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At only 27, Piper Niven has a huge future ahead of her and has already enjoyed global success. Niven has been wrestling since 2009 under the name Viper, and quickly started wrestling for Japanese Wonder Ring Stardom before becoming the inaugural ICW Women's Champion in her home country of Scotland.
As Piper Niven, Viper competed on the 2017 edition of the Mae Young Classic, defeating Santana Garrett and Serena Deeb before bowing out to finalist and new NXT UK Women's Champion Toni Storm - and now she's arrived in WWE herself, ready to make an impact!
So, what's next for Niven? We caught up with her ahead of the NXT UK Glasgow tapings to find out...
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Warning: Mild NXT UK spoilers ahead.
So, Piper, some wrestling fans might be more familiar from with your work in Japan, but you're no stranger to WWE, having appeared in the Mae Young Classic. Do you think that has have given you a nice basis to get your NXT UK career off to a flyer?
I think the Mae Young Classic helped me become established in WWE, but fans of WWE and fans of indie wrestling are two very separate entities. Fans of WWE who saw me in the Mae Young are like, "Oh, I recognise her, I like her stuff," and indie fans are like, "Go on, Viper!"
It's like you've got that nice, new, fresh appeal but the good stead of everyone knowing your stuff and having that familiarity of, "Oh, yeah, I remember her."
The best thing about that is that Piper sounds a lot like Viper, so the people who aren't so familiar with your past just think the WWE Universe is shouting, "Go on, Piper!"
(Piper laughs)
You've also been wrestling for a decade now, I believe. I don't mean to make you feel old as you're only 27! What's been the highlight so far?
Travelling with your best mate, and this being our hobby, so you're doing the thing you love the most with your best mate. It's honestly amazing.
We have tremendous achievement in actual wrestling, but I don't know if I'd actually consider those points to be my high points.
I remember just one day, me, Kay Lee Ray, Tegan Nox and Shayna Baszler were all in Japan sharing an apartment and we weren't doing anything special, just having a daft day and I just thought, "This is the best. I wouldn't change this for anything."
In the Mae Young Classic, you had a very impressive showing, only losing to current NXT UK Women's Champion Toni Storm...
Absolutely no shame in losing to Toni Storm!
Was it always just a matter of time before you ended up back in the WWE?
I think a lot of people think NXT is the pinnacle of wrestling and it is, everyone should want to be here, but when people start out, they think it's such an A to B thing! There's a whole world of wrestling out there to enjoy and it stood me in better stead to go out there and enjoy it, hone my craft better and build my own brand first.
All of that helped me grow up a bit and made me more ready.
Drew McIntyre is maybe the perfect example of that! You need the stuff before WWE to be a success when you get there. Speaking of Drew, there's a pretty large Scottish contingent in WWE these days - with Nikki Cross, Noam Dar, Kenny Williams, Isla Dawn, Kay Lee Ray and Wolfgang among others. Do you think that makes life easier for you, or does it make everything so much more competitive with the pressure?
I don't think there's any pressure. People are starting to notice the growth of Scottish Wrestling. Before it was like, people look at wrestling in different areas. They don't fob it off but people are starting to notice.
NXT UK spoiler coming up!
Last night, you wrestled Jamie Hayter, which was very impressive. How was it wrestling in a WWE ring in Glasgow?
It was the best feeling, Glasgow always does us proud and always give us the best reception but this was really special because I debuted on commentary and this was just my second match in NXT UK, and they made me feel not nervous. My name came up on the screen and the roar gave me the biggest rush of adrenaline!
Kay Lee Ray: You could actually tell you were excited because you would do a... (Kay Lee sticks her hands out.)
There was a wee bit, I don't know if you noticed and I've not told her. One thing that a few people were like, "Weeeeey!" to me for was my match with Nia Jax in 2015. I came out and did a weird thing with my hands. People asked why and I said, "Because I was really, really nervous!" That's what I seen last night, not nervous but an excited nervous. That's what I was and I seen that in you! You came out and went, "Eeeeeeeeeeh!"
I can't wait to watch that back! You've worked with Toni Storm already, but who would be your dream opponent in WWE?
The Man! It's got to be The Man! It's funny because when I started out wrestling here, she was kind of just getting ready to pack up and move on, and I thought, "I'd really love a match with her!"
It's funny that, given all this time away, it could slowly be becoming a possibility. That's my pick!
We saw you confront Rhea Ripley on your NXT UK debut. What an incredible encounter that promises to be - but there are rumours that Rhea is now out injured. Are you still preparing to face off against her or have you set your sights elsewhere?
I'm not going anywhere. I'm fairly certain this position I have here will keep me here a while, so whenever she's ready, I'm ready to continue that conversation.
Not counting NXT UK, if you had to go to RAW, SmackDown or NXT, what brand would you choose and why?
I'm going to do a complete swerve and say, "205 Live!" I might need to cut a wee bit of weight but I'm sure I could make it! I'll just show up on 205 Live, like, "Awrite, lads?"
A random one. It doesn't matter who your opponent is - you can choose one stipulation for a match, what would it be?
Anything that doesn't have a ladder. I like to think I'm quite brave and fearless, just don't give me a ladder.
Finally, I have one final, super controversial question to ask you, and I'm sorry if it causes any offence...
Pineapple on pizza, yea or nay?
This is the answer! (She points at Kay Lee Ray)
Pineapple goes with pork, end of story. (She drops pen emphatically)
(Everyone laughs)
Piper: You're depriving your tastebuds!
Thanks to WWE and Piper Niven. You can catch Piper in action on NXT UK every Wednesday on the WWE Network or follow her on Twitter here.
You can also catch more of Piper in Kay Lee Ray's interview here.
