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IWGP Women's Champion Sareee Speaks About Her Work In WWE

Sareee sat down and talked about the character she was forced to play while working in WWE NXT.
Ethan Schlabaugh|
WWE
WWE | WWE

Current IWGP Women's Champion Sareee built herself quite a resume from her work in World Woman Pro-Wrestling DIANA and Seadlinnng before joining the WWE in 2020.

She debuted in NXT under the name Sarray and would continue under a character similar to what she was doing while in Japan.

January 2022 saw a wild character change for her as she would sport pigtails and a schoolgirl uniform. She also sported some kind of medallion that gave her powers and a new in-ring look. This was done to make her fit the NXT 2.0 vibe the show was going for.

During an interview with Jaguar Yokota, Sareee would talk about that character and her feelings toward it.

When I went to WWE in America, I didn’t want to be a villain so much as a strong wrestler. I wanted to be seen as “cool” and “strong,” but instead they made me play an anime character in a sailor uniform
Sareee

Sareee says that the character "suited her," while she said that wasn't who she was. Jaguar makes a point to say that since Sareee was forced to play a character she didn't want to be, that was a large reason it didn't last long.

The character stuck around for only a couple of months before Sareee stopped appearing on NXT television altogether. She confirmed her departure from the WWE on March 9th, 2023.

Reinventing Herself Post WWE

It's not much of a shocker that after leaving WWE, Sareee would start back from where she left off in Japan. She made her in-ring return in a freelance event called Sareee-ISM, losing to Chihiro Hashimoto before returning to Seadlinnng and capturing the Beyond the Sea Single Championship.

She would later sign a multi-year deal with Sukeban, a Joshi promotion based in the United States.

Sareee has since gone on to find success in the major Japanese promotions, such as becoming the inaugural Marigold World Champion and later becoming the IWGP Women's Champion at World Wonder Ring Stardom's The Conversion event in June this year.

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Published
Ethan Schlabaugh
ETHAN SCHLABAUGH

Ethan Schlabaugh is a news writer for The Takedown on SI. His journalism experience has seen him cover professional wrestling for outlets such as TheSportster, The Takedown and more. He has been a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, dating back to his first experience with the WCW Nintendo 64 games, and that passion for the sport has remained many years later. He also writes feature articles for ResuraMag, where he focuses on mainstream Japanese promotions like Stardom and Marigold.