Tiffany Stratton: Our Pick For Breakout Female WWE Superstar In 2024
Tiffany Stratton has been a pleasant surprise in WWE NXT for the last year or so. The current 24-year-old signed with the company back in 2021, but many people do not realize that she was not just a product of the WWE Performance Center. Greg Gagne and Ken Anderson initially trained her in 2020, but she would not make her debut on the independents.
The WWE had a tryout in 2020 that she was invited to, yet COVID-19 prevented the tryout from taking place. By May 2021, they had another, which she attended and clearly did well at. Stratton was the only woman signed from these tryouts. She officially signed in August but made her official in-ring debut in November of the same year on the WWE Level Up program. This is relatively fast for a new talent like her, but she impressed very soon into her run there.
Stratton was likely able to debut so soon into signing due to having been trained a bit before signing with WWE. The company simply had to improve areas she wasn”t great at yet. However, Stratton impressed in her first few matches and would eventually be utilized by NXT off and on repeatedly.
Another Mandy Rose? No Thanks
The decision WWE made to fire Mandy Rose in December of 2022 likely led to Stratton getting bigger opportunities. However, she was already being used a good bit on television by 2022. Rose”s departure opened the door for Stratton to be the “eye candy” on television that NXT needed. To many, that was all Stratton was there for. She did not really have much skill in the ring, right? Heck, even Mandy Rose, while improved, was never known for her great wrestling ability.
Tiffany Stratton seemed to be angered by this ideology. She was more than another Mandy Rose. Stratton has a gymnastics background and was able to pull off athletic moves that Rose would never be able to do. Stratton”s potential is also immense, as she”s still young in her career and can do so much already.
In 2023, she wanted to prove that she was more than just a pretty face. To do this, she needed to do something big to make fans change their mind.
N-Becks-T
Tiffany Stratton managed to win the WWE NXT Women”s Championship in a tournament in 2023. She was getting over pretty well, but fans were still not taking her seriously as someone who could be equal to the likes of the Four Horsewomen of NXT. It did not help that WWE also signed quite a few impressive in-ring workers from the independent scene. Stratton might have won a tournament, but fans still just saw her as WWE”s attempt to make a new Mandy Rose.
After all, Stratton”s entire character is Barbie-like. She is a gorgeous, young woman with blonde hair and a killer body to match. She wants you to see her as the pretty, popular girl from high school that every guy wanted and every girl wanted to be. When you see that type of package, it is easy to assume she is only being used for her looks and not her in-ring skills.
Enter Becky Lynch.
Shawn Michaels began to run NXT while Triple H was heading up WWE Creative entirely. This led to the decision to use main roster stars on NXT programming a bit more. That is why we routinely saw Judgment Day there throughout the year, as well as why several others kept making appearances. Then Becky Lynch came in and wanted to do something for her own legacy.
Unlike the other NXT Four Horsewomen, Lynch was not a grand slam champion as she never won the NXT Women”s Title. The ability to come down to NXT and win the title was going to be useful to both sides. Lynch would be around, working with some of the NXT ladies. She could also defend the title on WWE RAW where she”d be able to give lesser-known women a spotlight to show off.
Tiffany Stratton Proves Herself
When Becky Lynch decided to appear on NXT, she challenged then-champion Tiffany Stratton. The two would have a great match on NXT, where Lynch managed to win the NXT Women”s Championship. Lynch finally accomplished her grand slam goal but Stratton was not happy about losing the title. Therefore, she demanded her rematch at the upcoming NXT premium live event known as No Mercy. Lynch accepted, but after Stratton attacked her, she made their match an Extreme Rules match.
Going in, one would theoretically feel that Tiffany would struggle. Lynch, a woman who has been in the WWE for roughly a decade now, might have to carry this young lady the whole time. Not just that, many felt that Stratton would never take many risks in the match because, well, “she”s too pretty for that.”
Stratton proved herself to the doubters and put on one of the best women”s extreme rules matches we”ve ever seen. She was willing to take several chances that very few other women in WWE would be willing to take. At one point, Lynch brought out a barbwire baseball bat and even made contact with Stratton with this thing. This is something most of the men won”t even do.
The two had an excellent extreme rules match that surprised so many. We all knew Stratton was pretty talented, but no one thought she had this within her. Lynch is known for bringing the best out of her opponents, but Tiffany Stratton showed up to play. You could see her ideas all over that match and executed everything perfectly. Of course, she still lost….but you cannot win them all.
There Isn”t A Risk Stratton Won”t Take
Judging by her performance inside extreme rules as well as in a ladder match before that, one could assume Tiffany Stratton does not fear much. During the Iron Survivor match in November, she was even the one that did the great jumping senton from the top of the holding cell. On top of this, her move-set is relatively risky too. The senton bomb she did off the holding cell is not a one-off. She does the senton in regular matches off the top rope too.
Her finisher is the Prettiest Moonsault Ever or PME, a nod to Christopher Daniels” Best Moonsault Ever or BME.
On top of this, Stratton is doing something very few others have done at her skill level. Normally, when one is just two years into their career, they”ll put a new spin or variation on notable moves. For example, how many different types of suplexes have you seen? Now how many versions of those types have you seen? What about different versions of the DDT or neckbreaker?
Tiffany has decided to become inventive and sometimes pin a new spin on lesser-known or lesser-used moves. Such as her use of the rear rope choke, her versions of the Hilo, Slingshot Senton, and a bridging leg lock.
Other times, she invents an entirely new move we have not seen before. She often brings those types of things out in important matches. One of those is the “Tiffy-Twisted.” With this move, she does a second rope jump off backward into a front bump on her opponent. During the fall, she does a sideways twist between 360 to 450 degrees. She debuted a Cartwheel into an Alabama Slam during the Iron Survivor match too. Which is something very few can pull off in pro wrestling.
The Future Is Bright
Tiffany Stratton has a long career ahead of her. She is not quite in her mid-20s and has only been doing this for a few years. Despite this, she is one of the most fun women to watch in the ring already. NXT fans are often the “hardcore fans” of the WWE, and they normally would boo out someone who isn”t getting it done. If WWE tries to push someone there that isn”t worthy of it, these fans let them know it”s a terrible idea. With Stratton, they have taken to her well.
She”s someone we could see on the RAW or SmackDown brand in 2024. It would most likely come after WrestleMania 40, and WWE may end up giving her a push right away. Since WWE likes to utilize newer or lesser-used stars heading into the Summer months, we could see how Tiffany handles this pressure against a former champion of some kind, for example.
If you have not seen her on the NXT brand yet, do so immediately to see what we”re seeing.
While her character plays on old tropes, unlike the Barbie-type characters of the past, she is actually able to do a lot of impressive things in the ring. The former gymnast has amazing body control and seems to be able to make her opponents look great while making herself look impressive too. For someone to be THIS good, at THIS stage in their career is impressive. We”re excited to see what else she”ll do!
We expect her to have a big, breakout year in WWE. While this could result in winning a title, she does not have to do this to have a great year. Simply proving she is as good as other women in the company will prove that.
