Laurel Van Ness Quotes

My experience here at the WWE Performance Center has been amazing. I'm just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can the time that I'm here. I've been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.

Growing up, my wildest dream was always to be part of the WWE, and I'd been in NXT by that time for two and a half years, so I felt very, very ready to go.

I don't think I'll ever be out of wrestling, because I was that kid at 8 years old that dreamed of being a world champion.

My mom was like, 'What did I do as a mom for you to want to become a wrestler?' They just didn't understand, and it's really hard to explain what made me love wrestling so much. There's something about it that made me fall in love, and ever since I laid my eyes on it, I knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler in the WWE.

With the likes of Rey Mysterio back in WWE, I find myself watching him and feeling inspired and that I need to get better and get to that next level.

I just remember that when I started at NXT, I had no character. I had nothing. I was just so excited to be here and just to be a wrestler.

It was something I was dreaming about, to be in WCW or WWE. At that time, it was an escape for me, out of the norm from being a neighborhood kid.

I didn’t have any plans to become a wrestler until about a year before I started.

When you lose your passion to be a WWE Superstar, there's no point in going back.

After watching wrestling for 20 years, I thought I had enough confidence to do it. There were no wrestling schools at the time.

I made the final decision to become a professional wrestler because I was able to look at Sting and what he was able to do inside and outside the ring.

It's been a part of my entire life: I've wanted to be a wrestler since I was a little kid. I don't think that ever leaves you.

The NXT women are changing the way women's wrestling is viewed. It's an inspiration to be able to watch.

I would have never thought that somebody like me from the small country of Bulgaria could make it in WWE.

At first everyone thought that wanting to become a pro wrestler was just a phase.

When I was 17 years old, I was given the opportunity to be trained as a wrestler. At the time, I never really thought about making it a career. I only saw it as a chance to do something that I always wanted to do.

Some of the most well-known women in the history of WWE have learned to shine on the brightest stage of them all because of Fit Finlay.

I was six years old watching wrestling on TV. I was eight years old watching Ultimate Warrior run to the ring at WrestleMania. I was eighteen years old starting out on a journey in the U.K. wanting to be a professional wrestler.

My wife loves to tell me that I love to tell people, 'Oh, I never thought WWE would sign me. I never thought I'd be on TV. I never thought I'd be a champion. I never thought any of those things were remotely possible.'

Ever since I was 3 years old, I wanted to be WWE champion. I got that belt during WrestleMania 31, and I want it back. It's what drives me.

I remember looking up wrestling schools at the age of 10, and I emailed so many people. The responses were that I had to be 16 or 18 to train, and that was a bummer.

My uncle wrestled in the late '80s to early '90s, and I was too young to see his matches. However, he has always supported me in my journey, and I think that without his support, all this would not have been possible. He taught me a lot, and he is the reason that I'm a WWE wrestler.

I remember having the opportunity to meet Ivory, as a kid, and she was the first woman's wrestler that I met. She looked at me and said, 'I'm going to see you in the ring one day, aren't I?'

I went from two-minute matches when I started with NXT to eight, to 10, to 12.

After my WWE tryout in 2014, I thought for sure that I was going to get signed and that it is finally happening and that I was going to finally be there. Then, when it didn't happen I was heartbroken. I always think it is because God had a plan for me.