Tiffany Stratton says her next run as a heel will look a lot more like the person behind the character. Speaking on the Battleground podcast, Stratton said she has moved away from treating her WWE persona as a separate role.
“I felt like I always wanted to just play a character and not be anything like who I am in real life. And then slowly but surely I kind of realized, like, oh, people can connect more to something that feels a little bit more real,” Stratton said.
She said the business as a whole has moved in that direction.
“And I feel like wrestling slowly has become that in the past couple of years, where people aren’t really playing characters anymore. It’s just kind of an extended version of themselves on steroids. So I wouldn’t say that was a hard pill for me to swallow. I just think I’ve realized it more and more, and I’ve gotten better at kind of blending my two, the Jessica and the Tiffany,” she said.
Jessica is Stratton’s real first name. She said that approach will carry into her next turn.
“And I feel like once I turn heel, it’s gonna be like me on steroids, and it’s gonna be so much, it’s gonna be different, and I’m excited,” Stratton said.
Stratton’s last main roster run as a heel produced the biggest win of her career. After aligning with Nia Jax, she turned on Jax and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on the first SmackDown of 2025 to win the WWE Women’s Championship. She held the title for 302 days before Jade Cargill beat her for it at Saturday Night’s Main Event on November 1, 2025.
Back on SmackDown
Stratton has been working as a babyface on SmackDown. On Friday’s episode in Indianapolis, she teamed with WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green and Paige in a loss to Fatal Influence’s Jacy Jayne, the Women’s United States Champion, and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Nikki Bella tripped Paige while the referee’s back was turned, allowing Jayne to hit the Rolling Encore for the win.
Jayne used the same move to beat Stratton for the Women’s United States Championship on the August 14 episode of SmackDown.
Stratton is set to face Tatum Paxley and Candice LeRae in the final women’s Money in the Bank qualifier on the October 2 episode of SmackDown in Denver. The winner joins Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Jayne, Roxanne Perez and Lash Legend, who qualified on Friday by beating Charlotte Flair and Giulia. Stratton won the women’s ladder match in 2024.
Money in the Bank takes place October 10 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
On the same episode of Battleground, Stratton also discussed the possibility of aligning with Paul Heyman, making music with Lil Yachty, her NXT No Mercy match with Becky Lynch and feedback she has received from Triple H.
