Exclusive: Nita Strauss Reveals When WWE Asked Her To Perform At NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver

Globally renowned guitarist Nita Strauss has revealed just how her involvement with WWE at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver came about.

Strauss is set to perform the American National Anthem on Wednesday evening to open Night One of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. The performer previously played at WrestleMania 34, playing a large role in Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance in his WWE Championship match, while also performing with Lzzy Hale at WWE Evolution.

Having seen her original song, 'Mariana Trench' chosen by Triple H as the official theme for NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Strauss will now be involved in a live capacity for NXT Takeover this week.

Speaking exclusively to Cultaholic's Tom Campbell for the latest episode of Desert Island Graps, Strauss revealed that the call from WWE to perform at the TakeOver came at the last minute.

She said: "I’m so excited. Just kind of like everything this last little while, it was all very last minute. Everything that we’ve done with WWE has been done at the last second, like ‘hey, do you want to come down and do this?’

"And my answer is always a resounding: ‘Hell yeah, of course I want to come down and do that!’ It’s a great time to hop in the car, take a nice little 12 hour drive down to Orlando, and play some guitar."

With the tight COVID-19 safety protocols in place around WWE and the Performance Center, Strauss has also offered some insight into how her involvement with this week's NXT event will play out from a coronavirus safety perspective.

"We’ll go off and test. They have really stringent testing protocols at the Performance Center, so we’ll go and do our COVID test, and then we’re essentially supposed to keep to ourselves until after the performance.

"Then, I’m going to WrestleMania as a fan. I’m not doing anything else, I’m not going backstage getting in anyone’s way. Josh and I will just be there, getting loud, and enjoying ourselves."

Check out Nita Strauss' full episode of Desert Island Graps, alongside Tom Campbell, now available here!