Once you start hearing a buzz about somebody, you want to check them out because you never know if, and, or when exactly, they may come to NXT because NXT obviously has the best talent in the world.
Once upon a time, I liked to call myself 'The Grandfather of NXT' because I was one of the first to come up as I was, from NXT.
I am all about NXT because that was where I learned everything. I am a homegrown NXT talent.
Bayley helped me a lot in my career, especially in NXT. I had some of my best NXT matches with her, and she definitely helped me develop as a talent, because you're just as good as the person you're in there with.
When I was in NXT, I was going after the NXT Women's Championship and it never happened, I would constantly check in on my perspective.
With NXT there are always going to be a few people who are still developing because that's what NXT is, but that's really exciting because you get to see them thrown into the deep end.
The atmosphere we get with NXT and NXT fans, they're a die-hard group. They care deeply about NXT.
We all just want NXT to be the best product we can do. I don't care about what's going on anywhere else, we just get on with what we do, which is competitive pro wrestling and that's what NXT is.
When I was in NXT, I never wrestled on a TakeOver. I didn't have too many high-profile matches: I probably wrestled about 10 matches in total on NXT TV, including the one championship match against Bayley, which was so much fun and my favorite match in NXT.
I want to do something that has never been done, and that's become the first two-time NXT Champion. In a sense, that's a strange distinction to want, but that has to be my goal while I'm in NXT.
The way NXT has been from day one when I was asked to do it, 'Don't put me on camera. I do not need to be on camera unless it's absolutely necessary. This isn't about me, it's about the talent,' and everyone that works in NXT, that's what we think.
Otis and I go way back to NXT and we've been friends since NXT, so it's very nice to know the person pretty well. You feel comfortable and I think it comes off more natural on TV as well, which is cool. He's obviously just so funny.
I didn't feel that I was ready to leave NXT. When I was called up to SmackDown, I was very nervous. I hadn't done many of the things at NXT that I thought I was supposed to. I didn't have a TakeOver match. I never held the title. I only had a few matches on NXT TV and to be called up and told, 'Well, here you go!'
To be clear, NXT is a great place to be at, you know what I mean? ... Obviously, everybody aspires to be on Raw or Smackdown. That's why they sign with WWE, because they want to be able to perform on that stage and at Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
When I left NXT, I was kind of mad that I was never NXT champ, so when I got to the main roster, that was my first goal.
I had people come up from NXT and say to me, 'one thing we know is that we hear you're a bully,' I say that I am because I know that I am going to be bullied back at some point so I might as well start it.
NXT has been great to me. I love being able to wrestle the way I want to wrestle and be who I want to be. NXT is this amazing platform to do that.