Mandy Rose's long 413-day reign as the NXT Women's Champion ended after she was released from WWE over racy photos she shared on her FanTime page. The unexpected and surprising move comes just a day after Rose, whose real name is Amanda Rose Saccomanno, dropped the belt on NXT television.
According to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, WWE released Rose due to the content she posted on her FanTime page, which featured her risqué photos and videos. FanTime is a platform much like OnlyFans in which users can pay monthly subscription fees to access exclusive content from creators, who generally post racy photos.
End of Her Career?
Sapp reported that the WWE executives took the call because they thought they were in a difficult situation as a result of the suggestive content Rose was posting on her FanTime profile. Sapp continued by saying that Rose was released because it was discovered that the content violated the terms of her WWE contract.
"WWE officials felt they were put in a tough position based on the content she was posting on her FanTime page," explained Sapp. "They felt like it was outside of the parameters of her WWE deal."
The monthly fee for Rose's FanTime page is $40. In recent days, photos of Rose, 32, and her fiancé, Tino Sabbatelli, in the shower that can be characterized as somewhere between R- and X-rated began circulating online.
Rose had held the title of NXT women's champion for more than 400 days before losing to Roxanne Perez on Wednesday night. The fact that a title reign of that duration would end on regular television as opposed to pay-per-view was a relatively shocking event in the plot.
Rose made her WWE debut in the sixth season of Tough Enough in 2015 after finishing second overall to eventual winners Sara Lee and Josh Bredl. Rose eventually agreed to a five-year contract with WWE and spent several years working for NXT before being called up to "Monday Night Raw" in 2017.
Highlights of her time on the main roster included a tag team with her real-life friend Sonya Deville and their subsequent rivalry, as well as her romance with Otis, which lasted from late 2019 until early 2020.
Too Racy to Be Allowed
Rose was brought back to the NXT brand shortly after it became NXT 2.0, when she joined forces with Gigi Dolin and Jacey Jayne to create the stable Toxic Attraction. The three rose to prominence in NXT due in large part to Rose's protracted title reign and Dolin and Jayne's two victories as NXT Women's Tag Team Champions.
After Rose's release, it's uncertain what will happen to the stable, Dolin, or Jayne. Also, her release from WWE comes as a shock to many given that her WWE character was sexualized.
It is understood that several other factors are at play here. One was how racially explicit Rose's photos and videos were. Despite the sexualization of Rose's WWE role, current WWE content does not match what Rose was posting on her profile.
The WWE has made it clear to its performers that any outside business activities must go via them, which is the second problem. In a letter sent to talent in 2020, Vince McMahon cautioned them against using sites like Twitch and Cameo without first cooperating with WWE and threatened to fire them if they did.
"Some of you are engaged with outside third parties using your name and likeness in ways that are detrimental to our company," McMahon, who stepped down from running WWE earlier this year, wrote at the time.
"It is imperative that these activities be terminated within the next 30 days (by Friday, October 2). Continued violations will result in fines, suspension, or termination at WWE's discretion."
The move makes sense given the WWE's intention to tone down its programming over the last 15 years. Since 2008, the company has primarily produced PG-13 content, despite earlier working with Playboy and Girls Gone Wild and producing explicit plotlines.
Zelina Vega was fired by WWE in November 2020 for starting an account on OnlyFans without posting any racy content. However, the company brought her back the following summer.
