Last week, NXT Superstar Tegan Nox posted a picture with her girlfriend on her Instagram. It was the 25 year old Welsh wrestler’s public declaration of her sexuality.
A few outlets noticed, including our fellow SB Nation site Outsports, but for the most part this flew under the radar. And that’s pretty awesome, that pro wrestling and WWE is diverse enough that it’s not a “stop the presses” moment when someone in the business comes out, the way it was when Fred “Darren Young” Rosser did back in 2013. Nox joins Sonya Deville, Jake Atlas, Mercedes Martinez, and Piper Niven as openly LGBTQ+ members of the WWE roster.
The mainstream media’s caught up to the story, and Newsweek spoke to Nox about her decision to share this part of herself with the world.
“My life has always been a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ situation, but I felt like it was the right time, especially when you’ve found the right one you’re in love with. It was the right time to do that.
“The reaction has been great. There are a few people who obviously don’t agree with that, but 99 percent of the reactions have been positive. I’ve got texts coming through from so many colleagues and friends. It was nice. It’s great to see that there are so many nice people in the world.”
She also talked about Deville being there for her.
“I actually talked to Sonya before I even did this. She was a big, big help. She gave me her phone number and told me to text her if I needed anything. So we keep in contact quite a lot about it. She’s a massive help with the fans, because my family knew but my fans didn’t. So she helped me bring it out to the public.”
Everything about this is very cool.
Tegan wrapped a very big week in her life with a great Women’s title match against Io Shirai on the July 15 episode of NXT. She didn’t win, but she re-affirmed her status as a rising star.
The future looks bright. And based on the pics with her love at Universal Studios Orlando, Nox already has the shades!