Kacy Catanzaro (Katana Chance in WWE) signed with WWE in 2017 after making his on American Ninja Warrior as the first woman to complete a City Qualifiers course and the first woman to complete a City Finals course.
Going straight from American Ninja Warrior to the WWE Performance Center, Catanazaro didn't get the independent experience where many learn to hone their craft and character.
Speaking on the Lightweights podcast, Catanazaro was asked where she developed her style.
"This is a very good question because I think for me, it's different. A lot of people that I've spoken to that have had different experiences came from wrestling on the independents and were able to come here, a lot of people kind of did a lot of that there (on the independents) because there is a lot more freedom. I always felt like, at the Performance Center, for the people that came from the independents, they were like, 'You being here is the dream. You're able to be here. This is better than anything.' Some other people would say they got to figure themselves out with the freedom of not having producers, TV, and all of these restrictions. I don't know if I was able to fully really find myself in it because when you're in there and you're getting on TV and put in these spots, you're needed to be a specific thing right away. You can try different things and try different characters, but if it's decided where they want you to be, I just want to do that and do the right thing and do whatever they needed. I don't know if I, creatively enough, pushed those boundaries to be like, 'Even though this is what I'm supposed to do, I need to figure out how to do what I'm supposed to be.' I think that was an ongoing struggle of mine throughout my journey. I don't know if I ever got to do that and fully find if I was myself and what I wanted to do with no restrictions, what it would have been. That's why it's a really hard question. You do have the time before you're on TV, you're in promo classes and doing stuff where you are figuring out what works best, but what is going to stick out?" she pondered.
Catanzaro was released by WWE on May 2nd.
Elsewhere during the interview, she discussed her name change during her time with the company. You can find her full comments here.
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