{"id":136842,"date":"2025-06-21T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=136842"},"modified":"2025-06-21T07:14:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T11:14:03","slug":"the-journey-of-blake-monroe-to-the-wwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/06\/21\/the-journey-of-blake-monroe-to-the-wwe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Journey of Blake Monroe to the WWE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some don\u2019t realize that it truly has been a long time coming for Blake Monroe, the former Mariah May, to make it to the WWE. This is a dream that she has been working towards for around seven years, and some have followed her since the beginning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She documented her journey and goals through a YouTube channel that many WWE fans may have seen around 2017. Since starting her YouTube channel, Monroe has created a successful career for herself that we have been able to see unfold right before our eyes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is incredible to look back on her journey and hard work, and it is ever so inspiring to see how it has paid off, getting her to the WWE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136882\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136882\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136882 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of Blake Monroe on WWE NXT.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-38-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>WWE Shop Model<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monroe began documenting her wrestling journey through her social media platforms. She began growing her platform by modeling clothes for the WWE shop around 2017. She would create YouTube videos showcasing customizations of the shirts and post them on Instagram, which the WWE Shop&#8217;s Instagram page would then repost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bxh-3zcBpBf\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bxh-3zcBpBf\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A post shared by WWEShop.com (@wweshop)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember discovering her through the WWE Shop and her YouTube channel. It&#8217;s not every day you see someone document their journey to becoming a professional wrestler. It was intriguing, especially as a wrestling fan. Monroe documented her wrestling journey since the very beginning. She also began training in 2017, once she turned 18.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through these videos, her passion for wrestling radiates through the screen. In various videos, she discusses how professional wrestling and the WWE are her dreams. She showed us how she had been fighting for her dreams, seeing her consistent improvement, it is no surprise that she ended up in the WWE. This was always her goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YIdoj4RtauY?si=AcqGqZ1TMa4O-GiX\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Stardom Wrestling<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the best professional wrestlers have come out of Japan or trained in Japan. Under the ring name <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/07\/26\/who-is-the-glamour-mariah-may\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Mariah May<\/a>, May expanded her fan base, experience, and overall persona with her time here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May was only with stardom throughout 2023. Even though she was only there for a short time, May had made her presence known on the promotion. She was part of Club Venus with Mina Shirakawa, creating their beautiful friendship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The duo had won the Goddesses of Stardom Championships when they had defeated God\u2019s Eye (Ami Sourei and Mirai). They held the championships for two months before losing the titles to The Cosmic Angles (Natsupoi and Saori Anou). Despite losing the championships, their friendship remained throughout May\u2019s time in Stardom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May\u2019s last match with Stardom Wrestling was September 9, 2023, where Hanan defeated her. Stardom was a great experience for May as she consistently improves and strengthens her career. It was only the beginning of a roller coaster of the next few years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>All Elite Wrestling<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stardom Wrestling gave Mariah May the extra experience she needed and helped her gain fans in Japan. However, once Mariah May joined AEW, she became a commonly mentioned name when discussing women\u2019s wrestling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mariah May has arguably had one of the best storylines in women\u2019s wrestling in her time in AEW. The duo of Toni Storm and her will go down in AEW history. It was a story that was built slowly, with various elements being added or something unexpected occurring. For example, through this story, we got to see <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/12\/11\/aew-mariah-may-mina-shirakawa\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Mina Shirakawa<\/a> get welcomed to AEW and involved in the storyline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the time finally came where May turned on Storm and won the AEW Women\u2019s Championship, we saw some of the best women\u2019s matches in AEW between the two of them. They were both ruthless, and their actions in the ring show how much the sport means to them. The storytelling was immaculate, one of the strongest stories AEW had at that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/84I80WOv5Kg?si=Lx8SDHy1JxcvuQ_v\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May\u2019s last match in AEW was a great way to put a close to May\u2019s AEW career, having her take part in a Hollywood Ending match against Toni Storm. A final match to end this long, emotional feud between the two. Storm picked up the win and regained the championship, while May was looking ahead to her next chapter in professional wrestling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>NXT<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On June 3, 2025, Mariah May made her long-awaited NXT debut under the name <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/06\/17\/wwe-nxt-results-6-17-25\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Blake Monroe<\/a>. This is simply the beginning of a long career for Monroe. On her first night, she was already making claims about taking the NXT women\u2019s championship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With her arrival and insertion into the championship picture, we can only expect Monroe to flourish in the company, whether she wins or loses the championship this soon into her NXT career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a whole new roster of talent that we will now be able to see Monroe face. It will be exciting to see her turn into a WWE superstar and see who she becomes under this new mentorship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She will truly make NXT very glamorous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hruuNDow20U?si=F7FlE0DsMrB8Gu5R\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i> for more on the Blake Monroe, WWE NXT, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some don\u2019t realize that it truly has been a long time coming for Blake Monroe, the former Mariah May, to make it to the WWE. This is a dream that she has been working towards for around seven years, and some have followed her since the beginning.\u00a0 She documented her journey and goals through a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5214,"featured_media":136869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,5,3,320],"tags":[9425,8737,4176,598],"class_list":["post-136842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-blake-monroe","tag-mariah-may","tag-mina-shirakawa","tag-toni-storm"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136842"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136883,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842\/revisions\/136883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}