Before Tiffany Stratton became the WWE Women’s Champion on SmackDown, she first made her mark in NXT by capturing the NXT Women’s Championship, a milestone that came less than two years into her career. Speaking on the “No-Contest Wrestling” podcast, Stratton reflected on the pressure of her first major title win and admitted she did not initially feel prepared for the responsibility.

Stratton won the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at the NXT Battleground event in a match against Lyra Valkyria. To her surprise, she revealed that the decision was kept from her until the last possible moment. “Nobody really had told me, like, ‘Oh, you’re winning the title.’ I just kind of found out one day when we were calling the match, I think it was day of,” she shared.

Because of how suddenly the news was delivered, Stratton explained she had little time to absorb the magnitude of the moment. “After that match, I don’t even think it set in for another week,” she said. “And then I felt almost like I wasn’t ready. And I was like, why are they doing this?”

Although the opportunity initially sparked self-doubt, Stratton grew more confident as her reign continued. She believes the experience fast-tracked her development. “As time went on, I got more confident, and I think everything happens for a reason,” she said. “When you get pushed like that, you’re kind of forced to either sink or swim. So I really had no other option but to swim. And I learned a lot, too, in a very short amount of time.”

Looking back, Stratton views her NXT run as the essential foundation for her current success on the main roster. “I’m super grateful for NXT. They taught me everything I learned so much down there,” she noted. “And now I’m champion on SmackDown, and I feel like I am champion now because of NXT and how much I’ve learned… I owe NXT a lot for my career.”

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