Season one of WWE LFG on A&E has come to a close, marking the start of two rising stars’ journeys within WWE. The competition, designed to spotlight undiscovered talent with potential to become the next breakout Superstars, has officially crowned its inaugural winners: Tyra Mae Steele and Jasper Troy. With their victories, both secured NXT talent contracts, opening the door to WWE’s developmental brand and a shot at building a legacy.

In celebration of their triumph, The Takedown’s Sid Pullar III of Sports Illustrated spoke with the winners, capturing their emotions after the finale aired. Tyra Mae Steele expressed overwhelming gratitude and joy at finally reaching the opportunity she had long awaited.

“I’m so excited. It’s been a long time coming. I swear I’ve just been waiting for my moment to shine. I just feel elated. I just feel so, so freaking blessed,” Steele said, clearly emotional about the life-changing milestone.

Jasper Troy offered a deeper reflection, explaining how the journey did not feel like an ending but rather the beginning of something greater.

“I’m just excited I didn’t take my foot off the gas after winning. If anything, I was so looking forward to the end of the show and I was so wrapped up around winning and winning and winning and then I just had a moment where I was like, this isn’t the end, and I don’t know why it feels like the end.

This isn’t a movie where the movie ends and cuts to black. This is just the beginning… we won the show and I was excited and for a while, I was riding that wave, but then I had to get back to shore and realize is this the only time you want to be at the top?”

Troy, in particular, left a memorable impression during the season when CM Punk appeared as a special guest. In an impromptu promo challenge, Punk invited the competitors to step up and show what they could do on the microphone. Troy seized the moment to deliver an emotionally charged monologue centered around his feelings of abandonment as a fan when Punk departed WWE in 2014. His promo was bold, intense, and personal, and it quickly became a standout moment in the season.

“I knew what it was and I wanted to be first. He was like, ‘Who wants to go first?’ I got up, went to the front of the room, cut a promo and then after that, everyone was like, ‘Okay. I know who he is now.’ Like, follow that. And I just sat back down and I was like, ‘I mean, this is what I do,’” Troy recalled.

“When I cut that promo, man, it was a lot of passion, it was a lot of intensity and it was a lot of, I need to show people I’m not just (an) intimidating force. I’m not just the big guy in the ring and this isn’t 2000s wrestling where the big man is quiet and unspoken. It’s not that era anymore. We gotta electrify the audience in every way we can.

I think looking into CM Punk’s face is one of those things where I was like, have I earned this yet? Have I earned the right to sit here and cut this promo on CM Punk like me and him are about to main event SummerSlam? And I just took it, man. I just took it. I saw a moment and I just took it. This is something I’ve been waiting for. I have been waiting for a moment to get that microphone in my hands and express myself.”

In the weeks leading to the finale, both Steele and Troy made appearances on NXT television, offering a glimpse of what fans can expect from the newest additions to WWE’s growing roster.