Chapter 1: What inspired Lizzy Rain to pursue a career in wrestling?
Yo, what's going on, Busted Open Nation, and thanks for tuning in to another edition of the After Dark Podcast. It's me, it's the OG of AD, it's Uncle Bully, the big debut of Lizzy Rain on NXT. We're gonna chat it up with her, hear some stories, and get to know how she felt about her big victory tonight, right here on the After Dark Podcast. This is the Busted Open Podcast.
podcast let's just get the relationship out of the way first right i told the busted open nation you know before we came on that you're a neat unique guest tonight because the band of the night iron maiden your uncle is the original um drummer For Iron Maiden, Clive Burr played on the first three Maiden albums. Just bring me up to speed.
Like, what kind of relationship did you have with your uncle? Or are you a Maiden fan? Are you genuinely a metal fan? Like, just bring us up to speed on the whole background and the relationship.
Yeah, of course. So Clive, he inspired me so much. And to be honest, when I was younger, I didn't really know who he was. He died, I think it's 13 years ago now, something like that. So I was 15 years old. And when I was growing up and he was well, he died from MS, unfortunately, so he wasn't very well by the time I got into my teens. He was not verbal or anything.
And when I was younger and around him, I didn't I didn't have a clue who he was. You know, I was like, I liked music. I always liked Alice Cooper. I always liked Iron Maiden. But as a child. I didn't really know, oh, my uncle is the original drummer of Iron Maiden until I got into my teens. And I mean, we had a relationship, but as I said, he was very unwell.
So I didn't really get to ask him these incredible questions. What was band life like? What was tour like? And all that sort of stuff. And, you know, I really wish I got to, but he inspired me so much.
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Chapter 2: How did Lizzy feel about her debut match on NXT?
And I think it just obviously runs through my blood. I love metal music. It's a genuine passion. genuine love it's not just because my uncle is the original drummer is like my thing it's always been a genuine love i have a brother who's eight years older than me and we always listen to kiss guns and roses maiden death leopard anything like that we just we just love it i think i'm in love
my language sister do you have do you have a go-to band like i mean you know it's like so hard to who's your favorite band but do you have a favorite or do you have a go-to
Alice Cooper, all the way. I think I've seen him in concert 15 times. I just love him.
Dave LaGreca is going to be so jealous that I had you on After Dark first. Because Dave LaGreca, who actually 17 years ago today invented Busted Open. Today is our 17 year anniversary and it's the biggest pro wrestling, uh, radio show in the world. And he has seen Alice like a hundred times. He's a massive fan. So I'm glad that we can make him just a little bit jealous tonight.
Um, you have to be riding such a high right now. I hate asking generic questions and the same old blah, blah, blah, but monster debut is You saw social media, like the WWE and NXT have been behind you with this debut tonight. The vignettes, the entrance music, which is basically hot for teacher, and I absolutely love it. You have a huge match against Nikita Lyons. She's no pushover.
That is a tough, tough woman. You get the win with what I think is a pop-up in Shigeru you call the Thunderstruck. How are you feeling right now?
Oh, I'm on top of the world. I don't think I have any words. I know I do have words because I'm obviously speaking, but I'm overwhelmed. It's just, you know, it's what I've always wanted, what I've worked the last few years on the indies for, you know, what all my heartbreak was for when I had a knee surgery. You know, it just means so much. To be on WWE TV, it just absolutely blows my mind.
I just thought I'd never get there.
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Chapter 3: What was the significance of Lizzy's relationship with her uncle?
I did hands on heart. But I'd never get there. And now here I bloody am. So it's very surreal. Very surreal. And Nikita, I was so happy I got to wrestle her for my first match. I couldn't have asked for a better opponent for my first match.
When you say that you never thought that you'd get here, why? Why did you think you would never make it to NXT and the WWE?
You know when you're a kid and you ask your mum, Mum, I want to be an astronaut. That's what it was like. Mum, I want to be a wrestler. And they're like, yeah, sweetheart, try another thing. Do you know what I mean? It just feels so far-fetched, especially being from the UK. It just felt like such a far-fetched journey. Like, why would I ever go to the WWE? I'm from London. I'm not in America.
There's just... I thought there were so many...
things going against me that I didn't really have a look in I'm I was started a bit older I'm not a kid um who started wrestling at 16 I started at 23 you know so just all these things stacked against you I didn't think I thought oh yeah I'll do the indies I'll try and get there obviously that's what I've always wanted to work for whilst I've been an indie wrestler um
but yeah i just think it's it it feels like a dream job it obviously is a dream job and you know only like less than one percent of people get to achieve their dream job you know wrestling is huge in england why did it take you until 23 years old to start chasing this dream Well, when I was a kid, it wasn't such a big thing.
Like when I was, I remember when I was five, me and my brother used to be like, mum, you need to send us to Blackpool because that's where William Regal's from. And she would be like, no. And I was like, okay, I'll start another career. So I actually started and did musical theatre. And then I didn't like that. COVID happened. I was always watching wrestling, always been a fan.
And I thought, fuck it. You know what? Oh, sorry. Bad language. I thought, whatever, I'm going to just try it. I'm just going to give it a go. If I don't like it, I don't like it. If I do, then hip, hip, hooray sort of thing. So I went to a first session, fell in love, and that was it.
So, yeah, it took me so many years because I got my dreams crushed at five years old and I took another journey somewhere else, you know. And then when I didn't like that, I thought, you know what, I'll give this wrestling thing a go and see if it actually does take off because NXT UK was a thing. And that kind of gave me the hope. I heard pretty deadly speaking and I heard their accents.
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Chapter 4: How did Lizzy Rain prepare for her first match in WWE?
I was Bruce Dickinson at a concert. I was telling them to scream for me, and they did. So I didn't have that nervous. I was just on. But I don't remember that feeling, to be honest. It all just feels a bit blurry.
One of my favorite lines from a live album is live after death when Bruce Dickinson, he screams, scream for me, Long Beach. And you're using that exact thing as your tagline, scream for me, NXT, which it already worked tonight. And I always compare wrestling and rock and roll and They run so parallel and I've borrowed so much from rock and roll in wrestling.
Talk to me about that match, the bell rings. I was talking about Nikita at the beginning of the show. It's not like you had a squash match tonight. It's not like you had an easy opponent. Nikita Lyons was a member of the NXT roster. She had a lot of TV time. She was getting a push. Then the injury bug gets her. She's been rebuilding herself on LFG.
She's kind of like a veteran of NXT and now here comes Lizzy Reign with all this pomp and circumstance. There's no way she's going into this match like wanting to lay down for you. Talk to me about the level of physicality in the ring tonight.
Oh, she's great. Like, the kicks, the aggression. Like, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy match, you know. As you said, it wasn't just going to be a squash match with, you know, someone who's not on the roster. She's got so much to offer. And I think our characters really complement each other with the physicality, you know.
She gives me all those kicks and I got that aggressive, I'm not going to give up, you can't kill the metal sort of vibe. And I think that gives me the edge at the end, you know. She's trying for these kicks. She gives me the Mitchie, you know, a kick out. Can't kill the metal. Give her the headbutt. Give her the thunderstruck. It's that little edge that I had over her. But she's great.
She is so great in the ring. Very, very happy I got to wrestle her tonight.
Coming up next, Uncle Bully continues his conversation with Lizzy Reigns. Your one-stop shop for R-A-S-S-L-I-N-S Wrestling.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did Lizzy face during her journey to WWE?
Kind of like Meiko Satomura's finish. She heavily inspired me. I love watching her wrestle. So we did it and was like, oh, this is like the sickest finish ever. We need to do this. This needs to be your finish. So, and yeah, and then the name comes from the leg looking a little bit like a thunderbolt and, you know, ACDC Thunderstruck. It kind of fits perfectly.
Yeah.
I absolutely loved it. You hit it so well. For 20 bonus points, who invented the Shining Wizard or who at least made the Shining Wizard really popular?
Muta.
Ding, ding, ding. Circle gets the square. Tell her what she's won. Muta. The Thunderstruck name. Did that immediately come to you? Did you know like, hey, this is the name I want to use?
A hundred percent. It was, it was just like, Oh, it's like a lightning bolt. What should I call it? Oh, thunderstruck. Yeah.
And you know, how long did it take to actually get it down to actually perfect the move?
10 minutes wow really yeah I've got loads of videos of me my coach just practicing it on a crash mat and we was like this is awesome because of my um dancing background I felt like it was quite easy like the the post for it feels quite easy to do and I got the flexibility in my hips to get that like thunderbolt um so yeah it didn't take very long at all what type of dance background do you have
I did musical theatre, so I did tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, everything, you name it.
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Chapter 6: What are Lizzy Rain's short-term goals in NXT?
So wait, when did you find out about your debut match tonight?
And when I was reading the vignette and I went, oh, I'm debuting next week. Awesome.
So you've known for one week.
Yeah, I knew for one week. I knew I found out I was doing a vignette on Saturday night during the main event of WrestleMania. I get a text message. You're doing a vignette on Monday. I was like. ah okay um so then i found that out on monday and then when i read what i was going to be saying like the the gist of it i was like oh i'm wrestling next tuesday awesome so yeah
Talk to me about some of, listen, you just started tonight. You got an entire career ahead of you. And I wish you nothing but success. But talk to me about those short-term goals. I know everybody wants to win a championship and yada, yada. But do you have any specific goals?
short-term goals in NXT is there somebody that you feel that you want to be in the ring with or is there something that you want to accomplish right after bat to really show the world what you can do
I haven't really thought about the short-term goals. The long-term goals are obviously winning the North American belt, winning the NXT women's belt. Tatum is someone I would really like to be in the ring with, and she obviously does have that North American belt. I feel like our... and that like personality clash. Like I think it's something that everyone wants to see.
Also me and Zarya, I feel like a lot of people want to see that and I would love to wrestle Zarya, another indie girl. I'd love nothing more. So they're two people that I would really love to be in the ring with. But to be honest, Bully, since coming back from injury, honestly, All that I wanted to do was have another match.
That is all I thought about because having that all ripped away from me and being told I might never wrestle again, my short-term goals now are having another match and having the best bloody time because you just never know when the next match won't work. You just never know if you're going to get another match.
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Chapter 7: How did Lizzy feel about connecting with the NXT crowd?
I love her, Toyota, yeah.
Was the goal as an up-and-coming wrestler to be in the WWE or was the goal to make it in pro wrestling?
The goal was to be in the WWE, 100%.
I mean, as a little girl, as an up and coming wrestler, you knew this is where you wanted to be.
A hundred percent. All the big fireworks you see at the PLEs, all the, I don't know, just the big spectacle of the WWE. There is just nothing better than that. You know, that buzz, that feeling that the WWE has. And I always wanted to be here no matter what. That was always the goal.
Coming off of the successful night that tonight was, hypothetical situation, you were to get a call from Shawn Michaels, and he says, Lizzy, you did phenomenal. Next week, I'm putting you in the ring with whoever you want to be in the ring with. What's the answer? Paige. Paige. Yeah. Give me a name from NXT.
Okay.
Okay. You said whoever I want.
I did, and you tried to wiggle out of it, but I wanted them to see me.
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Chapter 8: What does Lizzy Rain hope to achieve in her wrestling career?
Good news, bad news. I hate that chop spot in the corner. I hate it. Don't stop doing it. I'm just saying. Personally, I hate it. But you laid your chops in. They all made great noise. You looked like you had great command of your athletic ability. And the people started to chant. The next time you do it, you got to chop in threes. Make it rain.
I mean, that's how you're going to take something... that is so overdone in pro wrestling, but you're gonna make it unique to you and it is going to work. 1,000, could you feel that? Like you heard those people tonight, right?
Yeah, it was just crazy. Yeah, I heard them. I heard them loud and clear.
Are you looking forward to having a microphone in your hand and standing in the middle of the ring so you can really let the whole world know who you are?
100%, 100%. In my tryout, I think it was the best part of me was when I did my promo. I got everyone to chant, never, ever, never, ever back at me. It was cool. So yeah, I'm looking forward to that time where I get to do that in front of the NXT universe.
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