Trivia / Summer Rae

• Actor Allusion: In an episode of Total Divas, Eva Marie says "you're not an NFL linebacker" - Summer had been a football player in the Lingerie Bowl prior to wrestling.
• Consolation Award:invoked According to the lady herself, once TMZ's report on Lana and Rusev's engagement led to their storyline being ended, the writers gave her the break-up segment as an apology. She was also allowed to improvise and write her own promo.
• Creator Backlash:
  • She disliked the "Rush of Power" entrance theme, although she admits it did fit the character.
  "All my fans are like 'it's such a bop' and I'm like 'it haunts my nightmares'..."
  • She wasn't too wild about her time as Fandango's dance partner, as she had no dance experience and neither did he. She also felt it ruined the pairing he had with Andrea Lynn, who was a professional dancer and had gotten over with the fans.
  • While proud of being the first female double segment on NXT, she says she cringed when she rewatched her first long match against Paige.
• Creator's Favorite: The storyline between her, Rusev, Lana and Dolph Ziggler was reportedly one of Vince McMahon's favorite on TV at the time.
• Dye Hard: Naturally blonde, but she became redhead in 2018.
• Friendship on the Set: Paige says that Summer was her Only Friend in FCW when she first started training there, and they're still good friends years later.
• I Am Not Spock: Jokes that she responds to 'Summer' more than 'Danielle'.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Her being Paige's Arch-Enemy on NXT. According to Paige, Summer Rae was her Only Friend when she first showed up at NXT.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: Has said that her favourite WWE moment was not a match - but the promo where she broke up with Rusev. The main reason was because she was allowed to write her own script.
• Playing Against Type: She was almost always a heel in the ring, but did get to be a face in some episodes on Superstars and Main Event. She also appeared as a face on the indies in a match against Ivelisse Vélez.
• Promoted Fanboy: Was a big WWE fan long before getting signed. After one incident where got to go backstage and meet some of the Superstars and Divas, she gave an interview saying "who wouldn't want to be a part of that?" She also claims that she tries not to hear the finishes of her fellow women's matches, because she wants to be surprised when she sees them.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • Her kayfabe relationship with Fandango was ended when she had to be Put on a Bus to film The Marine 4. Uniquely this also set up a return storyline for her; a feud with his new partner Layla.
  • Her introduction to Total Divas came about because cast member Jojo was Put on a Bus for unknown reasons. In her autobiography A.J. Lee claims she was asked to be Jojo's replacement. When she turned it down, Summer became the newest cast member.
  • The Rusev storyline was meant to go on much longer than it did, but it was ended when Lana and Rusev's real life engagement became public.
• Romance on the Set: Defied, as she has actively refused to date co-workers.
• Throw It In!:
  • The famous slap to Natalya on Total Divas was something she was told to do by the episode's director, but the slap stunned Natalya so much that she didn't know how to react, and Summer had to improvise walking away and then Nattie regained character and said "get off my property!", attempting to make it look like she was pushing her. She asked for a second take, but visibly flinched before getting slapped, so they went with the previous one and used editing to hide the delayed reaction.
  • At some points she can be seen mouthing along to her entrance music while walking to the ring, which was something she did unintentionally and didn't realise until it was pointed out to her.
  • For her breakup promo with Rusev, as it was in the famously smarky Chicago, the crowd were unexpectedly so vocal that they didn't play her music as she walked to the back.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In FCW she was first given the name 'Kylie Summers' (she had pitched 'Kyle', wanting a Tomboyish Name). Dusty Rhodes apparently hated it and insisted a better name be thought of. Summer was her idea, and he told her that the last name had to begin with the same letter Summer ended with. She pitched 'Ray' as a last name and they changed it to the 'Rae' spelling.
  • A leaked video from a promo class saw Summer Rae, Paige and a Diva who was never featured on TV called Anya (Russian kickboxer Anna Bogomazova) declaring that they would be a Distaff Counterpart to The Shield. This got fans excited for a potential storyline, but the women involved disproved the rumors - claiming it was just something for the class.
  • Summer's feud with Paige on NXT was initially meant for Raquel Diaz - who had got a massive Girliness Upgrade compared to FCW and had vignettes hyping her as the 'Ultra Diva' in contrast to Paige's 'Anti Diva' Red Baron. Raquel opted to leave WWE due to an ongoing eating disorder.
  • Before the honor went to Summer, reports said that Eve Torres was going to be the first Diva to star in The Marine series. Though those reports said that Eve would play a protagonist, while Summer played a supporting role to The Miz.
  • Summer apparently pitched to join Tyler Breeze and Fandango's alliance, given her storyline history with both of them.
  • For the Beautiful Fierce Females on NXT, the girls pitched ideas for them to behave like a proper sorority with t-shirts in Greek letters and hazing the other women on NXT. As Charlotte was Put on a Bus shortly after her heel turn, and Summer was soon called up to be Fandango's partner, the faction didn't get much chance to develop.
  • Summer claims that both A.J. Lee and Sasha Banks (post BFF days) pitched storylines to work with her - AJ in particular liked working with her - but nothing ever came of it.