From Taya to Franky Monet, this has been a big year for the new NXT star.
Earlier this year, the former Taya made a move from IMPACT Wrestling over to WWE. For Monet, it was a brand new experience for her to even have options without being in a contract.
"Honestly, I had never really been a free agent," Monet told Fightful. "I was in Canada, then Mexico, and I was under contracts with AAA and then Lucha Underground and then IMPACT. I never had this moment where I was like, 'Okay, let's figure out what's out there.' I knew that I had to give it to myself, I owed it to myself to see what was out there and to allow myself the opportunity to achieve this huge dream that I always wanted to do, which is be in WWE. When it came about it was over the course of several months, but I really had to be like, "Alright, we're doing this? We're doing this.' It was obviously stressful, just like anything you care about can be stressful and a little bit anxiety, just wondering what the unknown it. Sometimes, the unknown is the most wonderful thing and the most wonderful thing brought me here to WWE and NXT."
When Monet started to tease her NXT debut, it actually wasn't her that did the teasing. It was her adorable little pup who appeared in vignettes. These set the stage for a reinvention of Taya into Franky Monet.
"I always say that everyone in NXT is very supportive and understanding of my ideas. I've always just known who I wanted to be and who this character was. Franky is an evolution of Taya and I had to break it down for myself and think about how I would make her visually look familiar, but also different. The idea of Presley coming in, I cant remember who exactly it was...it was not me. Everyone knew that John and I have Presley and Bowie, these two fluffy Pomeranians that are all over social media. I think it was this natural thing, a little bit of Paris Hilton and Torrie Wilson. It just fit with who Franky was going to be. They asked me about Bowie and Presley and I said, 'Bowie is the bad one.' He's a baby still and is hyper. Presley has been in movies and walked with me to the ring on Indie shows and I knew he would do a great job. With lots of bacon bits and me hiding behind doors, we were able to get him to act on command. It was really fun and different and Presley debuted on NXT before me. People see him and are like, 'Oh my God, that's Presley.'"
You can see our full interview with Franky Monet at the top of the page, and can see her in action every Tuesday night at 8 PM EST on WWE NXT, broadcasting live on the USA Network.
