Trivia / Rosa Mendes

• Career Resurrection: Attempted when joining Total Divas. It resulted in more TV time and matches, but didn't amount to anything.
• Creator Backlash:
  • She didn't like having to put on an accent early in her career, as she felt it didn't suit her. She did think that it worked better when she was with Primo & Epico, since they were actually Puerto Rican.
  • She disliked the 'storyline' where she was repeatedly seen backstage with a skipping rope. She had pitched it as a way to join LayCool, and the idea was that she would train to eventually become part of them. But because it never went anywhere, she just found it pointless. Furthermore, she also felt that winning a Slammy for it (for 'Best Use of Exercise Equipment') was degrading.
  • Mildly for an infamous botch at the 2010 Night of Champions PPV, where she went to punch Jillian Hall. According to her, Jillian suddenly said "don't hit me, not now" after she'd already thrown the punch. She even begged WWE to edit it out of any replays.
    "That was horrific."
  • A storyline on Total Divas involving her attempting to do a Wardrobe Malfunction on TV, which she found "really weird".
  • She's also embarrassed by the incident where she kissed Paige on the show. She said she was experiencing depression at the time, plus she was confused about her sexuality and thought she might be bi, but later realised she wasn't and she and Paige were Just Friends. She's joked that the two of them look ready to vomit right before the kiss.
• Dye Hard: She's known for changing her hair colour a lot.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Rosa was billed from Costa Rica when she was actually born in Canada and is only part Costa Rican. She even put on a bit of an accent while in WWE. This was dropped after she was added to the Total Divas cast.
  • She also portrayed Isabel Díaz, who is implied to be Hispanic-American, in the 2005 video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
• Friendship on the Set: She and Beth Phoenix were good friends from developmental, and that even resulted in her debuting as Beth's Loony Fan.
• God Never Said That:
  • A rumour hit the internet in the 2010s that she had an affair with Michael Hayes to keep her job, and his marriage was even affected by the story. She set the record straight in 2019, insisting he had always behaved professionally with her, and they were never together.
  • She also denied reports that she'd dated Batista. In his autobiography, he admitted to cheating on his wife, but Rosa denied that they had been together.
• Hostility on the Set: Admits that she hated working with A.J. Lee, but still respected her character and work ethic.
• Reality Subtext: In 2010 Lay-Cool mocked her for being out of shape, prompting Rosa to suddenly be seen with a jump rope everywhere. This echoes a story that circulated in 2009 where Rosa had been told to lose weight by management, and dropped it very quickly.
• Reclusive Artist: She considers herself retired from the wrestling business, and announced in 2022 that she would no longer make any public appearances, give any interviews or autograph memorabilia from her time there.
• Romance on the Set: She dated Steven Slocum, who was briefly on TV as Tyson Kidd's bodyguard Jackson Andrews.
• She Also Did: She also portrayed Isabel Díaz in the first Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
• What Could Have Been:
  • She didn't elaborate but in an interview with Ring the Belle, she stated that there was meant to be a payoff to her debuting attacking Melina in 2009 but it "fell through".
  • The promo she cut on Beth Phoenix right before the latter tore her ACL in a match was setting up a storyline that had to be scrapped thanks to the injury.