WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics were Lilian Garcia’s guests on the latest Chasing Glory podcast.
Some fans might not be aware that Billie Kay and Peyton Royce grew up together in Australia. They are close friends in real life and travel together on the road. Billie says Peyton is the only person she wants to see on her off days and considers their friendship ore of a sisterhood. “We really do consume each other’s lives,” she said. “And we spend every single second together”
As close as they have become, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, Billie says they “never liked each other” and had somewhat of a “silent rivalry” when they’d see each other out at wrestling events back home.
The “Silent Rivalry”
“I saw one time Peyton was ahead in the line,” she explained. “We used to spend hours trying to be the first in line. So, sometimes she would be second or third and I’d be sixth or seventh. I just knew she went to the same high school, I didn’t know who she was. I was like ‘Damn it.’ And then the next time I’d be ahead in line and we’d just shoot each other looks and stuff. There was just this silent rivalry. Years later, when Peyton joined the wrestling academy that I attended, and we spoke for the first time.”
A Fateful Encounter
Peyton Royce chimed in and said she knew she wanted to become a wrestler from a very young age. Before she started training at a wrestling academy, a chance encounter involving Billie Kay convinced her it was time to make her dream a reality.
“So, on my birthday I go out to dinner and I see a poster on the door and it says “pro wrestling” so it immediately draws my attention. So I look at the poster and it’s Billie. She’s the front and center of the poster. And I said, “Oh my god I’m going to go to this school because I know her and I want to wrestle too!” I wouldn’t have chosen that school unless I saw Billie on the poster. That just clicked. But it was also ‘I want to be with her doing this.’ This was a couple of years after the ‘silent rivalry.’ After time had passed.”
Love At First Sight
They both feel that fate brought them together and intertwined their lives to this day. Royce remembers the first time they actually spoke.
“I say this all the time – it’s like, in the romantic movies, where the heavens open up and the two people come together and fall in love – it’s like love at first sight. That’s what happened. That’s exactly what happened.”
The IIconics mentioned that when they first joined NXT, there were people who tried to separate them for the sake of allowing them to develop individual acts. The duo fought to stay together Billie also went on to explain that once they became friends they wanted to stick together.
The decision ultimately led them to tag team gold on the main roster.
Listen to The IIconics on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia:
Listen to “The IIconics: Peyton Royce and Billie Kay – Capturing Your Dreams” on Spreaker.