Stephanie Vaquer nearly dropped Devil’s Kiss in WWE, Booker T kept it alive
Stephanie Vaquer considered changing her signature finisher shortly after joining WWE. She details how and what led to her rethinking the decision.
Vaquer told Chris Van Vliet on his Insight Podcast that she initially planned to ditch the Devil’s Kiss as her signature move. She particularly wanted a change to avoid opponents taking the move improperly.
“Before WWE, I did that move for a long time. And at one point, when I did that move before WWE, was a little different than now. When I signed with WWE, I think, ‘Okay, I want to stop doing that move for many reasons. I think sometimes people take that move different ways, and I don’t like that.’”
“In NXT one day, we were training, and I showed that move, and the coach is saying, ‘No, that’s good, people know that move and people like that move.’”
“I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, but I don’t know why I don’t like it anymore. I don’t want to do that move because I hate what people say, ‘It’s just because of that move,’ and people can’t sometimes understand that move.”
She cited Booker T hyping the move to spark fan’s interest made her reconsider the decision.
“I started to do it again, and I feel good because Booker T made that move that people love this move, so I’m starting to love this move again, because Booker T made me feel like that.”
“You know what? When I still go to NXT sometimes and watch the show, every Tuesday, when Booker T’s entrance people still say like ‘Booker T and Stephanie come back’. It’s amazing ‘cause people say my name and people say ‘ah, ah’ every time and after one year, I moved on from NXT after a year and people still remember that move, and this is for Booker T.”
Vaquer signed with WWE in 2024 and competed on NXT until May 2025. A few months later she won the vacated Women’s World Championship at Evolution.
This weekend, Vaquer will make her WrestleMania debut against Liv Morgan with her title at stake.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.