Cathy Kelley Talks Stephanie McMahon Being Mentor, WWE NXT Goals
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WWE NXT backstage correspondent Cathy Kelley recently did an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated about a wide range of topics. Here are the highlights:
Her goal in the role:
“My goal is to deliver interviews in as realistic a way as possible,” said Kelley. “I started with NXT, then became the first host of WWE Digital. We were figuring out what worked on the fly, and I pushed to do more longform interviews with the talent. But I really missed doing backstage interviews, so I really pushed to go back. I spoke about it with Joe Belcastro, who is the head writer for NXT, and he shot it up to Triple H.
“Look at the work of Tommaso Ciampa or Shayna Baszler. There is something magical about this roster. People were so excited to learn that we’d have a weekly [live] show. There is a different feel and a different pressure, but it’s a testament to all the work that has gone into NXT.”
Stephanie McMahon being a mentor:
“Steph McMahon has also really been a mentor to me, seeing everything she does is inspiring. It’s also inspiring to see so many women and girls coming to shows, too, as this has always been a male-dominated business.”
Her WWE future:
“I want to be connected to WWE for the rest of my career,” said Kelley. “I have other goals, too—producing, writing, hosting, I want to do it all. I had to miss a SmackDown recently to film something, and I’m looking forward to sharing that soon.”