Emma Talks About Living Her Dream, Being in WWE, NXT

She’s risen quickly into the WWE Divas division, so the Herald Sun took a few moments to chat with former NXT standout Emma about her career in WWE thus far.

Initially, she started as a fan of the company, and decided to go into the business at just age 13.

“There was an independent company I trained with maybe once or twice a week for a couple of hours, then I started doing shows once a month,” she says. “I did that all though my teens while I was going to high school (but) realised I had to get some more professional training to get connections at WWE.”

Emma, real name Tenille Dashwood, made the move from Australia to Canada back to Canada to the United States just to pursue who dream as a WWE mainstay.

“It’s crazy, I feel amazing even though it’s still completely surreal,” she says of her rise through the ranks of professional wrestling. 

“I’m very lucky to be able to live the life that’s everything I ever wanted, to have made that possible for myself, and to be actually doing it.”

Once she caught WWE’s eye though, she began training in the WWE Performance Center and still spends much time there. She noted how insane her travel schedule is.

“Being in this industry isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure,” Dashwood says. “Wrestling consumes your whole life … for me that’s fine, it’s what I want, but for others not so much.

“Being in this industry means being at the Performance Centre five days a week, sometimes from morning until night, then doing shows on the road the other days of the week. I’ve only been home (to her Orlando apartment) twice a week for the whole of this year.”

Emma also went in-depth about NXT, and what it was like making her debut in the developmental system.

“Having my TV debut on NXT felt surreal — that one word really sums everything up,” she says. “It was a little overwhelming but very exciting … I remember it, but I remember matches more since the character and the dance developed. I had more of an identity after that — that’s when I felt like, ‘This is it’.”

Moreover though, it’s about becoming a star in WWE. And since debuting on the “Monday Night Raw” roster, she’s getting a taste for what it’s like to be just that.

“You don’t realise the level of what we do until you get to the airport and see the fans waiting outside for you,” she says.

“It’s the most amazing thing because that used to be me, I know what that feels like, and that’s why it means so much to me.”

The entire article can be found here.