying not to rely on somebody else for that. So it has been really tough, I am so happy for her, she’s absolutely killing it on Smackdown right now, she’s a comedic genius and she’s just thriving. And I hope that I can get there too.”
You can check out the interview here:
