Naomi Details the Struggles of Being a Black Athlete

In an interview with Women’s Wrestling Weekly, Naomi talked about how race played a role in her attempts to make it in WWE:

“I’ve been treated, overall, very well. I can’t complain and I feel like I’ve had an amazing career. However, I do know that there are some struggles and things that I’ve had to experience and go through because I am black and I was different at the time I came in. At the time, the prototype and what was, was not me. The face was Kelly Kelly at the time. She’s stunning, gorgeous. Now, there’s so much diversity. At the time I came in, there were struggles, there were ‘talk to’s’ and me being pulled to the side to talk about my look and ways I was carrying myself. And I feel like that had everything to do with me being black. But I’ve seen so many changes I’ve seen so much growth in the company. A lot of those people that were saying things to me that weren’t right or inappropriate are no longer here. I definitely had some struggles but I feel like going through that helped me find myself. At the time, I felt I had to do what I had to do to stay around and be featured. And it got me to where I am now.”