Rok-C recently received the first Ticket to Gold to clinch her spot in Ring of Honor’s upcoming Women’s World Championship Tournament. As a result, she could be considered one of the leading competitors in ROH’s resurgent women’s division.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Rok-C explained how, as a 19-year-old who fans have deemed “The Prodigy,” this opportunity is letting her live the dream she set out to achieve when she was just 10 years old.
“It’s crazy because I’ve been wanting to do this since I was 10 years old, and I’ve been training for it since I was 13,” said Rok-C. “So to finally see things unfold and to kind of like be, I mean, I’ve alway felt like I’ve been living out my dream, but now it’s like, you know the real work starts here. So it’s really exciting, and it was a super huge honor to be able to bring back the women’s division.
“And then to do that with people that I started off with on the independent scene was really, really cool. And then to get the first Ticket to Gold is just amazing, and I think Maria [Kanellis-Bennett] is so awesome, so beautiful, so amazing, so yeah that was really awesome.”
Generally speaking, Rok-C shared her belief that women’s wrestling is booming all over the industry, so it’s an excellent time to reincorporate into ROH. She also offered her own history as a fan of women’s wrestling in the company, as she stated that she used to watch Deonna Purrazzo compete in ROH.
“I actually used to watch Deonna Purrazzo a lot on Ring of Honor before, so I think it’s really, really cool that they brought it back because I enjoyed it, so I know that so many other people enjoyed it,” said Rok-C. “I feel like right now is the perfect time for women’s wrestling. It’s like booming, and there’s so, so, so many talented women’s wrestlers that are on Ring of Honor or that are going to be on Ring of Honor that you know, have been working for so long on the independent scene, have been working so hard, and now they get to showcase their talents on Ring of Honor, on like a bigger platform.
“And I think it’s so amazing to be able to have that huge opportunity, like the women’s tournament for the Women’s Championship, I think that’s so freaking amazing, but yeah, like I said, it’s pretty cool.”
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6 years ago I started chasing after my dream of becoming a professional wrestler. 13 years old with visions I couldn’t wait to pursue. It’s crazy to think of all of the moments I’ve been able to create in my career so far. Here’s to many more years. ? #TheProdigy pic.twitter.com/iuaAsNnGnG
— roxanne (@roxanne_wwe) May 16, 2021
Despite her relatively young age, Rok-C is already a veteran in the business. She started training when she was 13, and she wrestled her first match as a 14-year-old. During the interview, Rok-C offered her stance on how people tend to overlook her experience due to her age.
“I have been working for this for so long, and like a couple people I’ve been seeing are saying like, ‘Oh, Rok-C’s been able to bring so much attention to her in such a short amount of time,'” said Rok-C. “But I’m like, ‘No, I’ve been doing this for a long time.’ So…it’s a lot of different emotions that are hard to put into words, but it’s a really good feeling.”
As one might expect, breaking into the wrestling business, letalone thriving in it, wasn’t easy for Rok-C. She has faced plenty of challenges along the way, as she has dealt with ageism throughout her career. Looking back on her journey, Rok-C acknowledged these obstacles, but she reflected on how her perseverance and determination to follow her dreams helped her along the way.
“It’s a big plus with my age, starting off so young,” said Rok-C. “But starting off so young wasn’t a big plus because not many people took me seriously because of my age, which is expected, right? But I feel like your age has nothing to do with how much heart you have, and like someone that’s like 13 can have more heart than someone that’s in their 30s, you know?
“I feel like that has nothing to do with it, but that was a challenge, starting off, because like I said, I knew I always wanted to do it. So I knew that I was as serious as all the other older people that I was wrestling around. But of course there’s people that didn’t think the same. I remember one of the shows, I had like a dark match on this independent show, and my whole family went to go see me. They had their ‘Rok-C’ shirts and everything, and like five minutes before I’m about to go out, they cut my match. And I was like, ‘Ah, no.’
“It was so sad, but yeah, I feel like that was just one of the moments where I was just like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna prove them wrong one day’ I feel like that’s just what you have to do, you just have to not let all of these obstacles get the best of you and kind of just remember why you started, and try to remember the end goal. And that’s what I did. And like I said, I wanted to prove everybody wrong and I feel like that’s what I’m doing now.”
Rok-C’s debut match on ROH Women’s Division Wednesday is available here.
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