While Isabel was offered a contract and signed a lease for a new home in Orlando, Florida to start with NXT, at the last minute she backed out of the offer and decided not to move from Canada to the US and leave her family and powerlifting career behind.
Lahela took part in a WWE tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida back in September of 2016 that also featured Kimber Lee, Heidi Lovelace, Jessica James, and many others after being recommended to the company by Seth Rollins.
She trained at Superkick’d Wrestling in Toronto, Canada under the guidance of professional wrestlers Ashley Sixx and Kris Chambers and even made her in ring debut in a match for the company.