Kacy Catanzaro Says She Never Felt Like She Belonged in WWE Despite Eight-Year Run

Kacy Catanzaro spent nearly a decade under the WWE umbrella, transitioned from a gymnastics and American Ninja Warrior background, and even held tag team gold—but she now reveals that none of it ever felt like enough to make her feel like she truly belonged.

During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Catanzaro admitted that she constantly battled feelings of being out of place—even as she racked up years with the company and memorable moments inside the ring. Despite making the leap to WWE without any prior wrestling experience, she pushed herself through training at the Performance Center, only to always feel like the outsider. While discussing her internal struggles, Kacy opened up:

“It’s funny because I always say that there was something… I don’t know that I’ll be able to explain it well, but no matter how long I was in wrestling, I always felt like no matter what, I was the newer person there.”

She went on to explain that the feeling never really went away—even after spending almost a full decade in WWE.

“Because I had never wrestled before—like when I walked into the Performance Center, I’d never wrestled. And no matter how long I was at the PC or in the company, I always felt like wherever I was, like, ‘Oh, I’m still the newer person here,’ even though it had been almost a decade that I worked there.”

Kacy also made it clear that it wasn’t an issue of not being able to physically keep up. It was something deeper.

“I think an in-between—not so much trouble picking it up as much as it was trouble feeling like I belonged there. Like no matter how much work I put in, or I felt like I’m doing what I’m supposed to, I’ve been here, I’m putting the work in… I still always felt like, ‘I don’t know if I’m supposed to be here.’”

Even with viral Royal Rumble saves and a tag title reign to her name, the emotional weight of impostor syndrome followed her throughout her run—something many fans wouldn’t have guessed watching her perform.

Kacy’s honesty adds depth to a conversation often avoided in wrestling: just because someone is on TV doesn’t mean they always feel like they’ve arrived. And in her case, that feeling never quite came.