Sara Del Rey Discusses Her Work Training NXT Divas

– Sara Del Rey, Charlotte and others spoke with VICE in a new interview discussing her work as the first female trainer for the company, traying the Divas and more. Check out the highlights:

Sasha Banks on Del Rey’s help with the NXT Takeover: Rival match: “Sara wanted us to go out there and steal the show. To come backstage afterward and see how proud she was… I’m getting emotional right now just thinking about it. It just shows how much we care, how much we love this.”

Del Rey on getting her start in the business and in WWE: “Daniel Bryan trained me a long time ago. That’s how I got my foot in the door. Training has always been my one true passion; it’s what I really love about pro wrestling. I thought I had unique experiences and perspectives to share with the women in NXT. WWE agreed, and here I am.”

Charlotte on being trained by Del Rey: “Obviously she’s my coach, and obviously we trained in the ring, but Sara brought out who ‘Charlotte’ was. She taught me to be confident, and melded authentic sides of who I am on the inside and with my character. She’s my biggest supporter.”

Del Rey on her best skills as a trainer: “Really, I just support them. It’s just about teaching them to think for themselves. I think all those girls really know who they are, inside and out of the ring. After that, it’s easy for me to sit back and let them fly.”

Del Rey on being trained by guys: “I trained with guys’ guys for years, but it was when I went to Japan and worked with a group of all females that my technique was really fine-tuned. There wasn’t a safety net. I don’t think [having a female trainer] is a necessity, but it’s helpful.”

Del Rey on the odds of women headlining Raw within the next two years: “100 percent. There’s no limit to what this generation of girls can do.”

Banks on Divas feeling the pressure of attention being on them now: Do we feel the pressure? In a way, yes. Everyone is talking about us right now. But we’re doing what we love, and when you’re doing what you love it comes easy. We’re putting our heart out there, and the fans appreciate that. I believe that we’re defining and changing women’s wrestling. I hope little girls watch us and say ‘Wow, I want to be a diva in the WWE because of these NXT girls.’

Triple H on Del Rey: “You can have all the knowledge in the world, but it’s useless if you can’t explain it. That’s what makes Sara special: She can feel it, but she’s also able to articulate that feeling…Whenever people say ‘Oh, it’s so great you brought in a woman to train the women,’ I say ‘I didn’t hire a woman to train women, I hired a woman to train.’ She’s great with the women, she can relate to the women wonderfully, but she’s more than that. It’s the same when I bring her up to the main roster; I’m not doing that so she can just work with the women, I’m doing that so she can be a road agent. It’s irrelevant to me that’s she’s a woman. What matters is that she can do her job extremely well.”