Aliyah is officially part of the WWE main roster, here's what she had to say about her long journey over to Smackdown. WWE Superstar Aliyah spoke to on-air personality Denise Salcedo about her main roster debut, her upcoming first Royal Rumble appearance and much more.
Aliyah first signed with WWE back in the spring of 2015, some fans may recall seeing her begin her career when she appeared on the WWE Network original series Breaking Ground. A show that allowed viewers a behind-the-scenes look into some of the journeys of the young up and coming stars at the Performance Center. Between 2015 and 2019 she primarily worked the NXT house shows, and although she sporadically appeared on some NXT tapings, fans didn't really see her as a regular on NXT TV until 2020. However, she was mainly on the losing end of those matches, she had losses against Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart, Rhea Ripley, Candice LaRae and several others. During the spring of 2020, Aliyah joined the Robert Stone Brand, and she remained aligned with Stone until her final match on NXT when she turned on him.
Following her departure from NXT, Aliyah wrestled eleven dark matches on WWE Smackdown until she finally made her main roster debut on November 12, 2021, when she teamed up with Naomi and Sasha Banks to take on Natalya, Shayna Baszler and Shotzi in a 6-woman tag team match.
“I think it was a week or two weeks after that I was booked to do dark matches, so I did the dark match one week and I got invited back, and I just kept getting invited back for dark matches, dark matches, dark matches…. Eventually the contract was offered and it was there… haven’t looked back since.“
However, because Aliyah had spent several years on NXT and the Performance Center, she found herself very emotional prior to officially moving up to the main roster.
“I had no idea that I was clueless, to say the least {laughs}… I found out the day before TV {NXT}… I just remember my drive that morning to the Performance Center to the shoot, I was just in tears, like I could not stop crying because I couldn’t fathom that that was the last drive I was gonna make there, little did I know now that I am still training there, I am still going {laughs} but back then I just remember the whole drive I was just balling.”
Aliyah did mention that she still goes to the train at the WWE PC twice a week.
Aliyah was only nineteen years old when she signed her WWE Developmental contract, "I signed my contract at 19 years old, from the point that I am now, to looking back to that 19-year old girl that signed that contract, I am just so proud of myself because within all that time I learned so much about myself and for that I am so grateful. Throughout the years I’ve had amazing coaches, influential people around me to help guide me, and I am just forever grateful and blessed.”
When asked what advice her current self would give her nineteen-year-old self, Aliyah said,
"Don’t be so hard on yourself, I think just don’t be so hard on yourself, when you’re new to the industry and stuff of course you’re gonna have compliments and stuff, but you also might get a little critique, you might get a little hater, but eventually you learn to block that out and learn not to focus on the negatives and stay positive. So I would definitely tell myself just don’t be so hard on yourself but at the same time if I wasn’t so hard on myself I don’t think I’d be where I am today. {laughs}”
Aliyah was also asked what it was like to see her peers move on from NXT to the main roster or from the company to other places, and how she kept her spirits high waiting for her big break.
"I just think I am very passionate person, I have a lot of different passions, I have lots of fuel to my fire. I think just knowing myself and just having it in the back of my mind that I love myself and just I am gonna take care of myself, I think that’s where all that comes from."
Now that she is a part of the Smackdown brand, Aliyah is beginning to make some waves. Just last week on the January 14, 2022 edition of Smackdown, Aliyah defeated Natalya in 3.17 seconds to become the new record holder for the fastest victory in WWE history. She has also been named as one of the participants in the upcoming 2022 Women's Royal Rumble taking place on January 29th.
Aliyah was also asked about her major goals within WWE for this new year, and her biggest at the moment is to become the first-ever Arab female superstar to perform in the Middle East. Although as of this article, WWE has not announced any matches, they are scheduled to host the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view from Saudi Arabia on February 19th.
You can check out the entire conversation with Aliyah below.