Trinity Fatu Reflects On CM Punk, Tamina Snuka, And More Being Backstage For Her IMPACT Debut

Trinity Fatu discusses seeing CM Punk, Tamina Snuka, and more familiar faces backstage at her IMPACT Wrestling debut in Chicago. 

Trinity Fatu, aka Naomi, had her first match outside the WWE system in over a decade when she debuted for IMPACT Wrestling in Chicago at Spring Slugfest. On the day of her debut, she saw many familiar faces, some of whom work at IMPACT, some who were just there to support her, and even CM Punk hugged her backstage as he was visiting the IMPACT show. 

“It was everything. It gave me that extra boost that I needed to really follow through and do it because I was so scared,” Trinity said during a new interview with TMZ Sports. “At one point, I was literally thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’ Mercedes being there — she was there with me the entire weekend, just helping me, helping me pick out my outfits, talking to me, talking to me through things, buying glow sticks; she was just so incredible. To have her there, I felt like everyone came to support me. I gotta show up. I gotta deliver, I gotta kick out, I gotta do this. I can do this. They really made me believe that I’m going to be okay and that I’m going to do well. 

“Right before my match, Tamina comes walking in, and I turned around and just started crying because it’s so incredible for everyone to stop what they’re doing in their lives to come all the way here because they believe in me that much. It made me believe in myself a little bit more,” she continued. “Then, too, CM Punk shows up and he comes in, and it was really cool to see him. He gives me a big hug and just knew that he was there, and got to see me, it was all so surreal. Then, Manny [Kalisto] was there and helping me with ideas. So much love and support. It was unbelievable. It was so surreal, and I’ll never forget it. It was really all I needed to go out there and turn on.” 

Trinity also shouted out some of her friends that work for IMPACT, such as Brian Myers, Heath, and Dirty Dango, as all helping her get through the experience and people she felt incredibly supported by. 

Learn more about why Trinity chose to leave WWE at this link. 

We will have full coverage of her debut promo as it airs on May 4 on IMPACT on AXS.

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