WWE announced the release of The IIconics, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay back in April of this year. Their release came shortly after WWE had made the decision to split up the tag team, which left them both seemingly lost as competitors.
The duo recently sat down and spoke to Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast and talked about WWE’s decision to split up The IIconics. Billie went on to talk about how difficult the split was for her, and how hard it was for her to adjust to being a singles wrestler.
“The split was rough. I didn’t know who I was. I was a singles competitor, and that was very confronting. Having [Cassie] not with me anymore, I remember [thinking], oh, I have to walk to the ring, and she’s not going to be on my left, so don’t look to the left or hold your hand out ’cause she isn’t going to be there. For some reason, I was like, ok, I have to be sexy. I thought I had to be something that I wasn’t. I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what to do.”
“I was thankful that I got to go to SmackDown ’cause I definitely thought we needed to be on different brands, and I don’t think they realized what the domino effect would be after splitting a tag team up, especially us. So, when [I] went to SmackDown, I mentioned this before, but TJ [Tyson Kidd] helped me a lot. There was this one time [where I told him], ‘You’re my new Cassie,’ because everything I would vent to Cass [about], I was just saying it to TJ. That’s why he’s so special. He listened to me, and he supported me. I told him that I just wanted to be myself – make people laugh and smile – that’s all I wanted to do…When the headshot/résumé kind of fell into my first promo, I was like, there’s something here; I want to keep doing this. I spoke to the writers, and luckily, they were on board. I was having so much fun, I really was.”
“The amount of praise that I got backstage after that, I was like ah, if I’m remembered for anything, and it’s this, I’d be happy, happy, happy. It was so much fun! I think that was why it made it more of a shock [about my release] because I was booked for a couple of weeks here and there. I was able to work with all of the girls, which a lot of people aren’t able to do. I was doing promos with [Big] E and The Street Profits; it was so much fun for me. I was really enjoying it. I was [also] so grateful to be at WrestleMania and be in that match because that was my last one. I’m trying to stay positive, but the shock and the raw emotion are still there.”
You can listen to the entire interview the former IIconics on the Oral Sessions podcast below.
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