WWE SmackDown star Lash Legend revealed that death threats she received during her college basketball career changed the way she dealt with social media years before she joined the Stamford-based promotion. The former basketball player explained that one missed game-winning shot was enough to turn fans against her despite having an otherwise strong performance.
Speaking to Stephanie McMahon on “What’s Your Story?,” Legend recalled finishing one game with a double-double while also pointing out that she still holds the NCAA rebounding record. However, missing a potential game-winning shot completely changed the reaction she received online, with some fans taking their anger far beyond ordinary criticism.
“Since basketball, at least for me, I’ve always had my social media, like none of my notifications come to my phone… I had a double-double. I did a lot of great things. Okay? Okay? I still got the rebounding record at NCAA. I was good, but I did miss a game winner. Oh, those fans turn on you so quick. Ooh. Death threats. Like, it was crazy. So that’s really what made me, whoa. Yeah. They, they were crazy.”
The experience was enough for Lash Legend to change how she used her phone. Rather than opening herself up to every reaction immediately, she turned off her notifications and kept them that way for years.
“From that point on, I said, ‘Oh no, I’m not dealing with this.’ So I turned off all my notifications. So it has been off for years… Almost a decade.”
That decision later affected how the 29-year-old star experienced the beginning of her WWE career. After her first few NXT matches, she noticed that she was trending regularly and initially assumed the attention meant fans were impressed with her work. Because she was not seeing the notifications, she did not immediately realize that some of the discussion was criticism.
“So I thought like my first couple matches I did so good. I was like, ‘Oh, I killed.’ Yeah. And so I was trending for weeks, but it wasn’t for positive things. Right. And I thought, like, I was like, ‘Oh, they love me.’ But I truly come to find out after the fact, I was like, ‘Oh, they was talking a lot of (expletive) about me.’ But I didn’t really realize it. I just thought I was popping so much.”
Legend now believes keeping notifications off is an easy way to prevent social media from taking over your day. She acknowledged that people can still check their accounts whenever they want, but argued that constantly receiving alerts only encourages more scrolling and makes every reaction feel more important than it needs to be.
“Turn the notification off. What, what do you need it for? Like, you’re just… and then social media is already so addicting. You catch yourself just doom scrolling anyway. But if you really get those notifications every single time, you’re picking up your phone every time. Like, ‘Oh my gosh, this person’s crazy. Said this, this person said this.’ Like, no, no, no, no, no… Turn off the notifications off your phone. When you get, when you open the app, you can do whatever. But yeah. At least limit yourself.”
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Lash Legend Earns Money in the Bank Opportunity
Legend’s WWE career had continued to move forward while she kept that distance from social media reactions. After establishing herself alongside Nia Jax in The Irresistible Forces and winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, she turned her attention toward making an impact as a singles competitor.
That opportunity arrived on the September 25 episode of SmackDown. Legend defeated Charlotte Flair and Giulia in a Triple Threat qualifier to earn a place in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, giving her a chance to secure the briefcase on October 10 in New Orleans.
The win also came with a wave of online reaction, particularly from fans who wanted Giulia to advance. Legend, however, had already learned years ago that she could not allow every reaction on social media to dictate how she viewed herself or her career.
Her approach was shaped by an experience far more serious than ordinary wrestling criticism. After dealing with death threats during her basketball career, Lash Legend chose to control when she engaged with social media instead of allowing the notifications to control her.
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