Tiffany Stratton: When I Was A Little Girl, I Was Diagnosed With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Stratton opens up about the pain she was in as a child.

Guest appearing on the newest episode of The Nikki & Brie Show was former WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton.

Stratton spoke in-depth about her background in athletics and being heavily involved in gymnastics at a young age. She spoke about the pain she was in that derived from gymnastics and shared that she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Stratton stated that wrestling is tough on her body, but not in the way that gymnastics was.

“So immediately, I had my dad sign me up (for gymnastics) — my mom and my dad, and I’m somebody who I can catch onto things really, really fast… I think you had to start at level six and then you had to work your way up so I started at level six and I competed and I won and I got to go to the next level, to the next level, to the next level, until I was a level 10 gymnast… I had so many nagging injuries. I don’t think you guys understand. It was so brutal on my body. So is wrestling but not in the way that gymnastics was. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a little girl… I always had so much grit in me to just pound it out and no matter how much pain I felt, I still was just gonna be giving it my all in gymnastics…”

Stratton made her return to WWE as part of the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match. She had been away from WWE programming since November, when she lost the Women’s Championship to Jade Cargill.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit The Nikki & Brie Show with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.