Lola Vice is definitely not the first name to have jumped to the squared circle after coming off the MMA industry. In fact, she has a lot of respect after learning from her predecessors like Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. But the door is open for a crossover athlete like her to gain more achievement in the WWE and etch her name in the history books as the most successful one in this genre.
That being said, Lola Vice sounded extremely confident in clinching more success in the WWE so much so that she could be dubbed the very best, one day. Speaking with Phil Strum on Under The Ring, the former Bellator MMA performer was asked whether she looked at Shayna Baszler’s work before she joined WWE and she gave a positive nod,
“Shayna and Ronda [Rousey] are two people I looked up to a lot. Ronda Rousey opened the doors for young women fighters like me to step foot in a cage, and Shayna was the first to make this crossover. When I was in MMA, I knew I wanted to be in the WWE one day. I just didn’t know when.”
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Lola Vice observed Ronda and Shayna’s work in the WWE
It was admittedly after watching an edition of Wrestlemania that Lola Vice knew that she had to be in a professional wrestling ring. Then she signed a contract in 2023 to witness a meteoric rise on the NXT roster. The success boosted her confidence so much that the star with real name Valerie Laureda made it clear that she would be the best crossover of all time between MMA and professional wrestling.
“When I got the call and I started studying, I saw Shayna’s transition and Ronda’s transition, I admired them for the way they did it because people think, ‘Oh, you’re a fighter. You get in there, it’s easy.’ It’s actually the complete opposite,” Lola Vice said.
“If it was easy, we would have a lot of MMA fighters in the WWE, but it’s an extremely hard transition, and only very special people can do it. So I admire them for their hard work, but I know I’m gonna be the best crossover in history, of MMA to the WWE.” (quotes courtesy WrestleZone)
Having a former Bellator MMA fighter with a 4-1 record, Lola Vice faced former UFC fighter Shayna Baszler in an NXT Underground Match at NXT Battleground 2024 in early June which was the first-time crossover event between WWE and UFC. Baszler was knocked out by the newbie which now makes the latter a two-time Underground Match winner in NXT history.
