For a performer whose career was launched by a meticulously crafted “Daddy’s little rich girl” persona, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton is ironically finding her greatest success in a role she never planned for. In a recent appearance on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, Stratton pulled back the curtain on her character’s journey, revealing that the original gimmick was deliberately shelved by NXT head Shawn Michaels for a very logical reason: it was a story with no ending.
The initial persona, which Stratton confirmed was inspired by pop culture characters like Sharpay Evans from High School Musical, was a cornerstone of her identity in NXT. However, despite its effectiveness, Michaels saw a dead end. “Shawn was like, ‘we don’t have a daddy for you. We don’t really have a payoff.’ So I think we kind of just need to to scrape it,” Stratton recalled.
That decision cut short a character that had already achieved significant success, helping Stratton become a standout in the women’s division and capture the NXT Women’s Championship.
The irony is that while that heel gimmick was her comfort zone, her current run as a fan-favorite babyface happened entirely by accident. Stratton confessed she finds playing a villain much more natural. “I think being a heel is 10 times easier than being a baby,” she stated. “You can mess up and you can fall on your butt and, you know, like, that’s totally fine as a heel. However, as a baby face, if you do that, the crowd could turn on you.”
She continued, “I feel like I was a heel right off the bat. So that’s why it comes so easy to me. And you know, I’m still learning to like be a babyface and be likable and not have so much stink on what I say in my promos.” h/t Wrestling News.
The shift wasn’t a creative directive but an undeniable audience reaction that the company had no choice but to embrace. “I never changed anything. I just started getting cheered,” she said.
The pivotal moment occurred at Elimination Chamber in Australia back in 2023. The reception caught her completely off guard. “The crowd completely, like, knew who I was. They were chanting ‘Tiffy Time’ the whole time,” she explained. “It was my first PLE as a main roster talent. I really didn’t think anybody knew who I was, because I had just gotten called up, like, a month ago.”
Hearing the chants from inside her pod was a surreal experience. “At first, I was like, ‘Are they chanting for me?’… I started giggling. I think there’s a video. I just started laughing because, like, I was like, there’s no way they’re cheering for me right now.”
That unexpected support flipped a switch, providing both a surge of adrenaline and a new kind of pressure to deliver. “I’m like, ‘Okay, now they’re chanting for me. I have them like, I hope I don’t mess anything up’,” Stratton said. “That match was so amazing… it was my breakout moment.”
Ultimately, it was the quality of her work as a villain that won the fans over, forcing a change in her on-screen alignment. WWE’s only advice was to adjust her promo style. “That is what got me cheered,” she confirmed. “But they’re kind of just like, you know, ‘be a little bit more likable now. You don’t need to be so bitchy in your promos,’ which, like, I understand completely.”