Written by
Gary Cassidy• Published 6th October 2021
Mandy Rose has taken NXT 2.0 by storm after languishing on WWE’s main roster for a year. Breaking out into her own after an “unlikely romance” storyline with Otis, Rose looked likely to be destined for a major push. She has an incredible look, of that there is no doubt, cuts a good promo and, well, is actually really impressive between the ropes too!
After a mind-blowing rivalry with real-life best friend Sonya Deville which almost saw one of the two Superstars get their head shaved, thing were looking great for NXT’s newest star. However, when real-life tragedy struck as Sonya Deville’s house was broken into by a stalker, while Mandy Rose was also in attendance, wrestling obviously took a backseat and plans had to change, and they did – much like they had many years previous when Paige’s in-ring retirement put the kibosh on a faction with the WWE legend.
While unpredictability seems to be a running theme in Rose’s career, it was a close shave this time round as a Hair vs. Hair Match turned into a Loser Leaves WWE Match, which Mandy Rose won in emotional fashion, allowing Deville to take time away following the incident.
However, the match didn’t quite propel Rose to the next level, and she found herself teaming with Dana Brooke in a tag team division that often seems like an afterthough. The team looked prepped for Tag Team Championship glory after becoming number one contenders and even made an appearance at WrestleMania, where Mandy Rose stole the show with an embarrassing slip, but that reign never materialised.
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Mandy Rose
With the launch of NXT 2.0, however, Mandy Rose returned to the brand before completely changing her look, and is now looking to claim her first title in WWE – the NXT Women’s Championship no less – as leader of Toxic Attraction, alongside Jacey Jayne and Gigi Dolin. But who is Mandy Rose? Here are five things you didn’t know about NXT’s hottest new star!
5. Mandy Rose had an unusual nickname as a kid
Now, most people have heard about the wrestler Cheeseburger, but what about Hamburgers?! Well, that was indeed the nickname Mandy Rose had as a child. Rose, real name Amanda Saccomano, grew up in New York as the youngest of four children – her three siblings being older brothers who gave her the bizarre nickname. Rose told Sports Illustrated of the moniker’s origins.
“My brothers nicknamed me ‘Hamburgers.’ I grew up with three older, protective Italian brothers. They teased me a lot, but they helped mold me into the tough person I am today. I said I could eat 100 hamburgers. “They thought that was the funniest thing. From then on, I was ‘Hamburgers.’ We still laugh about it now.”
4. Mandy Rose was trained by Booker T, Billy Gunn and Lita
Before reaching WWE, Mandy Rose was not a wrestler. In fact, she wasn’t even a wrestling fan. Mandy Rose was a competitor on season six of Tough Enough in 2015, WWE’s reality TV show which puts hopefuls through their paces as they aspire to win a WWE contract. On the season Saccomanno features, the judges were her future mentor Paige, AEW star Bryan Danielson, then known as Daniel Bryan, and The Miz. However, the coaches who Rose would learn the ropes from were Billy Gunn, Booker T, and Lita!
While Saccomanno didn’t emerge victorious, placing as runner up to Sara Lee, the ring name “Mandy Rose” was adopted and a five-year contract was signed following the finale. It almost didn’t get to that point, though, with the now-WWE Superstar at risk of elimination early on before being saved by The Miz. Rose lost a match during the finale to Alicia Fox. Coming full circle, her first televised match as a WWE Superstar was actually a loss to Ember Moon in NXT.
3. Mandy Rose runs a donut blog with Sonya Deville
As you may have spotted if you watched the UpUpDownDown clip where Mandy Rose talks about her “Hamburgers” nickname in more depth, Rose isn’t just a lover of burgers, she also has a sweet tooth with donuts being the food of choice!
Not only does the 31-year-old love to eat donuts, though, she also owns her own donut blog with fellow WWE Superstar and real-life best friend Sonya Deville! DaMandyz Donutz, a spin on Sonya Deville’s real name, Daria Berenato, and Mandy’s name.
The site boasts, “Follow WWE Superstars Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose on their quest of finding the best GLAZED Donuts from around the World.” Which sadly, with both Superstars no longer sharing the same brand, makes life a bit more difficult, but they do still run a YouTube series and sell merchandise for the brand, including selling t-shirts, bottles, hats, face masks, and phone cases with a bikini-clad Mandy Rose on them.
The YouTube channel of DaMandyz Donuts boasts 58,000 subscribers, and the pair even posed for a calendar at the start of this year.
2. Mandy Rose is a WBFF Bikini World Champion
Way back in 2014, Mandy Rose emerged victorious from an official bikini competition, being crowned the competitor with the best bikini body in the entire world!
The Golden Goddess went on to join WWE Tough Enough shortly thereafter, and of course the rest is history, but Rose has documented her past WBFF accomplishments on social media many times since. There’s even footage of the win on Rose’s YouTube channel. The 31-year-old also threw back to the World Body Fashion and Fitness victory via Instagram in 2016.
“You must know why you started and where you are going! Everybody has different goals and There will always be setbacks in achieving those goals, but this is how you recover and come out of those setbacks And you make things happen. It was then that I was crowned 2014 WBFF Bikini World Champion. From this day on I knew it was only the beginning, and I am not even close to finishing!”
In 2013, ahead of her triumph, Rose told BodyBuilding.com, “They say it’s where fitness meets fashion. It’s about showcasing your whole package, your hair, you’re all glammed up. With the theme wear and the gowns, it makes it more of a mainstream production, rather than just being a fitness show.”
1. Mandy Rose has a university degree
Mandy Rose most definitely challenges the outdated stereotype that you can only have beauty or brains. As well as winning the WBFF Bikini World Championship, Saccomanno graduated from Iona College where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Language Pathology – as she told WWE.com.
“Don’t let this hair and face fool you – my brothers helped mold me into the feisty, tough woman I am today. I don’t stoop down to anyone. I was raised playing football and being the punching bag for my brothers. I guess you could say that is the root of my aggression and athleticism. I played basketball, softball and lacrosse, also did gymnastics and danced for years. I graduated from Iona College with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology.”
While Mandy Rose immediately switched course and utilised her discipline and sports backgrounds to transition into World Beauty and Fitness competitions and then WWE, there’s no doubt her intelligence has stood her in good stead ever since, and will continue to do so in the future.
You can watch Mandy Rose every Tuesday evening on NXT 2.0, live at 1am UK time on BT Sports HD.