Candice LeRae Professes Her Love For NXT And Says She’s Ready To Become Champion

After well over two years on the brand, Candice LeRae will finally be stepping into the ring for the NXT Women’s Championship at a TakeOver event this Sunday. This is an opportunity she’s wanted for a long time.

Speaking with Daily DDT, Candice opened up about the difference between this upcoming match and the match she had with Io Shirai last year at NXT TakeOver: Toronto.

“That [Toronto] match I was really nervous going into because I hadn’t touched Io because other than tagging as a team or being around each other or as friends, Io and I had never been in the ring against each other,” she said. “I had no idea how it was going to go, so it was very scary for me going into that. I’m thinking of all the times for me to get my big TakeOver debut and I’m wrestling someone I’ve never wrestled before in my life, that is so scary. For it to turn out the way it did, it makes me really excited for Sunday because now I’m going into it with more confidence and I’m just ready. I’ve been waiting for this my whole career. I’m so ready.”

As is commonplace when a veteran such as Candice gets interviewed, she was asked about a potential move to Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown. Much like her husband, Johnny Gargano, LeRae admitted that she likes the idea of the main roster, but is heavily biased towards staying on the NXT roster.

“I’m very biased, but I love NXT,” she said. “I really love the environment, and for me, so much of it is feeling a certain way when you’re wrestling as a fan and there’s something about NXT for me that feels like home and I feel like I belong in NXT. It makes me so happy and I always feel like the talent there push me to be my best because no matter how long I’ve been doing this, I’m always trying to get better. I’m never going to be perfect, I always want to be better, and I feel like NXT forces me to do that. It forces me to be at my absolute best at all times, and I love that. I love feeling that anybody can take my spot at any moment and that I have to just go. I love wrestling, so as long as I don’t have to stop wrestling I’m fine anywhere, but I just love NXT so much. I can’t stress enough.”

Fightful will have live coverage of NXT TakeOver 31 beginning this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.