Former WWE star Cassie Lee (Peyton Royce) was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet.
Lee talked about her release from WWE, why she suggested breaking up The IIconics, why she thinks she was released, how her husband Shawn Spears reacted, the motivational speaker gimmick she pitched to Vince McMahon, the current issues with her green card, and more.
Here are some highlights:
Lee said it was her idea to split up the Iiconics:
“I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this. I hope Jess isn’t upset with me saying this. I wanted to go single. There were things I wanted to take off my bucket list as a singles competitor. I vocalized that to Jess in January last year, but I didn’t do anything about it. I told her where I was at. I didn’t go and try and get us broken up or something like that. This was in the PC era, and Jess was out for a week. I had this random singles match. I don’t even remember who it was against. Vince loved it. He said, ‘You’re so good. What are we doing?’ I said to him, ‘If it is possible in the future plans, and I’m not saying right now, but in the future, I would like to see what I can do on my own. I’m so comfortable with Jess. I feel like we can conquer the world together, but I want to see what I can do for myself.’ So many people said, ‘That was so stupid for them to break you up. Why did they break you up? You were so good together.’ I feel like it’s my fault because I wanted to push myself and see what I was capable of. That might have been the worst decision that I made.”
Cassie said she thought about asking for her release many times:
“I really struggled seeing the bigger picture and putting things in perspective. I was really unhappy at work. A few times, I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m going to ask for my release.’ There were times I would be in the locker room, and some sort of creative would change, and I was so upset. Rhea had to talk me off the edge because I was about to walk into Talent Relations and say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m so unhappy.’ She talked me off the ledge. I was unhappy, so the release I think was a blessing in disguise. I was unhappy, and I was so close to asking for my release, but I never pulled that trigger.”
Click below for the full interview:
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Also, be sure to subscribe to “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” on your mobile device by clicking here if you have an iOS device or here on your Android device.
