Lizzy Rain Reflects On NXT TV In-Ring Debut, Shares When She Received Text About Doing Her First WWE Vignette

Lizzy Rain’s first WWE media appearance.

Lizzy Rain a.k.a. Rayne Leverkusen made her NXT TV in-ring debut on the April 28th edition of NXT on The CW.

She scored a singles victory over Nikkita Lyons, and after the show, Rain sat down with Bully Ray for a recording of Busted Open After Dark.

She was asked to reflect on her TV in-ring debut and stated that she could not have chosen a better first opponent than Lyons.

“I’m on top of the world. I don’t think I have any words — and no, I do have words because (I’m) obviously speaking but, I’m overwhelmed. It’s what I’ve always wanted, what I’ve worked the last few years on the indies for, what all my heartbreak was for when I had a knee surgery. It just means so much. To be on WWE TV, it just absolutely blows my mind. I just thought I’d never get there. Hands on heart, I thought I’d never get there, and now, here I bloody am so, it’s very surreal. Very surreal, and Nikkita (Lyons), I was so happy I got to wrestle her for my first match. I couldn’t have asked for a better opponent for my first match.”

Rain was asked what NXT overseer Shawn Michaels, General Manager Robert Stone, and Performance Center head coach Matt Bloom expect from her. She said things came together so fast that she has not had those conversations yet.

During the main event of WrestleMania 42 night one, she received a text that she would be filming a vignette to promote her arrival to NXT.

“What they expect from me? I haven’t really had a lot of guidance in what they expect from me. It’s all just happened very fast. They’ve just thrown me in the deep end. Got a text during WrestleMania, ‘You’re filming this vignette for NXT’ and was like, ‘Oh! Really? Okay. I didn’t know this was gonna be happening so fast. I just did my dark match last week’ and so, yeah, it just all happened in a flash so, I haven’t even got to that point yet of what’s expected of me. I just go out there and do my sh*t I guess.” Rain was asked to share specifically when she found out she would be making her NXT TV in-ring debut, and she said, “When I was reading the vignette, and I went, ‘Oh! I’m debuting next week. Awesome.’ Yeah, I knew for one week. I found out I was doing a vignette on Saturday night during the main event of WrestleMania. I get a text message, ‘You’re doing a vignette on Monday.’ I was like, ‘Ah! Okay!’ So then I found that out on Monday and then when I read what I was gonna be saying, the gist of it, I was like, oh! I’m wrestling next Tuesday. Awesome, so, yeah.”

Circling back to the TV in-ring debut, Rain expressed that she felt the crowd was on her side.

“I feel like they were on my side. I mean, I used to do a spot on the indies where I used to say, ‘Let’s make it Rayne,’ and I used to do the chops. I didn’t even have to say that tonight. I started throwing chops, and then some (fans) were going, ‘Make it Rain!’ And I was like, wow, what the hell is going on!? And it was just the most electrifying feeling ever to do some chops and have everyone chant, ‘Make it Rain.’ It’s just an indescribable feeling.”

Rayne’s first on-screen appearance for NXT was as a member of the ringside wrestlers for Lola Vice and Kelani Jordan’s Underground match at NXT Vengeance Day.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Busted Open After Dark with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.