Amale made WWE history as the first French female to ever sign with the company. In the summer of 2020, “The French Hope” officially joined the NXT UK roster, later racking up impressive performances in the company’s international brand. In August 2022, NXT UK announced its official hiatus, as WWE looked to expand and launch their respective NXT Europe brand. Accordingly, several NXT UK superstars were let go from their contracts.
SEScoops’ correspondent Ella Jay recently spoke with Amale about wrestling Meiko Satomura, who helped guide her in the NXT UK locker room, possible NXT Europe involvement, returning to the independent scene and much more!
Watch Ella Jay’s interview with Amale:
Here are some highlights of what Amale said about:
Representing France On WWE Programming
“Representation is something I really care about because when I was younger, looking back, I didn’t have anyone to look up to, anyone who looked like me. So I wanted to be that person for somebody and for all the French people. This is the reason why it’s really important to me. So yeah, it has been really cool to be able to do it.”
Wrestling Meiko Satomura For The NXT UK Women’s Championship
“That was amazing. It was exciting, but scary at the same time, I will say. I faced her before WWE with wXw [in 2019], I had a match against her and it was really intense at that time already, but I felt like I stepped up with the WWE one and it was really intense. I think it’s one of the highlights of my career so far there. So I really keep a good feeling about it.”
Who Helped Guide Her In The NXT UK Locker Room
“There was Kay Lee Ray, Alba Fyre now in NXT. She is so talented and she was like the longest reigning NXT UK Women’s Champion and everything. It was just so inspiring to see her around and to see her being that leader that just want to help people and give advice. She was watching our matches and just helping us, giving us advice, stuff like that. I keep a very cool souvenir of her. I will say JD McDonagh as well, former[ly] Jordan Devlin. He was as well, always really helping and he believed in us. He is someone that understands the business and how pro-wrestling works really well so he can share it and help us grow. “
Possible Involvement In NXT Europe
“So we’ve heard that they (WWE management) want to get back some of the former NXT UK people, but I have no clue what’s going on or what’s going to happen. So I’m just like, ‘wait and see.’ I’m just focusing on what I can control and what I can do right now, and tomorrow, not like next year. It’s really far away, so I just need to get things done now and we will see what happen.”
On Returning To The Independent Scene
“I feel like I’m falling in love with wrestling again, like going back into the roads and seeing new people all the time, new countries having new opportunities. That’s really everything I love about wrestling. I just regret that I was signed [to NXT UK] during — it was kind of bad timing because with the COVID situation and everything, we’ve been out for so long and then we it was pretaped. So we were there only a few weeks and then after nothing for six weeks, stuff like that. So, I wish it was different, but now I’m just more free. I can travel and can do whatever I want. So it’s so cool.”
