WWE NXT champ shares how she received 10-year volleyball ban after deciding to take chance on pro wrestling

WWE NXT women's North American champion Izzi Dame talks to Fox News Digital about her pro wrestling journey.

WWE NXT star Izzi Dame was spiking volleyballs into the faces of opponents just a few years ago before her meteoric rise as the women’s North American champion.

Dame, whose real name is Franki Strefling, played collegiate volleyball for the Eastern Michigan Eagles and played professionally overseas until 2022, when she officially joined WWE and embarked on her pro wrestling journey.

She talked to Busted Open Radio earlier this week about how she got her start in WWE, and expanded on her origin story in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.

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Izzi Dame makes her entrance during NXT at the WWE Performance Center on Aug. 13, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (WWE/WWE via Getty Images)

Dame said she was on a break from playing volleyball in Cyprus when she received a message that she thought was fake. But her decision ultimately had consequences for her career in that sport.

"So, I played collegiate volleyball and then after college, I went and played professionally in a little island called Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. I did a full year over there," she said. "I re-signed my contract to go back and play another year, but you do get three months of a summer break. So, the week after I touched back down in the States, I got what I thought was a scam WWE recruit message, like anyone would think because why would the WWE want anything with little old me playing in the middle of the Mediterranean? Like, come on.

"It ended up being real. They flew me out to Nashville. I got offered a contract and then I had to break my contract in Cyprus to be with the WWE. So they banned