Former WWE Women’s Champion Accuses WWE Of Making Her A "S*x Symbol"
Mandy Rose has criticized WWE for what she sees as a double standard, arguing that the company monetized her “s*x symbol” image while objecting when she monetized her own brand through FanTime, leading to her 2022 release.
Mandy Rose has once again addressed the fallout from her WWE exit, and this time, her criticism is about how the company treated her image. The former NXT Women's Champion said WWE had no problem presenting her as a “s*x symbol” during her run, but questioned why it became an issue when she tried to monetize that side of her personal brand herself. Rose made the comments during a recent interview with TMZ's Inside The Ring, looking back at what happened after WWE released her in December 2022. Her exit came just one day after she dropped the NXT Women's Championship, with the company taking issue with the nature of content she was sharing with fans on FanTime. The situation divided opinion around wrestling, with people siding both with WWE and Rose.
Why Mandy Rose thinks WWE held a double standard
Rose's main issue is pretty straightforward. She believes WWE itself benefited financially from the way she was presented on television, particularly through the sexualized image attached to her character.
“I was basically a s*x symbol in WWE for most of my career and they monetized off of it, right?” Rose said. She then questioned why she shouldn't have been able to “monetize off of it after WWE.”
That comparison sits at the center of her criticism. Rose wasn't claiming that building her own platform was simple either. Instead, she pointed to the amount of work involved in turning an online following into an actual business.
Rose says building a personal brand takes more than hiring a manager
According to Rose, people often underestimate what goes into running a subscription-based platform and managing a creator brand. She said some assume they can simply hire a talent manager or ask a friend or relative to handle social media, but the reality is much more involved.
“It's not for everyone,” Rose explained, before stressing that there is “so much more involved.”
Her comments also show how differently her career developed after leaving wrestling. Rather than returning to WWE, Rose stepped away from the business and focused her time on growing her personal brand.
What happened to Mandy Rose after WWE
Rose's WWE release came after she had spent time as one of the company's prominent female stars and had held the NXT Women's Championship. She lost the title in December 2022, and her WWE departure followed the next day because of the FanTime content.
The decision became a major talking point within wrestling, especially because the issue involved content Rose was monetizing outside WWE. Some supported the promotion's decision, while others argued that Rose should have been able to control and profit from her own brand.