Ace Steel Knew Tiffany Stratton Was Special From Time At WWE Performance Center

New "NXT" Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton has only been with the company a short while, but at least one former coach could see what she had to offer early on. Former WWE coach and current AEW producer Ace Steel popped up on Fightful's Wrestling Perspective podcast and discussed a few of the standouts from his time working with "NXT."

"Tiffany Stratton, when she came in, was like a CrossFit athlete, maybe?" Steel said. "I don't remember the background exactly, but I knew that. And I knew right away. I looked at her, I'm like 'If they don't hire this girl, what the hell are they looking for?"

At "NXT" Battleground last month, Stratton defeated Lyra Valkyria to claim the vacant championship, knocking off former champions Roxanne Perez and Gigi Dolan along the way. Given her background as a bodybuilder and gymnast though, Steel realized there was plenty to work with. All she ultimately needed to do was round out her character.

"Tiffany Stratton, for one, could do anything physically," he continued. "It's just putting her mind to it, to the character. And look what she's done just brilliantly ... She's got the character down, and that's stuff you can't teach."

The new champ is hoping to bring a little more success to her title reign than her two most recent predecessors. While Perez eclipsed the 100-day mark when she held the belt, Indi Hartwell only served as titleholder for 31 days before being drafted to "WWE Raw" as one of the main roster call-ups.