Will the WWE Make NXT's Candice LeRae a Future Women's Champion?

Are Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae the WWE's Next "Power Couple"?

Updated Sept. 8 2020, 1:57 p.m. ET

Candice LeRae is one of the most promising new divas on NXT programming and before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and social distancing became pretty much the norm for all of our daily lives, it was clear that the WWE had some big plans for her.

Standing at five feet, two inches and weighing in at only 110 lbs, Candice might not be the biggest pugilist in sports entertainment, but she leaves it all in the ring every match.

Candice LeRae climbed to the top on 'NXT' pretty fast.

Her exciting style and respectable mic skills always made her a staple on NXT ever since she signed with the WWE in 2018, but it wasn't until her incredible bout against Io Shirai that fans really began to take notice. The match was one of the best in the women's division at TakeOver: Toronto. Even though she lost that fight, her performance resonated with both viewers and the higher ups and it was clear there was a ton of potential for big things in her pro-wrestling future.

Candice eventually got a title shot on NXT against Shayna Baszler after winning a thrilling Fatal Four Way match-up, but she'd come up short against the champ.

For some reason, however, the loss didn't stop Candice's popularity from rising and from that moment forward, she's always been a main attraction and her matches have lingered at the top of the card.

The rapid rise came with its own unique set of challenges, ones that had Candice nervous early on, like going on live TV: "The commercials at first scared me. I was going 'oh no, if commercial break happens and something crazy is happening what do we do?' But that's what makes this brand so special," she said in an interview with Newsweek.

She continued, "We are going to be us, and we are going to do what got us to this point. And it wasn't worrying about the commercial breaks, it was 'go out there and do your thing' because that's what got us all here. I love that we are straying true to what the brand is, and we're not going to do anything different."

She also spoke about her "out of nowhere" title rise: "It was a bit abrupt. I will say I kind of thought that it would be more of a journey to get to this point. And not to say it wasn't a journey, it's been a 17-year journey for me to get here today. But now, I feel that I didn't have time to mentally prepare for this. I'm just going to wrestle and climb my way up this ladder. But it was like someone threw me halfway up the ladder and I'm at the top."

She also said that when she's preparing for a big match, she barely talks to her beau Johnny Gargano, another professional wrestler for the WWE's NXT brand: "The morning of TakeOver, I hardly spoke to him, and I felt so bad. He kept saying things to me because he's very calm and collected on TakeOver days, big events...and not to say that I freak out...I'm very focused and in my own world. And it's not that I'm mad at him or not paying attention to him, I'm just in the zone."

Johnny Gargano recently called out Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.

It's difficult to argue that there's been a more high-profile pro-wrestling couple than Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch in any organization ever. In recent times, Lana and Rusev's love-triangle storyline with Bobby Lashley certainly got people talking. But the Bulgarian brute is no longer with the WWE, and even then, Seth and Becky are WWE champions and have been at the top of the pro-wrestler heap for a very long time.

Johnny is saying that he and Candice could give the two a run for their money and would love to welcome them to NXT to throw down. Seth Rollins was actually the first NXT champion, so seeing him move down to scrap with Johnny could help be a nice boon to WWE's Wednesday Nights and give both Johnny and Candice some more exposure. Obviously, the same goes for Candice if Becky were to go to the black-and-yellow brand.

Becky is arguably the biggest draw on the WWE's roster right now, and from the way the organization's pushing Candice, it looks like the two will definitely meet down the road at some point.

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