Jacy Jayne has become one of WWE’s most decorated and self-assured personalities, but she says reaching that point took time. Before leading Fatal Influence on WWE SmackDown, before collecting singles championships across NXT, TNA, and WWE, and before stepping into the spotlight as a faction leader herself, Jayne was learning how to develop confidence alongside Mandy Rose in Toxic Attraction.
During a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, Jayne discussed the influence Rose had on her development in WWE NXT. Toxic Attraction was introduced as a polished, arrogant, and highly successful act, with Rose serving as the established centerpiece alongside Jayne and Gigi Dolin. While the trio’s presentation quickly clicked on television, Jayne explained that Rose also offered an important example away from the cameras.
For Jayne, one of Rose’s biggest lessons involved authenticity. Rather than attempting to play a disconnected character that did not reflect anything real about herself, Jayne learned to identify the aspects of her own personality that could be amplified for WWE programming.
“I learned how to be comfortable in my own skin,” Jayne said. “I learned that playing a character, per se, is not really going to play the way you think it is on screen. You more so have to find who you are and apply that to everything, in each situation.”
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Jayne specifically identified Rose as the person who helped make that principle clearer. Rose had arrived in NXT with valuable experience from WWE’s main roster and projected a natural confidence that fit Toxic Attraction’s image. Jayne said Rose’s poise, and her ability to remain herself despite the larger-than-life presentation, made a lasting impression.
“Mandy, honestly, really taught me that, because there is no one who is more confident and comfortable in their own skin than Mandy,” Jayne said. “She was always the nicest person backstage. She looks a certain way and you think she’s going to be a little bit of a b[****], but she’s the complete opposite. She would give the shirt off of her back to a stranger if she could. She really taught me how to act on-screen and off-screen.”
Toxic Attraction’s rapid rise in NXT
Toxic Attraction came together during the summer of 2021 after Rose left the main roster and returned to NXT. The group immediately had a clear role within the women’s division. Rose was positioned as a top singles star, while Jayne and Dolin worked as an increasingly cohesive tag team. Their look, confidence, promos, and willingness to target opponents together gave the group a consistent presence across NXT television.
The success followed quickly. Rose captured the NXT Women’s Championship, beginning a title reign that established her as one of the defining figures of that era of the brand. Jayne and Dolin, meanwhile, won the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship twice. The trio regularly held championship gold at the same time or remained in the center of the title picture, reinforcing the idea that Toxic Attraction was not simply a stylish alliance. They were one of NXT’s most dominant units.
Jayne’s reflections show that the group’s accomplishments did not instantly erase her personal uncertainty. She had experience before joining WWE, but she did not feel she entered the company with the same kind of ready-made reputation, extensive athletic background, or obvious label that she believed other talent may have possessed. Finding a place in a major WWE faction was therefore a process rather than an overnight transformation.
“I was on the indies, but I was on the indies for a very short amount of time, so I didn’t really have a big name coming in,” Jayne said. “I wasn’t some crazy athlete. I never went to college. I was literally just an indie wrestler. There was nothing super special about me.”
That mindset pushed Jayne to work toward a clearer understanding of her own strengths. She recalled feeling that she needed to work much harder to determine where she fit, both as a WWE performer and as a member of Toxic Attraction. The development of Jayne’s on-screen persona did not arrive at the exact moment the faction debuted. Instead, she described gradually becoming more comfortable as the group’s run progressed.
Confidence took time to develop
Jayne said it was not until much later in Toxic Attraction’s tenure that she truly began to feel settled in her role. Even with the group winning major matches and titles, she was still working through the challenge of figuring out who she was as a performer. By roughly a year into the act’s run, she felt that her confidence had begun to catch up to the opportunity in front of her.
“So I feel like I had to work 10 times harder to really figure things out and figure out who I am and how I’m going to fit into this group,” Jayne said. “I feel like it really wasn’t until late in Toxic Attraction when I started piecing it all together. Maybe in our second title reign, even maybe after we lost the titles. It was late. I feel like it was at least a year in where I was like, okay, I’m good. I’m feeling myself. I feel comfortable.”
That evolution is significant considering the route Jayne eventually took after Toxic Attraction changed. Rose’s abrupt WWE departure at the end of 2022 reduced the faction from a trio to a duo, leaving Jayne and Dolin to carry the name forward without the woman who had helped set its initial tone. The partnership between Jayne and Dolin did not last indefinitely, either. Months later, Jayne turned on Dolin on-screen, conclusively ending their alliance.
The betrayal opened a new chapter for Jayne. Instead of operating within the framework established by Toxic Attraction, she began building a presentation that placed her more directly at the forefront. The confidence she says took time to find became central to her next major role: the leader of Fatal Influence.
From learning under Rose to leading Fatal Influence
Fatal Influence began in NXT with Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Jazmyn Nyx as its founding members. The group carried some familiar traits from Jayne’s past faction work: style, self-belief, a shared interest in championship success, and a leader who was not afraid to make her presence felt. But the dynamic also represented a reversal for Jayne. Rather than being the newer member taking cues from a more established star, she was now guiding a group of her own.
Nyx exited WWE in the fall of 2025, and Lainey Reid subsequently joined Fatal Influence in her place. The group has remained a notable force with Jayne at its center, now on the SmackDown roster. The results have been substantial. Jayne has held the NXT Women’s Championship on two separate occasions, along with the TNA Knockouts World Championship and the WWE Women’s United States Championship.
Jayne currently holds the WWE Women’s United States Title, while Henley and Reid are the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. That collection of championships has positioned Fatal Influence as a powerful unit across the women’s landscape, echoing the championship-heavy success Toxic Attraction enjoyed in NXT while giving Jayne a new role as the group’s driving force.
Her comments about Rose add context to that rise. Jayne’s current persona is built around certainty, control, and a willingness to claim her own importance. Yet she openly acknowledges that the comfort needed to portray that kind of character convincingly was not always there. Her time with Toxic Attraction gave her a place to grow, and Rose’s example helped her understand that a successful wrestling persona can be strongest when it grows from something genuine.
For Jayne, the lesson was not merely about looking confident on television. It was about developing a consistent identity that worked in every setting: in promos, in matches, in a faction, backstage, and eventually in a leadership role. Toxic Attraction’s original run may have ended, but its effect on Jayne’s career remains visible every time Fatal Influence appears with championship gold and Jayne takes command of the conversation.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.