Tiffany Stratton recently shed light on the stark differences between the travel demands of WWE’s main roster (specifically SmackDown at the time of her initial call-up) and her experience in NXT during an interview on Gorilla Position. Stratton emphasized the significant adjustment required due to the constant travel schedule on the main roster, particularly the extensive international tours.
“So down at NXT, obviously there was no traveling. I mean, they’re traveling now, but we weren’t traveling at all when I was in NXT, and so obviously the traveling has been so hard to get familiar with,” Stratton explained.
She then detailed the intense schedule she faced, stating, “Last year, SmackDown had so many international tours. We were out of the country at least once a month, sometimes twice a month. I literally went from Europe to Saudi and then back to Europe for another tour, and then a couple weeks later, we had a Christmas tour. Thankfully, at the SmackDown side, we were kind of all in Florida, so that was easy. The traveling has just been nothing that I expected it to be. I knew we traveled every week, but like, the out of the country stuff, it was a lot, but now I’m like, you know what? This is easy because I’ve got a little system, like a routine going and everything, so I’ve adjusted a year later.”
Stratton also addressed the looming pressure of her WrestleMania 41 match against the legendary Charlotte Flair. While acknowledging the natural nerves associated with such a high-profile encounter, Stratton revealed a shift in her mindset, focusing on the opportunity rather than the potential loss.
“I mean, of course I am,” Stratton admitted when asked about feeling pressure. “She is the reason why I got into wrestling. She’s obviously been in the business for, I think, 15 years now, so she’s got quite a lot more experience than me, and that’s okay.”
Despite recognizing Flair’s experience advantage, the 25-year-old champion emphasized her youthful perspective and long-term aspirations in WWE. “I’m only 25 years old going into WrestleMania, I felt like I kind of had everything to lose, but now I’ve kind of rewired my thinking, and I feel like I kind of have everything to gain, and it’s just another experience for me. It’s my first WrestleMania and I’m 25 years old. I’m gonna have plenty more WrestleManias. I’ve got at least 10 to 15 left in me, so I’m trying to just be at peace and take a little bit of the pressure off of me and just be super excited for this WrestleMania.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Gorilla Position with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
