Alicia Taylor explains how she started ring announcing for WWE NXT
By: Austin Gonzales
SAGINAW – Last holiday season, WWE returned to the Dow Event Center for their jam-packed wrestling holiday tour. Hosting the event was none other than Saginaw’s own: Alicia Taylor. In an interview with the Delta Collegiate, she talked about her journey: from musical upstart in the tri-cities to ring announcing for WWE NXT every Tuesday night.
Taylor grew up in a household full of music of many genres. Her mother loved R&B. But it was Taylor’s uncle and his love for heavy hair metal music, along with his drum kit, that grabbed her attention. She fell in love with the drums and found herself practicing on them every day to craft her talent.
Taylor would practice her skills by playing with post-punk and metal bands. Fudge Gun was one of her favorite bands she collaborated with. Before graduating high school, she played in bars. Fudge Gun would help take her talents even further outside the state.
Taylor took a call from a band out in California, and before she knew it she was packed up and moving out to Los Angeles.
Taylor struggled in the nitty gritty world of Los Angeles. But one day, while working at a restaurant, she was offered to work with Kelly Osbourne. From there, Alicia would take her drumming skills to an international scale: The Tonight Show, Ellen, Today Show, tours in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Taylor kicked in the door for opportunities, and soon after she would perform with Miley Cyrus during her Hannah Montana era.
After starting a wrestling YouTube fan channel called Heavy Wrestle, WWE reached out to Alicia Taylor for a career opportunity. All Thanks to a good word from former WWE wrestler and Michigan talent, Rhyno.
In December 2018, Taylor became the new in-ring announcer for WWE’s weekly program, NXT. Since joining WWE, Taylor hosted nearly every event around the Saginaw area.
“Just a blessing to look out to the crowd and see my mom there,” Taylor said. “Be able to share that moment with my mom because she has been there through it all and has took me to every single wrestling event that came through Saginaw, whenever we had money or not.”
She does more than what WWE fans see on Tuesday nights. Along with ring announcing on NXT, she is also the Senior Manager of On-Air Announce Talent. On weekends, she hosts WWE Live events across the country.
Taylor found herself returning to the drums for WWE to cover the entrance songs for Biance Belair and Zoey Starks.
To hear more about Alicia Taylor and her heavy metal journey, check out Delta Collegiate’s official YouTube channel and watch the full video! You can see Taylor every Tuesday night on NXT on the USA Network.