Ex-WWE star Peyton Royce blames herself for IIconics split after telling Vince McMahon she wanted to go solo

Fans and fellow wrestlers were gutted about the breakup (Photo: WWE)

Peyton Royce has revealed she blames herself for WWE deciding to break up the IIconics.

The AGE-year-old star, who is now going by the name Cassie Lee since being released from the company earlier this year, teamed with lifelong friend Billie Kay (Jessica McKay) from 2015 until their split in 2020 and the decision was heavily slated by fans at the time with many putting the blame on WWE’s creative team.

However, Cassie has now told the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast: ‘So I have never told anyone this and I hope Jess isn’t upset with me for saying this, but I wanted to go singles.

‘There was just things I wanted to tick off of my bucket list as a singles competitor. I vocalised that to Jess in January last year. I didn’t do anything about it, I just told her where I was at, I didn’t try and get us broken up or something like that.

‘It was during the PC era and Jess was out for a week, I had this random singles match, I don’t even remember who it was against. Vince loved it, he said to me “You’re so good, what are we doing?”

‘I just said to him, “Look. If it is possible in future plans, I’m not saying right now, but in the future I would like to see what I can do on my own.”

‘I am so comfortable with Jess, we can conquer the world together. But I wanted to see what I can do for myself.’

The decision was an unpopular one, with former Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley admitting she was heartbroken by the split, and Cassie has claimed it may have been the ‘worst decision’ she’s ever made.

‘So many people were like ‘Why did they break you up? It was so stupid.’ I’m like I feel like it’s my fault,’ she said. ‘Because I wanted to push myself and see what I was capable of. But that might of been the worst decision that I made, because nothing ever happened.’

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A singles push for Cassie didn’t materialise, and in April this year both the IIconics – who now co-host the Off Her Chops podcast together – were released from WWE.

‘Being let go really broke my heart, and for a long while it kind of took my love. It stole my love of wrestling. And I would love to get that back and not move on with my life with this bitter feeling about wrestling,’ she admitted.

‘I still get emotional about it. But I know one day I will get over those circumstances and not let it affect me like it does now.’

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