‘She Took Me Under Her Wing’ – Former WWE Star Looked Up To Lola Vice During NXT Run

A former WWE star has named Lola Vice as someone she looked up to during her run in NXT.

While there was less than a year between her in-ring debut in October 2023 and her release from the company the following May, former WWE star Carolina Cruz (fka Emma Diaz) has taken what she learned in WWE’s developmental and continued on in her career on the independent scene, making appearances for AEW, MLW, Women Of Wrestling and Reality of Wrestling several other promotions across the United States.

Discussing her time in NXT and work since her departure with The Fan’s View, Cruz named was asked about her experience at the Performance Center and what coaches helped her the most in her development.

Heaping praise on the likes of Fit Finlay, Norman Smiley, Terry Taylor and Robbie Brookside, Cruz would also give a shoutout to current WWE NXT star Lola Vice, who she said “took her under her wing” during their time working together:

“I think all the coaches. Fit Finlay was a huge one that I really loved his aggressive style back in the day, so I (was) attracted to him a lot. Terry Taylor, Norman Smiley was my coach for a long time. Robbie Brookside taught me how to lock up. They all have a unique thing about themselves.

“I did look up to Lola Vice a lot during my early development because she was someone from Miami, someone with the same ethnicity as me that was moving at such a fast pace and she took me under her wing as well, so that was super cool to have as well.”

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Further discussing her time in NXT, Cruz expressed gratitude for her time on the brand, even if she never gets the chance to return to WWE in the future:

“Just being there. I’m so thankful for that cause I don’t know, when I got out on the indies I didn’t realize how many people love this and would do anything to be there. So, my respect for everything and love for everything grew so much bigger.

“Also the realization of, wow, only one percent make it. If I never go back I’d be a happy woman because I’m just so grateful to have been there and I understand how hard it is to even go back or to even get in the door in the first place.”

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Women’s Of Wrestling (WOW) has been Cruz’s most frequent working place in 2026 thus far, and it is in that promotion that she underwent a character rebrand to Catalina Speed.

Elsewhere in her interview with The Fan’s View, Cruz shared her reaction to being released by WWE two years ago – click here for full details.

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