Early on, that pivot had seemingly paid off. NXT leadership quickly saw star potential in Howard, who performs as Lash Legend.

“We knew it was not a question of if she was going to make it; it was just when,” said former WWE star Shawn Michaels, now the WWE senior vice president of talent development and creative.

When it came to Howard, Michaels and NXT prioritized match repetition over elevation. Often, that meant Howard’s movement within the organization was lateral rather than vertical. 

But the lack of upward movement began to wear on her. Coming from a sports background where production yields results, Howard struggled with the disconnect.

“You want to be a champion. You want to be a face of the company,” WWE superstar Nia Jax said. “I just remember her saying, ‘I don’t know if I can do this anymore.’”

During her stint at NXT, Howard hit a wall. She felt she had given the company everything it asked of her, yet couldn’t get clarity on what it wanted.

Howard wasn’t used to struggling to gain traction like this. In college, she was an All-SEC basketball player who left Texas A&M as one of the program’s all-time best rebounders. She learned, though, that the business of the WWE was a different playing field.

Because she wasn’t moving upward at NXT, Howard felt she was failing to meet her potential.

“I didn’t understand why, if I do A through Z, then why am I not getting the things that I know I deserve, that I’m capable of — holding down the women’s division, being a champion,” Howard said.

“I feel like, for me as a person, my biggest fear — and I don’t like saying it out loud — but my biggest fear is not living up to the potential that I know I have. So, yeah, that was really hard for me.”

Howard second-guessed her decision, even reaching out to former agents about returning to basketball. Although teams inquired about her roster availability, she realized she couldn’t just walk away from wrestling.

“I am just — I try not to ever be a quitter in anything I do,” Howard said.

Howard’s persistence and perseverance in the squared circle ultimately paid off. Since her main roster debut last October, her rise has been swift. At this year’s Royal Rumble in January, her five-elimination performance was widely lauded.

In February, alongside Jax, Howard earned her first WWE championship by winning the Women’s Tag Team title. To secure the championship belt, she pinned Rhea Ripley, the face of the women’s division.

Then, earlier this month, Howard made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania, competing in the women’s fatal 4-way tag-team match.

“A lot of the things that she did naturally was a better fit for Raw and SmackDown than it was at NXT,” said WWE superstar Trick Williams, who is Howard’s fiancée. “The moment she went to the big stage, her light just shined automatically.”

Howard is considered one of the WWE’s most promising rising stars on its main roster.

“I think that the success that young lady has had is just a blip on the radar,” Michaels said. “It is going to be a lot more in the very near future.”

Despite the path, Howard said she wouldn’t change a thing.

“I feel like now where I’m at, I wouldn’t have even imagined being this fast-tracked, as people say, on the main roster,” Howard said. “Yeah, I was irritated. Yeah, my patience was very thin, but I appreciate it all. And it helped me grow as a person and as an entertainer — as a professional wrestler.”

Production Credits:

Reporter — Sean Hurd

Executive Producer — Marques Miles

Co-Producer — John Gotty

Director — Jasmine Baxter

Producer — Matt Jason

DP/ Cam Op — Robert O’Reilly

Audio Mixer — Ricky Elders

AC — Derriyon Winns

Cam Op — Justin Conforti

The post ‘I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be’: Lash Legend is just getting started appeared first on Andscape.