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January 22, 2024 • 17 mins
Join us for an exclusive interview with #WWE Superstar Ivy Nile as she opens up about her journey from NXT to Raw. Discover the challenges, strategies, and memorable moments that have shaped her career. From facing Rhea Ripley for the title to preparing for the Royal Rumble, Ivy shares insights into the world of a high-stakes WWE Superstar. Learn about her unique approach to balancing athleticism and storytelling in the ring and explore her personal passions outside of the spotlight. Don't miss this in-depth conversation with one of WWE's rising stars!

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(00:01):
Why from the parts Unknown Studios intothe Battle Crowd, Battle the Battle Round,
the Battle Crowd. Welcome to theBattleground Podcast, your place for all
things pro wrestling, the Battle Road. The Battle Crowd now making their way

(00:27):
to the microphones. Give it upfor your hosts. Welcome to the Battle
Crown. What's up you guys?Welcome back into iHeartRadio's official wrestling podcast,
the Battleground Podcast, which you canfind anywhere you listen to podcasts. You
can also watch this interview on YouTubejust search Battleground Podcast. And we have

(00:48):
a very special guest on the show, a very talented guest, somebody who
we expect to have a title aroundher waist very very soon. Everybody,
we want to introduce you. IvyNile joins the show. I'm fantastic,
How are you, guys? Weare good, trying to, you know,
brave the snowstorm that we've had herein Nashville and Middle Tennessee, and
it's been fun. We've got uhseven and a half eight inches of snow

(01:14):
Monday. I got I got fivedown here. I'm and I have a
pull in my backyard that is anice skating rink at the moment, so
Uh, you know, you gota busy couple of weeks ahead of you.
You've got the Royal Rubble coming up, and then literally right after the
Royal Rumble, it's the kickoff tothe road to WrestleMania and Knoxville at the

(01:34):
Knoxville Civic Coliseum where you're taking onZoe Stark. Uh. You know,
I don't want to put the cartbefore the horse and jump past Royal Rumble,
but I do want to talk aboutthe Knoxville show. How do you
feel going against Zoe Stark at thatshow? Oh, my gosh, so
funny. I had my first MMAfight at that same venue in Knoxville.

(01:56):
So a full circle going on homecomingtoo for you. Yeah, It's it's
crazy. You know, it's likea full circle moment. You know.
I kind of started in that townwhere you know, everything kind of came
to be where I am. Soit's definitely cool to go back there and
like experience you know, everything andsee everyone. So and Zoe. So

(02:20):
me and Zoe have a little bitof history. When she injured her knee
last year or two years ago orwhenever, you know, I was in
the ring with her helping her getcleared. Had practice matches with her,
and next thing, you know,she moved up to roll without me and
became, you know, to bethis awesome superstar she is now. But

(02:40):
definitely we've butted heads, you know, about who's stronger and who's you know,
like muscle versus muscle type things.So definitely I've had some of my
best fights with her. So Iguarantee this is gonna be a hell of
a fight. Oh definitely is.I think it'll be the fight, the
fight of the night, the thingthat's going to steal the show. And

(03:01):
again, that's happening Knoxville Civic ColiseumFebruary third, Road to WrestleMania. Tickets
you can still grab those there onsale at ticketmaster dot com. And uh,
you know, there's also some othergreat things that are happening. NXT
Vengeance Day is right down the streetfrom us in Clarksville. That is happening
February fourth at the F and MBank Arena at UH in Clarksville. Tickets,

(03:23):
ticketmaster dot com. Which we'll talkabout NXT here for a second.
And you know, you spend sometime at NXT. Transitioning from NXT to
raw very significant step in any WWESuperstars career. What has been I guess
the biggest difference for you in termsof competition, atmosphere and challenges. So
in NXT you create a very specialbond with everyone, you know, because

(03:46):
you're at the performance center, you'retraining. There's just this bond that you
create with people you know, andit's it's like I have to start over,
you know, here at raw andkind of I've wrestled people I've never
wrestled before, you know, andthat's you know, it feels kind of
different, you know, in NXTO, Like there's some people that I've created

(04:09):
bonds for for life and I'll continueto train with them and you know,
grow with them and stuff. Soit's definitely a different transition to kind of
work with people that you've never reallyyou know, have ever talked with before.
And next thing, you know,you're fighting that person. Like wait
a second, it's a little it'sjust you know, gonna be an adjustment,
but definitely something I'm ready for.Yeah, I guess, you know,

(04:30):
kind of you have that shared experiencein NXT like you're going through the
same thing and have the same teachersand stuff. So yeah, that makes
sense. Yeah, so a bighighlight for you, Uh, not too
long ago. Your recent match getsRay Ripley. I got a lot of
attention over socials and everything. Alot of people buzz and you know,
can you give us some insights maybeinto like your preparation and strategy you kind

(04:55):
of had going into that match,and like, were there any like if
you change that, Like would youdo anything different now you know looking back
on it. Oh gosh, SoI go into I go into this match
with the mentality of instead of whatam I thinking? Like what is Riha
thinking? So she doesn't have I'vewatched probably every single match of hers ever

(05:17):
since NXT. Wow. I wasa fan, you know, loved her
stuff, and I think she asa person just elevates herself every single match.
I feel like she's just like gettingbetter and better and better. So
I have, gosh, how manyyears of matches from her that I can

(05:39):
watch and study her. She onlyhas about two years on me. So
and you know, in NXT,I didn't have a bunch of I didn't
have any title matches, I didn'thave any pay per view matches, So
I feel like she didn't have muchto study on me, which helps me.
I think I had all these yearsof experience on her to like study

(06:04):
and really know what she's capable of. And for me, I don't think
she had any idea. So Idon't think she knew I was going to
german her on the floor, germanher off the second rope. I think
she had no idea about some ofthis stuff. So I think I've been
her biggest challenge, and I thinkI've been her you know, biggest surprise.
Yeah, And I think we needto get We need to get Ivy

(06:25):
and Rhea Part two soon, whetherit be WrestleMania, which that's what I'm
hoping for, because could you imagineand this actually transitions to the Royal Rumble,
because I want to talk about thatfor a second, because I mean,
it's an exciting event for WWE fans. It's who's going to show up,
what's gonna happen. It kind ofstarts the whole year of storylines for

(06:46):
wrestling fans in WWE. Which Ido think that Ivy will win the Royal
Rumble. We'll say that right nowon this show, because we do put
good luck out into the universe,no pressure at all. But you know,
how do you approach such a uniquematch, and like, other than
not getting thrown over the top rope, what strategies do you employed to outlast

(07:08):
year opponents in the upcoming Royal Rumblematch? So this is another cool thing.
I was an alternate last year,so I was an XT. I
was brought to their mumble to bean alternate just in case something happens.
So I was there last year justwatching and just like observing everything. And
so this year, you know,I haven't been officially announced, so I

(07:30):
don't know for sure, but Ihope to make that run. And you
know, just just watch watching herback, watching the people who think I'll
be an easy elimination, like NayaJacks or like some of these big girls
that are in there, who thinkthey're gonna look at me and be like
she's an easy elimination. I'll justthrow her out. Little do they know,
Like I'm like a spider monkey,and I'm like not gonna like I'm

(07:53):
gonna like hold onto the ropes orbecome dead weight and like you can't even
pick me up, like I'm gonna, oh my gosh, you no,
Like it's I'm either gonna be thewinner, I'm gonna be the final whatever
five, four three, whatever,Like, no, it's I'm not gonna
be easy elimination at all. Well, we're gonna know that you will win
that that see you down there,your music's gonna hit. We're gonna be

(08:13):
like, well, there's the winnerright there, just go ahead. Yeah,
And you know, that match isinteresting because like you can kind of
win even if you don't win.You know, like you'll have people that'll
have a fifty minute run and they'llget eliminated, and like, I mean
that kind of puts you on themap and stuff like that. So that
one, you know, yeah,So I mean like you could kind of
come out of it in a goodlight even if you're not not the winner.

(08:35):
So yeah, that match is alwaysexciting. We love it. So,
you know, with your growing popularity, fans are kind of curious,
you know, about your journey fromNXT to and now and to the ww
main roster. What what would yousay has been your most memorable moment of
your career so far? And youknow, why does that moment stand out
for you? So I've been withthe Creed Brothers since the beginning of my

(08:56):
career and we had a six andtag with the schism. This past year
and these boys. I don't flip. I'm a flip. I like ground
sighting, I like kicking, Ilike wrestling like on my feet. These
boys had me flipping diving the stuffthat I never do and they're just do

(09:22):
Liers is like, yeah, I'lljust like throw you at them. I'm
like, no, like this iscrazy. I was like my feet along
on the ground and uh, theyjust like they pushed me to like do
stuff I never do before, andI actually loved it and it actually worked
out great. But that definitely wassomething that they pushed me so far outside

(09:43):
my comfort zone that I like freakedout. But you know, they're you
know there, always wanted me todo crazy stuff just like they do.
So but yeah, that probably wasmy most memorable because it was the most
scared it was. Yeah, andof course the Creed Brothers actually gonna be
on that show in Knoxville along withyou for the ww Road to WrestleMania which

(10:05):
is February third. Tickets grab themticketmaster dot com. They're taking on Ludwig
and Giovanni of Imperium in that show, so that's gonna be a fun match
as well. You know, thething is I actually uh. Recently when
ww when Rawl was in Nashville,I saw the Creed brothers up front during
that tag team tournament thing, andlike, I was just blown away of

(10:28):
them just going insane, like yousaid, doing flips, and I was
like, I don't think even Ithat size could do flips. And they're
over here doing backflips and moon saltsand you know, jumping from the floor
to the third turnbuck and I'm like, how is that physically possible? I
don't know. Yeah, yeah,Brutus is a big boy and he's doing

(10:48):
like moon salts and like flips.I'm like, I can't even do that.
Like I'm just so blown away bythem. And it's they're like the
physical embodiment of like an energy drink. I mean, it is just like
how are you doing this stuff?Like it now? So here's kind of
a fun thing that we like todo on this show is we we like
to embrace technology. And of courseeverybody talks about chat GPT and the robots.

(11:13):
So I turned to our chat GPTrobot to ask Ivy Nile a question.
We never know what it's gonna be. Most of the time, it's
like how do you get the journeyinto wrestling, which we all know how
that went. But this is thequestion that the robot said, if you
could tag team with any fictional characterin the ring, who would it be

(11:35):
and what would your ultimate finishing movetogether be called? It's pretty good fictional
yeah, oh my gosh, okay, can like superheroes count? Superheroes count
any fictional character. So if Iwere to pick a superhero, I'd pick

(11:56):
Wolverine. Ooh, that's a goodI don't I just I don't like Wonder
Woman's cool whatever, but I'm ahuge Wolverine fan, always been. So
my finishes the dragon sleeper and uh, let's see, do you guys have

(12:16):
anything that comes to your mind aboutthat Wolf's din Nuh, maybe I don't
know something like that. That's atough one. Now we're putting ourselves on
the spot trying to figure this one. I mean, that's really good though,
because I think like he almost wouldkind of have a similar ground or
like a battle of set, likeyou have move set and stuff like the

(12:37):
grounded and more of the I don'tsee Wolverine doing a lot of flips and
stuff, so like that would begood, like two brawlers and stuff.
Maybe something with the atom manium likea yeah, like his his kryptonite though,
no, No, that's the stuffthat's made of his arm. That's
his metal in his arms, yeah, or his skeleton. Yeah, maybe
the automatium smash or something. Ormaybe what we'll do is once once everybody's

(13:00):
watching this on YouTube, if youcould put in the comments what the finishers
should be in there? I layit back, So comments in the comments
section down there. There we go. Yeah, I know you're a busy
person. We don't want to takeup too much of your time. But
you know, outside of the ring, many WWE superstars have interest in hobbies,
as you could tell. Mine andEli's hobby is collecting belts and autograph
Funko pops and whatnot. Are thereany personal passions or activities that you enjoyed

(13:24):
that you know, the WWE universemight not be aware of. So during
the summer, I'm I live inFlorida, so it's like warm a lot.
Sorry, you're enjoying that weather rightnow? Well, actually it's kind
of cold down there right now,isn't it. Uh it's in the fifties.
Okay, Well that's not too bad. Somebody I know in Florida is
like thirty six or something down there. That's kind of cold for Florida.

(13:48):
Maybe northern Florida maybe maybe. Soyeah, So I have dabbled into some
wakesurfing. Oh oh nice. Soit's so much fun, Like it's we
go on the lake and you know, we're I learned how to surf,
like not the ones where your feetare strapped in and the free surf.

(14:09):
Okay, learn how to do sometricks on it, learn how to do
like a three sixty on it andstuff, and that's like such a cool
activity to like you're in the water, You're getting your son, like it's
just Florida. Gators might be there, it's fine, they fe So if
this wrestling thing doesn't work out atthe end of it, you could be
a professional surfer. I don't ohgosh, I don't want to have that

(14:33):
happen. But I mean, likewho knows. Well, I was gonna
say, you probably don't want tolet the Creed brothers know that, because
they're like, oh, she isflipping, she is doing this stuff.
Okay, let's get yeah, let'sget her in the ring. Let's dry
this. Yeah, Julius on it. He went and tried it, and
he's actually pretty good too, ofcourse, but of course he had me
do some kind of like flip intothe water, and I'm like, leave

(14:56):
me alone. Of course, wewe don't have to worry about the wrestling
thing not working out because we knowthat you've got a hell of a career
ahead of you, very talented.And I will tell you that as of
Thursday, January eighteenth, there willbe a title around your waist because we're
putting it in the universe within thenext year. I'm saying it right now.

(15:18):
I'm putting the rocket to your backnow, so putting pressure on you.
Thank you so real. Oh sorry, I think I was gonna say
what you're gonna say real quick.You know where can people keep up with
you online? Your social media isanything like that? Yeah, so Instagram
pretty active on there. I'm onTikTok as well, just doing some like

(15:39):
stupid stuff with the boys. Arewe doing some kind of crazy challenge like
that? One time I did ahandstand and Julius pressed me above his head
like we just do crazy stuff likethat. Usually. I saw my TikTok
Twitter a little bit, but mostlyit's going to be Instagram, and TikTok.
Actually, well, I it wasan honor and a pleasure talking with

(16:00):
you ahead of you know, theRaw Rumble, the road to wrestle Mania
and of course NXT Vengeance Day happeningright up the road in Knoxville and in
Clarksville for both of those ladder shows. Uh, thank you for taking the
time out. And is there anythingreal quick before I let you go that
you want to say to all thefans watching or listening right now? I
am just so like from nxtre toRaw, it's it's it's been a beautiful

(16:23):
journey. And I think everyone knowsfrom that that time that the Cree Brothers
had their match with Alphae Academy,I think everyone can see the emotion on
my face because it's genuine, it'sreal ego from watching it every Monday to
being a part of it, it'sit's I'm just letting everyone know I don't
take it for granted. I'm herefor I'm here to win. I'm here

(16:47):
to also, you know, makemy mark in Raw and SmackDown wherever it
takes me. And you know,small town girl in Tennessee on Raw,
and it's I'm still I am stilljust blowing, and I'm like every time
I'm at RAW every Monday, I'mjust so incredibly blessed to be there,
and I just can't wait to seewhere this journey takes me. We hope

(17:08):
you enjoyed today's episode of the BattlegroundPodcast. Make sure you give it five
stars and a nice review. Tostay up to date with the show,
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