{"id":1606,"date":"2016-12-28T20:49:41","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T01:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2016-12-28T20:49:41","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T01:49:41","slug":"think-naomi-wwes-unheralded-gem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2016\/12\/28\/think-naomi-wwes-unheralded-gem\/","title":{"rendered":"You Think You Naomi: WWE’s Unheralded Gem"},"content":{"rendered":"

She’s been an FCW Divas Champion<\/strong>, a Funkadactyl, a BAD girl, and now the face of the Glow movement, but one thing she has not been. And that’s a WWE Women’s champion. She’s arguably the most underrated woman on the WWE roster right now and lately, one of the most controversial. And that woman is Naomi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Naomi Knight: The FCW\/NXT Years<\/h2>\n
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Photo: WWE.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike many of the new women in WWE’s Revolution, Naomi does not come from an indie background. But she’s showed Superstar potential from the minute she showed up in WWE’s developmental system back in 2010. Trinity McCray<\/strong> had just spent the past three years, from 2006 to 2009, as a dancer and cheerleader for the NBA’s Orlando Magic<\/strong>, when this Sanford, Florida native arrived at WWE’s then developmental system in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW)<\/strong>, under the name Naomi Knight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I started dancing at the age of 8. I took tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, modern and hip-hop. Actually, after high school, my goal was to join the Alvin Ailey School of Dance. But at the time, my family didn\u2019t have the money available for me to go and, honestly, I was afraid to leave home.\u00a0So, I scratched that idea and auditioned for the Orlando Magic as a dancer. I made the team. It was my first professional job. At the time, that was the best gig for me because it kept me home. I was able to work and attend community college, but I always knew that I wanted to be in entertainment.\u00a0Then the WWE show and the WWE Divas came to Orlando, and I went to see it live. That is what made me realize the next avenue I wanted to go down.” NAOMI, JET Magazine<\/a>, December 18, 2013<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In FCW, Naomi Knight became a fan favourite and excelled quickly, despite her lack of a pro wrestling background. She was fast tracked to success early, capturing the inaugural FCW Divas Championship (the precursor to the NXT Women’s Championship) on June 10, 2010, by defeating future Straight Edge Society<\/strong> member Serena Deeb<\/strong> in the finals of a tournament.<\/p>\n