Naomi Felt Validated After Winning Smackdown Women’s Championship

– Naomi spoke with Kontrol Magazine for a new interview discussing her Smackdown Women’s Championship run and more. Highlights are below:

On the Funkadactyls gimmick: “I was a singles competitor for a few years before [Cameron] and I became a team, so transitioning back to that wasn’t difficult at all. The hard part was not being with [Cameron] because we became and still are really close, she’s like a sister to me. I loved being a Funkadactyl and was looking forward to us evolving together. But I have hope we’ll be in the ring together again one day. I know fans would live for that. [Laughs]”

On the women’s division: “…we are a sisterhood. We travel and work with each other about 300 days out of the year. We are each others’ family away from our actual family. We share good days together and bad, but we got each others back. When it’s show time no matter what differences are put to the side and we come together to put on the best show possible because we are all professionals. Our love and passion for what we do always override any issues.”

On the inspiration for her gimmick: “I took inspiration from one of my favorite movies, The Last Dragon, along with my own personal thoughts and ideas. ‘The Glow’ is a metaphor for confidence and positivity that I also showcase visually.”

On being two-time Smackdown Women’s Champion: “I felt relieved, honored, overwhelmed with joy and so appreciative of my journey to get to that point because it prepared me and I was ready. From the first day, I got signed to WWE, being the champion was always my number one goal and after years of consistent hard work both mentally and physically, ups and downs I was finally in that moment I had dreamt and thought about so much! I remember thinking to myself as I raised the title up over my head for the first time and the fans were chanting ‘You deserve it,’ it was all worth it! The only other time I’ve cried that many years of joy was on my wedding day. [Laughs] That title changed me today because it gave me and our fans the validation I needed as a performer and strong competitor in our division.”