Candice LeRae, born Candice Dawson, is one of the most well-known female superstars of NXT. Billed from Anaheim, California, LeRae was trained by Bill Anderson, Jesse Hernandez, and TJ Perkins before making her way to the WWE Performance Center. She appears regularly on NXT and is considered one of the best in-ring performers of today’s generation, showing she can run with or surpass the male competitors.LeRae spent her first years wrestling in different independent promotions until making PWG her home from 2006 to 2016. She won the company’s tag titles as part of “The Worlds Cutest Tag Team” with Joey Ryan against The Young Bucks, and she challenged for the PWG World Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions.
After losing the tag titles, LeRae made her way to DDT Pro Wrestling as well as traveling the independent scene before signing with WWE in the spring of 2017. Upon her arrival, she competed in a number one contender’s match for the NXT Women’s Championship.
Although unsuccessful in her attempt, the loss didn’t stop her from working toward her chase for the title. She competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017, making it to the quarterfinals until being defeated by the runner-up, Shayna Baszler.Candice’s WWE career has just begun. I see her reigning in NXT as the Women’s Champion in the future. While being of a short stature, LeRae can definitely hold her own against the top people of the main roster. I’d love to see her work with Alexa Bliss. Or, if WWE wants to explore more inter-gender matches, they can definitely use her experience with being in the ring with the likes of Kevin Owens, Cedric Alexander, and Adam Cole.
LeRae is one superstar I can see (both male and female) that can truly lead the younger stars in the right direction and bring more professional wrestling to a world full of “Sports Entertainment.”