Saturday, May 27, 2023

To the Tiffy Top? Our Thoughts on WWE’s Next Potential Franchise Superstar, Tiffany Stratton

DISCLAIMER: All photos are from WWE’s social media accounts.

This Sunday on Peacock, NXT will host Battleground as part of a massive weekend of wrestling on Memorial Day weekend. On that night, a new NXT Women’s Champion will be crowned. What’s special about this title win is whoever wins on Sunday will become the 100th woman in the history of WWE to hold Championship Gold of any kind in WWE, whether it be an official women’s championship (single or tag-team) or any intergender title such as the now-defunct Hardcore or 24/7 Championships. On one side is the very talented and mysterious Lyra Valkyria, who ran threw the now-defunct NXT UK like a hot knife through butter. On the other side, a woman who many have said could be a future franchise player in WWE…the woman we are going to talk about today: Tiffany Stratton.

One of her new looks since returning earlier this year

Tiffany (real name Jessica Woynilko ) would make her wrestling debut on NXT Level Up on November 16, 2021. That show is where up-and-coming Superstars would make their mark before being put on TV, testing the waters sorta speak. About a month later (December 28 to be exact), Tiffany would make her official NXT debut. It was clear there was SOMETHING there in terms of character, but folks weren’t too sold on her as an in-ring competitor. That all changed on the January 28, 2022 edition of NXT (then known at the time as NXT 2.0) when she would face Io Shiari (now Iyo Sky) and take her first loss, but the loss ended up being the best thing that could have happened to her as folks began to take notice of Tiffany that night. It was only Tiffany’s 3rd match ever and Iyo didn’t need to carry Tiffany much at all. That match caused folks to back up on their Tiffany dissing and began to go “Okay…maybe Tiffany’s got something”. Tiffany also had a different look that make folks take notice as well. Gone was the skirt, and hello super heroine/villian-esque attire. Folks would being to take even more notice of Tiffany in 2022, including the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament Finals against Roxanne Perez, NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender Battle Royal (where many claimed her at the MVP of that match), and the Lights Out match with Wendy Choo. While she didn’t win those three matches, folks left with a better show of respect for her than they did going into those matches. It also didn’t hurt that Tiffany did have a cool finisher in matches she DID win…her Tiffy Twister, a twisting splash from the top turnbuckle.


From her early days in NXT 2.0

After her Lights Out match in August, Tiffany would take the rest of 2022 off after suffering an injury to heal up and refocus, getting her body to an even crazier level than it already was and would return to NXT on January 10 of this year no longer Daddy’s Little Rich Girl…but the Center of the Universe. She made it clear that she was the star of NXT and for the last few months, she had proven to be just that. It’s been clear as day that Tiffany has been groomed to be the top lady of the brand but not being pinned or submitted at any time thus far in 2023, only suffering losses on TV in a Ladder Match and in a Triple Threat Match where she was NOT the deciding factor. She replaced the impressive Tiffy Twister with an even more impressive finisher…the PME (Prettiest Moonsault Ever), a triple-jump moonsault that was made famous by wrestler Christopher Daniels, which HE calls it the BME (Best Moonsault Ever). That’s set up by what wrestler Kenny Omega calls “You Can’t Escape”, a fireman’s carry rolling slam. (Not sure what Tiffany calls it just yet). The way she flows from the slam to the moonsault with ease is nothing short of amazing, and apparently she wants to add on to that with a front twist in the near future. If she does that…GOOD LORD. 

It would seem that we are drawing near to Tiffany’s crowning moment and this Sunday seems like that will be the night for her coronation at the top of the NXT Women’s division. When she first arrived, folks didn’t think she would last. Now, those same folks are looking forward to her potential crowning moment at NXT Battleground. All we have to say at this point is enjoy the ride, because we feel we are looking at the next franchise WWE Superstar. We send our best wishes to Tiffany Stratton as she aims to make her way to the Tiffy Top this Memorial Day weekend. How appropriate to have her kick off the summer as NXT Women’s Champion. Summer of Stratton?! We like the sound of that! 

TOOTLES!

Are we in for a Summer of Stratton this year?! 

For more on Tiffany, follow her on her Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and WWE-ran Facebook page

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