Peyton Royce Opens Up About Frustrations With WWE Character Changing From NXT

The IIconics are no longer part of WWE as both were part of the company’s seemingly annual April 15th releases. That tax day cut left Peyton Royce and Billie Kay as free agents to worry about their own green card issues. There were still some frustrations in WWE that they might not miss.

It seems that the team’s new name will be The IInspiration, but they have yet to debut it yet. Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay are still in America, but looking for a company to vouch for their green card status. As of this writing, they cannot make money in America without getting past the proper red tape.

Oral Sessions recently had the former IIconics on as guests. Cassie Lee spoke about her Peyton Royce character in WWE and how that changed when she made her way to the main roster. Things were not the same for her, and she missed being considered a legitimate threat.

“So like, in NXT we were still bitches but you know, I feel like we were stronger maybe. We were booked more like real threats in NXT, but when we transitioned to the main roster, Vince thought we were so funny on the microphone in that first week. So, it just became more about us being funny and less threats. For me, that was a little bit for me to realize we weren’t threats. We’re these fun over the top personalities–which I still loved.”

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“I missed being perceived as someone who could win a match or win a championship. Last year when we came back after the pandemic, I absolutely loved from when we came back to splitting us up; because I feel like it was really a mesh of both those things. We were still ourselves on the microphone, but when we got in the ring it was time for business.”

It seems that comedic timing that drew so many fans to The IIconics was also something that Vince McMahon used to pigeonholed them into a comedy character spot. They did have a run with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, but they were hardly fighting champions.

We’ll have to see what is next for Lee and McKay. They are likely to arrive somewhere else as soon as their non-compete clauses are up later this month. In the meantime, they still have plenty of stories left to tell about their time in WWE.

What’s your take on WWE’s booking of The IIconics? Sound off in the comments!