Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Victoria on how Chyna convinced her to become a wrestler, retirement, working for WWE & TNA

Episode Date: December 17, 2020

Lisa Marie Varon (fka Victoria in WWE and Tara in TNA) sits down with Chris Van Vliet for an in-person interview in Los Angeles, CA. She talks about growing up in California and being a cheerleader and fitness competitor, becoming roommates with Torrie Wilson , how a chance meeting with Chyna at a gym lead her to tryout for WWE, going to UPW wrestling school with John Cena, debuting on WWE as one of The Godfather's hos, winning the WWE Women's Championship, asking for her release from WWE and then signing with TNA, her decision to retire 30 minutes before her final match and much more!   Support the show by supporting our sponsors:  INDEED- Try it today with a $75 credit to boost your job post by going to http://indeed.com/BlueWire BETONLINE- Get a FREE welcome bonus by using the promo code BLUEWIRE at http://betonline.ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Ladies and gentlemen, Chris. Well, thank you for joining us on another audio adventure here on the Chris Van Bleet Show, wherever you are and however you're listening. This episode is brought to you by Bet Online and indeed. and in-person interviews are very rare right now. Well, in-person, anything is very rare right now. So it was such a pleasure to have Victoria, aka Tara in TNA, aka Lisa Marie Varen, that's a real name, in my house for this interview.

And she is such a great storyteller. And I know you're going to love this. If you do love it, snap a screenshot, tag us on social media so we can say, Hello, I'm Agris Van Vleet. She is at Real Lisa Marie. And if it's your first time here, don't forget to subscribe

on whatever platform it is that you're listening on right now. And if that platform happens to be Apple Podcasts, well, since they're the only ones that have reviews, if you could take a few seconds out of your day right now to rate and review the show, that'd be so, so helpful. And I will read one out on every single episode

until we get to the goal of 2,000 reviews. And we're getting, man, we're getting a lot closer. We bumped it up big time last week, like a few hundred new reviews last week, so thank you. We're now at 1528, and the goal is 2000, so we'll just read one out until we get to 2000. Liberty Warrior 84 says, I would give CVV seven stars, but I'm not Dave Meltzer, and this isn't Japan. Love the CVV show, listen to it almost daily. I'm a business owner, and most of my time is spent in the car driving. Chris and friends, provide entertainment, insight, and so many amazing stories. Thanks, bro. Well, thank you, Liberty Warrior 84.

It's just so very much appreciated that you took the time out to leave this review. And I just appreciate that even if you haven't ever left a review, thank you. Thank you for listening to the show. I'm so incredibly grateful that you're on this ride with me as the show continues to grow every single week. And if you're listening to this now, you're one of the OGs. This is episode number 150, which is like a just a blip. You know, when you look at these shows that have thousands of episodes, but a lot of you guys have been here since episode one. So, thank you. Thank you so much. So she goes by a lot of names. But Lisa Marie Varen is such a sweet, sweet person, no matter what you call her. We talk about how Tori Wilson and China convinced

her to become a wrestler. We talk about how she went to wrestling school with John C.N. and she debuted as one of the godfather's hoes. We're talking about how she went on to win the WWE Women's Championship just four months after she debuted as Victoria. We talk about why she decided to leave WWE and then sign with TNA and then how she got fired from TNA. She tells that story. It's a very interesting story.

And then she tells me how she decided to retire just 30 minutes before her final match. We talk about all that and much more so. Please welcome, Lisa Marie Varen. Well, welcome. Thank you, Chris. It's so nice to do an interview in person. I know.

I like that. You were like going, we can do it over the phone or I was like, no, I want to drive down and do it in person. I think it's the intimacy. It's like it's lacking over the computer. Don't you find it? And as great as Zoom is, and I love that it's afforded us the ability to be able to do these interviews, you know, across the world. You do your podcast with Val, who lives in England. Yeah, so she's eight hours ahead.

So she's like 11 o'clock at night. We're starting our interviews. Yeah. Nuts. But so Zoom is. But today was early for you. So Zoom is great for that type of stuff. But also like even if there's just a half second delay, it's not like this.

It's a face-to-face conversation. I agree. I agree. Yeah, I miss that. That's what I miss about Comic-Con. It's like having that face-face communication. Yeah. And like going, oh my God, and giving someone a hug, that kind of thing.

They don't expect you. Yeah. As me being a heel, my whole career, they're not used to me being so friendly. Yeah. They're like, they're scared to meet me. And I'm like, no, I'm just a normal person. That's so funny. I'm so normal, you guys.

I go, no, I go, I'm so glad to meet you guys, you know? You keep me in business. Do you see, like, the lines for the baby faces way longer than the lines for the heels? Okay, I have an interesting story. Okay. So, ODB was a heel, and I was a baby face. I like being a heel, but I guess I was new to TNA. So I, when we're out to dinner, I go, okay, it's on me.

I go, I'll pay for the hotel. And she's like, why? And I go, I did an extra signing after the show and during intermission. So I made more money than you did. And she's like, no one has ever done that, ever. And I'm like, well, that's a shame. Because I did two signings and I got paid extra. Yeah.

And you're getting paid the same. That's so kind of you. I think it's, yeah. Wow. I'm shocked that other people didn't do that. Yeah, but look. Shameful. I understand it, though.

People are going, oh, the money's in my pocket already. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, the heels taken most of the bumps. Right? And so you're like, okay, thank you for letting me win the match. You know what I mean?

That kind of thing. I am noticing this in the background. Yeah, yeah. It's bothered me too. This is how I know you're a wrestler. You have a fanny pack. I have a fanny pack. I thought only the guys have.

At it? Nope. I have a fanny pack. No. And if you guys go on our God TV on YouTube, God TV show, we have a God TV fanny pack. I haven't ordered it yet. I need to order it. Well, I'll link that below in the description. Yes. It's on Teespring. So if you're subscribed to this, you should also subscribe to God TV because the most recent guest on God TV. Is this guy? Is this guy? Is this guy? You're wearing very ridiculous pajamas too. Yes. Thank you for that. And drinking wine. Yeah. So up until this year, I'd never done an interview with any sort of alcohol or anything like that. And then I did talk and shop with, you know, Mishinga and Carl Anderson, Doc Gallo's, Rocky Romero. Yeah. And they're like, bring your favorite drink. Okay. I had to go shopping. Did you say that?

No, I mean, I have all kinds of alcohol behind us here. But I'm like, I'm like, I'm going to do this interview and like progressively get more drunk. And I did. Yeah. I drank Tito's lime, like water with lime. I think it's just like, okay, for our show, it's like, we're grown-ass women, just talking nonsense is one of, it's our, what we describe it as. You're, we're in our pajamas at our house and we drink wine and we just shoot the shit. Excuse my language. Please. Yeah, okay. And so we just talk whatever we want to talk about.

And it's like, you know, the fans get to see, like, be a fly on the wall and see what we discuss. Yeah. You know what I mean? See the real us. Yeah. You guys have so much fun on your show. Oh, we do. And for those of you that don't know, it's Mickey James, it's Lisa, and it's SoCalvow.

That's it. Yeah. And So Calvall is eight hours ahead. So, yeah. So she's already like probably four glasses of wine in. And Mickey and I are just catching up. We're like when maybe we should have a glass of wine to catch up with Val on the show. You know what I mean? This is a Sailor Moon hair? Are you a Sailor Moon fan? I am. I'm a nerd. I'm a comic book nerd. Like a lot of people don't know that. I'm a Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Attack on Titan. I'm anime person. I need to know. Star Wars, Mandalorian. Oh, I saw the face there. I need to know who your favorite Ninja Turtle is. And then I want to judge you. Okay. Cool. Good. Yeah. And what's yours? Either Raff or Michelangelo. Okay. Yeah. When someone's like, it's Donatello. I'm like, it's

don't know. I'm like, it's hell. Yeah. It's Donatello? Yeah. Really. Yeah. I have earrings, Ninja Turtle earrings and transform. Yeah. I'm like, I'm like, people are shocked. That's why I like Comic-Con. Yeah. A lot of people are like, wow, you're really inexpensive to hire for Comic-Con. And I go, but you don't get it. I enjoy the comic-cons. I want to go row by row. And, you know, I'm there to make money. So I try to save money. But if I see something, you know, like I'll bring back a baseball cap or something like that, you know, very small. I just, you know, but I like my, my t-shirts and my baseball caps. Do you get excited for any of the other stars that are there? I do. Okay. Jason Mamoa. I got a picture with.

Oh, my goodness. Because there's, like, at some Comic-Con, there's... Princess Tide. Okay. I mean, Princess Bride. Yeah. I forgot his name. Aldo Montoya?

No, the guy, I, no, I wish. Inconceivable. The only one I can think of is Andre the Giant. Okay, of course, because you're a wrestling fan, and then you grew up wrestling. Yeah. I do mark out a lot over certain celebrities, but it takes a lot for me to mark out. It has to be like an old school kind of movie that I was into. Nothing new too much.

Jason Momoa, of course. Well, he's a very handsome man. Very. But, you know, going through that line because his line. How much? You don't even get to talk. It's like almost like a WWE. I know.

I know. His guarantee is pretty great. But it's just like, you know, when you go to WWE, like in WrestleMania, they're like, they just chew you along. You don't even say, hey, what, you know, hey, buddy, how you doing? What was your favorite match? you don't even be, that's how his line was. You get to go, hey, I'm a big fan, okay.

It was so quick. But he gets a guarantee. He has to go through that line so that Comic Con makes their money back for him being there. Right. Instead of going, I didn't get through my line. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Yeah. But it's crazy. Well, fingers crossed, there's Comic-Con's next year. I know. I hope so, too. I hope so. I do.

I do. Our San Diego one's pretty big, but it's... It's pretty big. I guess the biggest one ever. But it's so crowded. it's really hard to go down the aisles and appreciate all the booths because you're stepping on people's cosplay outfits and stuff like that. And you're just like, excuse me.

And then like me, I'm still, I wear my wrestling gear when I do signings. You do? Yeah, I do. Who wants to meet Lisa? They want to meet Victoria or Tara. You know what I mean? I think it's part of the. Who do they want to meet more?

Victoria. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. My longest, it was a longer career. And I think they liked the heel character more. and the psycho kind of chick. You know what I mean?

But going down, of course, I'm like, oh, let me take a break. And people are like, hey, Victoria, can I take a picture? And you don't want to ever say no. So you're like, I only got down two aisles. Let's just go back to my booth because they're not making money back from me. You know what I mean? I better go sit down where I'm supposed to be. Yeah.

But, yeah. So we're not far from where you grew up. We're in Studio City right now where I live, basically Los Angeles. Yeah. But you grew up in San Bernardino, which is not like maybe a little bit over. an hour from here. Yep, Inland Empire. I'm a 909er. I'm San Bernardino. Went to high school in Rialto and junior high in elementary school. And later, like in life after my divorce, I moved in with Tori Wilson in West Hollywood. She now lives in Florida. You and Tori Wilson were roommates.

We were roommates. Okay. Tell us something about living with Tori Wilson that we might not guess. she is super into energy and crystals and you know all that what's that kind of lifestyle called is there a term is that like Reiki like Reiki healing? Like well just into crystal

like I'm very much of a spaz and I'm like ADHD and I'm just like I'm a very high strong person and she was like Lisa Lisa your energy is coming off it's just too much just too much. You need to calm down. You need to learn how to meditate. And ADHD girl to meditate or

take yoga is not in my. Have you ever tried it? I tried. I couldn't. I was so distracted by looking at people and I'm super competitive. So I'm like going, how is this girl out of shape? And I'm an athlete getting that pose and I can't even balance on one leg. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it ticked me off. Yeah. But yoga's like this internal struggle of like, I need to get myself to that next. I've done a handful of yoga. you. Yeah. Mickey just sent me 10 YouTube or apps to do yoga for 10

minutes. She goes, I'm sending you 10 minute meditation. That's what you need. Yeah. Because a little bit more than that. Well, meditation, I think, is different from yoga, but I think it...

And she did send me yoga stuff. It could help you. Yeah, it could. It just, I need to, I need to make the effort to do it. When she sent me all these 10, like, these 10 links, and I was like, ooh, this is a lot. I was like a little overwhelmed.

I'm like going, oh, my, I need a lot of work. You know what I mean? But she's like also, Mickey James is also like an energy person. Like she can't be around spazzy people. And I'm one of those people super high energy. And you're exhausted after being with me. Now, I'm feeding off your energy. Are you?

I'm liking this. Good. Yeah. Then you must be ADHD too. No, no. I don't know. I adapt. I feel like I adapt to what it's going on here.

Yeah. Yeah. That's a good interviewer. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my goodness. So if you grew up about an hour from here, who was Lisa growing up?

Oh, my God. I was a kid that I was bouncing off furniture, like just not, like, ADD and ADHD was not a thing when I grew up. They just thought you're a spazzy kid. Like, oh, she just has a lot of energy. Let's put her in sports, that kind of thing. And I adapted to that. And super competitive, everything I did. I remember playing t-ball.

This is the interest story. I never told this on an interview. You, T-ball. My dad was in the audience, the bleachers. And to hear your dad cheer for you, you know what I mean? T-ball. So you're like seven years old. I pushed somebody aside, I think six, is it six years old?

Yeah, five, six years old. Push somebody to catch a fly ball on my own team to hear my dad going, yeah, that's my daughter, daughter. And then I come back and the coach is like, what are you doing? That's your teammate. They have that spot right there. And I'm like, I was super, super competitive. Yeah.

Which led into, I mean, we're going to fast forward a little bit here, but you got into competitive bodybuilding and fitness modeling. Yeah. It was one bodybuilding competition and it was a middleweight and I won that and I saw fitness competition on TV and I was like, oh, gymnastics. I was gymnast, cheerleading. Oh, that's right at my alley. Yeah.

Dance routine. I did dance as a kid. I was like, that's, I got to do that. And that's how I met Tori. We competed in fitness together. And with the same sponsor. And so we had a team, Team O2 was a water that had oxygenated drips, like the drops in it and stuff like that. And her and I were roommates.

And it was Miss Galaxy. We were competing. And that's how our friendship began. Well before wrestling. Way before wrestling. And then she got to WCW and brought me backstage. And I'm like, what the hell are you? What is it?

You're escorting a guy to the ring? You get paid for that? Because you're hot and you're like, you know, like shredded and like that kind of. She was beautiful. I mean, just stunning. Like in person, like pictures don't do her justice when you meet her. Yeah. She's so sweet.

She's just a 10, you know what I mean? And so she's like, she tried to get me into WCW and that was going down. They weren't hiring anybody. And that's when they're. Were you interested? When I saw that, that was what piqued my interest. I was like, you get paid what, you know, for this, you know? And then so I could do that.

Yeah. And I saw, I met China at Crunch Gym in West Hollywood. would. Was China living here? No. They were in town for either a photo shoot or maybe she, I don't even know if she lived here. Marina Del Rey, but she might have lived there at the time, but I didn't know this. And they charged her to come into the gym and I gave her a stack of guest passes.

And I say, hey, I know they charged you here. Crunch Gym, there's a lot of celebrities there. So they're like, I don't care who it is. They had the pay to come in. And so I gave her a stack and we took a hip hop class together. And I was like, hey, I have a couple friends that are. In the business that I know, Trish Stratis and Tori Wilson, she goes, oh, are you a wrestler? You have a really good look for it.

And I go, you know, I think I can do what Rob Van Dam does and Mysterio, Re Mysterio, because gymnastics and a flyer and that kind of stuff. And she goes, you have a really good look for it. And she goes, and I go, well, how would I, who would I send my stuff to? She wrote down the address, which was just the corporate. It was the one Connecticut. Okay. That's it. Sent my stuff in.

You had a video made. I paid $600. for this VHS to be made. Like transition. Like I started it, boom. Lisa Marie, Varon. Like, it was like music and all that kind of stuff and showed my competitions and me doing news, like demonstrating exercises and stuff like that.

And I got a call back from Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly. And they said, we never seen a video so professionally done and a package sent like this. And I was like, you know, living L.A., you kind of. Yeah. You have the tools. Sure. knows editing someone eight by tens or you know what i mean and photo shoots and stuff like that and my fitness modeling not fitness competitions we always did shoots for you know muscle mag and all that kind of

stuff so i sent my stuff and then they're like we want to meet you in 30 days and i say well what do you see me doing i'm obviously not a troy wilson or a tristratus i'm a bigger bigger girl they say we see you wrestling so i googled pro wrestling school and upw came up wow and then i said hey i called them I said, WWF is wanting to meet me and you don't need to learn how to wrestle in 30 days, which I didn't know. I thought it was a routine. Yeah, sure. Five, six, seven, eight.

Okay, here, you go to the corner. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I didn't think in a million years that I would be doing that for 20 years. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Well, this is the 90s that you're talking about where we all have a phone in a pocket. 99.

Okay. So we all have a video camera in our pocket now. Yeah. If someone says make a video, you just go, yeah, sure. there you go and start to make a video. I think a lot of people would go, oh, I would have made a video for that wrestling thing. But I don't own a camera.

I don't own a camera. $600 is what they quoted me. Yeah, I didn't know it was $600. How much did you think it was going to be? I thought $90 or something or $100. But then when I took all my stuff in, they were like, oh, how many, how many, oh, okay, that's like 20 clips that we need to edit and transition in the music.

and then like the sound effects. I had sound effects and everything. I actually thought about this morning. I wanted to reach out to Jim Ross about I want to get my tryout video. I want people to see my tryout video. Yeah. I was super jacked back then. I don't, when I look at myself back then, I didn't, it's too muscular for me.

At the time I thought it was cool. But when I look back, I'm like, oh, I was so manly. But that's probably what got you hired, though. I think so. You know, not so jacked, but still a little, you know, with the feminine side. and also bikini shoots and stuff like that, the sexiness and stuff like that, that's part of it. But I would, my parents were like,

what about med school? I thought you're going to med school. And I go, you know, three months, let me burn out. I don't, I'll get bored and I'll go back. Was your plan to be a medical doctor? Yeah, pediatrics or dermatology. But after going to college, I went to UCLA, and then I went to Loma Linda University.

and I was a private university. And my second quarter of Loma Linda was working on cadavers. Wow. It's private school. And so everybody that went to that school, there's seventh day at Venice. I'm not seventh day at Venice. Dentists, nursing, dietitian, doc, medical, biology, pharmacy. It was just strictly that.

And so when I transferred to UCLA, there was no cadavers. And I was like, when do I get to work on cadavers? They're like, oh, that's not until med school. And I go, my parents just spent a fortune on this school. And I just, oh, my God, because I didn't fit in. I wasn't 70thay at Venice. And just, I was, I was lonely. And you have to live on campus there for two years, even though you live 15 minutes away.

So that, going that school, though, after taking a break from school from UCLA, I got a job at Los, not Las Sierra. It was Redlands. It was eye and tissue bank. Okay? It was in Redlands. It was affiliated with Loma Linda. And so I used to remove cornea's heart,

saffinous vein, bone, and middle ear for transplantation. Wow. I know. And then that's when I decided I don't want to go to med school. This was fulfilling. I was on call three days a week with a beeper, with the brick phone. Wow.

And then the other days I was in the office going to the, you know, going to the coroner's office and like looking at bodies and seeing if they're suitable for donation. and stuff like that, calling the family, asking, and then having to go over their white blood cell accounts to see what diseases they have that are not suitable for donation, stuff like that. So be a donor, you guys.

Let your next of kin know, not just your driver's license that doesn't give you permission to donate. You have to let your next, because I have to call the next to kin. Like, if I had a daughter, they have to call me and say, you know, she put this on her driver's license. Yeah. I want to ask you if it's okay. And then they would say,

Yes. And this is within 10 hours of death. Oh, geez. What a difficult conversation. It was so hard. There was a room. Just white walls. You can stand and like get out. That's it. It was like a closet, like a janitor's closet. But there's nothing on the walls, nothing. You have your little sheet down here. I'm so sorry to call you at this time. I'm going to let you think about it. And, you know, we're from the I and Tissue Bank, would you be interested in, you know, donation, that kind of thing. And so we have, and that, yes, I'll call you back in 10 minutes so you can talk about with your family.

And then we go down the list. I need to know what her medical background is. I know. And you're not ready for that. But it was so rewarding because you get cards going, I'm so glad, you know, her corneas were used for someone can see again. You know, it was so rewarding. That's why I was like, I didn't want to go to medical school, not for four years, you know, and I'm doing already what I love is helping people. Yeah.

Crazy. So if it wasn't for this. And I got to dig. Okay. And then when cutting through the body fat, and all that stuff. I was like, oh, my gosh, my family doesn't have a healthy background. And is this my future?

I got addicted to working out. Wow. Then I was super addicted. Yeah. Like, yeah, I did just aerobics. And then I started lifting. And my body changed from lifting. I started getting really lean and like cut and stuff like that.

I was like, oh, whoa. And then I competed. And then from competing met Tori, wrestling happened. Wow. So would you say it was. because you met Tori that wrestling happened, or was it the chance encounter with China that really set it in motion? Both, because I wouldn't have pursued it.

If I didn't meet Tori and went backstage and I saw China, I would just like, oh, China's in here. You know, that's it. And I wouldn't approach her and said, I had a couple friends. I think I might, like it a little bit in my back of my head. I think I can do some of the stuff the guys do. You know, and that's, yeah.

Who did you? When you were backstage at WCW, who did you say? Kevin Nash Scott Hall Eric Bischoff oh my goodness and don't forget I didn't grow up as a wrestling fan

so I knew I didn't know anything you're just like Billy Kidman Billy Kimman Billy Kimmy that's it that's it

and I was like people were looking at me like you know because I'm fitness chick right? Yeah what's she doing here is she applying for a job

and then my first gig is you know going to the locker room with Tori, and then Eric Bischoff, I think was Eric Bischoff that came up to me, hey, do you have any sexy clothes, which I thought I looked cute, but it would not sexy enough. And one of the, not fly girls, Nitro girls gave me an outfit, and I sat on Scott Hall's lap, twirling him, that long curly thing, and I had no idea who Scott Hall was. And I was just with the entourage with the girls.

And that was my, I didn't get paid for it. I just was like, okay, I'm here anyways, watching Tori. and did that. And I was like, I can't believe people to get paid for the, are you kidding me? What?

What? You know what I mean? I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that it's a TV show. I think that, you know, I think from the outside looking at a lot of people think that it's like going

to a sporting event. And when you're backseat, you go, no, no, no, no, it's a TV show. Here's the script. And this is what we're going to be doing. Right, right. And it's like,

when you meet these people backstage, they're completely opposite than what you expect them to be out, right? Yeah. Like the ones that are really high strung out there and just really loud and like amped up and you meet them and they're super mellow. You're like, oh, it's almost a disappointment, right?

You're like, oh. Yeah. You know? And I think learning from that, like when I go to Comic-Con, I don't want, I don't take a break. I might walk around and look at the booths and stuff like that. But you have to be on. I don't want this kid to go.

Oh, God, she was so boring. That's not the character I met on TV. So you kind of go in and out of character a little bit. You know, you know the adults know it's, you're a character. Yeah. You know, and you're just friendly. But when the kids come around, you're like, you're so nice. And I'm like, well, if Trish Stratus was here, you wouldn't see the nice side of me.

You know what I mean? You don't want to burst Santa's fake. Yeah. You don't want, you know? Yeah. So it's, it. Ask my boyfriend, David, like when I come home, I'm like, no talking. I'll sleep for two days

because you're on. You need to like decompress. You need, yeah, re-energize. This is where you should meditate. I know. I know. I know. I thought sleeping was meditating, though.

Good Lord, or a massage or getting adjusted by the chiropractor. Oh, man, I got adjusted by a chiropractor right here a few months ago. It was violent. Was it? I'll show you the video after. I want to see it. It was something else.

On the floor? Did he have a table? He had a table, but it was very loud and, oh, really? Painful. But a great, you know, when it was done, I was like, oh. Yeah, I haven't. Great. So when you went down to UPW, tell me about this character that you created that.

No, I did create it. Okay. Tell me about the character that you were. No, they were like going, oh, you know, we have a show. I forgot what the arena was called. I remember meaning Chavo there. And I didn't know it was Chavo. I was, you know, I was so new.

John Sina was there. He was the prototype, yeah. Yeah, prototype. Casarian, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Jerry Lynn. These are like big names there, you know? And so, T.J. Perkins, you know, like a lot of big names came out of that school. And, oh, my God. They were like, oh, we have a show. We were going to have you as a, you know, dressed like Stacey Keebler with the studio, you know, the glasses and the black skirt and stuff like that. And I was called Head Bitch in Charge. And so my first bump was.

taking the hard way in over the top rope, which is when they grab you, toss you in. And of course, I was like, oh, I can do that because I'm a gymnast, right? I can swing myself up. You don't even have to toss me. I'll do it myself. And that was my first bump. And Bruce Pritchard used to come down to the UPW and look at all the talent. And it was a talent search, you know what I mean?

Sure. Yeah. And so Godfather, Ho was looking for two permanent hoes. And me and this fellow girl got her foot in the door. and she didn't want to be a wrestler. I did. I was training on my day's home. You know, I was like,

oh, I don't want to just be a sidekick. I want to do what that guy's doing. That's so, I can do that. I don't want to be, save the hose, save a hose, even though it was fun. It was easy gig. Yeah. But most of the other hose were strippers.

They were strippers. That's why he wanted permanent hose because, say they would go scout strip clubs and bring the girls in. Which is so, sometimes they're not. So crazy to say out loud. I know, I know. I know. And just like, some of them are not, you know, it's a Sunday, you know,

two o'clock in the afternoon. I don't know what strippers you're going to get on that. You know, they are hazy on the eyes, you know, as a family guy, as Stewie would say, with a C-section. Do you ever remember that episode? Okay. And so. I guess it depends on which city you're in.

I get, yeah. If you're in Vegas or Miami, you probably got all kinds of people. Absolutely, right? The gorgeous ones. And not to say that other states don't have pretty. That's why I didn't specifically name that I said. Yeah. Yeah.

And I met Godfather's wife, and we hit it off. And she goes, oh, I like her. And she's really friendly. And she didn't have to do it okay, but I knew that helped that I wasn't a stripper. And I wasn't looking to hook up with her husband and that kind of thing. And that was my foot in the door. And the rest is history. Wow.

Did you know that getting hired as one of the hos would end up leading to something else? I just knew I'd get my foot in the door. So they get the eyes on you. You know what I mean? And then when they threw me through the table, when Godfather turned to the right to censor. Yep, the right to censor. Threw me through a table.

I didn't know what's going to take me off TV permanently, like until I got trained. But I was like, oh, I go to wrestling school. I can do it. And took me off TV. And I went to, Jerry Lawler was saying, you need move to Memphis. That's a better school. You're going to learn it's old school style. That kind of night.

I didn't know what old school style meant or Memphis style. Talk to. J.R. I said, you know, Jerry is telling me I should be moving to Memphis. And he goes, oh, you want to, are you wanting to wrestle? And I go, I'm going to wrestling school all my off days. Oh, we didn't know that. I was like, oh, my God. Why did they let you take a bump if they didn't know? Well, you're telling the agents, not the big guys. You know what I mean? So they're the only ones that know. And so a week later, they're like, you're moving to Memphis, how fast can get there? And I go, I can be there in a week, which was,

silly to say, but I got in there a week. Yeah, left everything. Wow. In L.A. And then moved to West, left, moved from West Hollywood, went to Memphis, stayed there for a year,

that school closed down, and then we had a meeting. I was the only one sent to OVW. The rest got sent to Ohio. I forgot the school's name. What wasn't OVW? OVW and another school, HWA. Okay.

That was the Ohio one, like Charlie Haas, the Hoss brothers went there. And I got sent to Louisville and then I recognize some faces and John Cena was there and I go, oh my God, I know somebody of UPW. Yay. Oh my God. And Nick, you had Eugene on the show. I was telling you. He trained me. Rob Conway. I was in school with like Shelton, Shelton Benjamin. My gosh. Brock Lesner, Randy Orton, Sina.

Oh, Batista was there. Batista. I mean, these, all these people that in this, School made it. But your training under Jim Cornett, Danny Davis, like, these are people that know they've been wrestling since they were like 13 years old. Yeah. They know the business. And so I would show up two hours early before school, like training, and work one-on-one with like Eugene or Rob Conway and that kind of thing.

So it was, it was, I enjoyed my training. I'll be honest with you. A lot of people, you know, like, oh, my God, you had to move. that's what you got to do. If you want to make it and people are like going, is there a school here like in their town? I'm like, if you really want to make it, you're going to pack up and leave.

And if there is a school in your town, maybe it's worth it to move to get trained by a better instructor. Exactly. Yeah. At least from somebody that's made it. You know, because they know the ins and outs of the business. And there's so many great schools,

especially in America. There's so many great places you could get trained. It definitely is worth doing what you did. Picking your life up and, You know, betting on yourself. Yeah, betting on the goals that you have. And I didn't have kids. So it's like, I think that's also easier, like when people don't have kids because

people forget you're on the road four days a week. And then also, too, in training school, we're there 9 a.m. until three or four. And then we might have a show that night at a church or something. We're at a gas station. And we go perform, you know, like it was, it's not a nine to five job. It is, it's your whole life. Yeah. You eat, breathe, sleep, wrestling.

If you want to get in this business, you, give up. It's a lot of sacrifice. Yeah. A lot of sacrifice. Yeah. But then when you did get called up back to WWE, you were on the fast track. Like four months after you did. And I didn't, I didn't, I felt not ready. Yeah.

Even after all that training. There's a different, to perform in from thousands of people opposed to a church. Thousands live. 30 millions. Yeah. Yeah. And then being judged. You know, especially when you're new and you come in, you're on her microscope.

Let's see if she's got it. Or we just let her go. You know what I mean? Like, okay, we don't see it. Let's just let her go. You're always fearful of that. You know what I mean? So it's, I was very lucky.

I really, I really was. What do you think you did in your first few appearances that really impressed them? I was, I was very athletic. My first match was with Jacqueline, Jackie Moe. And it was good chemistry. and, you know, I got brought up and like a little bit more backstage, not being on TV yet.

So I kind of got to feel like, observe from an outsider. And I was like, okay, this, but you still don't know. You know what I mean? But Trish and I, our matches just, you say sorry later and you just go. It's, we just did anything, you know, and we didn't want to be known as like the best female. male wrestling match. We wanted the best match of the card.

So her and I had the same. All of us girls were like going, what can you do? Super dangerous where people think you're freaking knocked out or you knocked your head off. Do you know what I mean? It's like it was, yeah, we pushed the envelope. And Finley is the one that created my character. And without him, I don't think I would have been nothing. I wouldn't have made it. I wouldn't have made it. Four months after your debut, you're the women's champion. Yeah. Is that happened? Well, not after the godfather debut, but yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, I love that you don't know that.

Oh my God. That's, yeah. It was at Madison Square Garden. And I broke my nose, chipped my tooth. I got a lump on my head. And when I broke my nose, he goes, do you want me finish it? You know, they're like, you know, want to do the X mark, right, to end the match. And I was like, no.

No, I can't. I can't. I got to keep my nose. Just tell her to stay away from me for a little bit. I can't see because your eyes water when you break your nose, right? And I was like, and I still continued on. And the match that method. up a little bit on the end. I was supposed to crush her with a mirror on the head.

She stepped on the mirror running the ropes. And I was like, I don't what to do. I don't just do. And my go-to move was, my favorite move was the suplex. I did that as a finish. After putting the fire extinguisher and I grabbed the wrong one, the one with the pin. And she's like, get in here. Just forget it. Forget it. I go, I got it. And I started cursing. I'm like, back up. I got it. And I got it. And I sprayed her. And I should just roll her up. I did a suplex. What the hell. That was my go-to move, though. I was like, I love the suplex.

Well, it worked. It did. Yeah. But then I was, of course, going backstage, you're like, oh, my God, everything got screwed up out there. Oh, my God, I'm going to get yelled at. They're going to fire me. But. They can't fire you the champion.

Who knows? Right. You know, they could take it away from me the next day. That's true. But it was a great storyline. We loved it. Yeah. You can't do anything wrong when you're psycho.

You know what I mean? Like, it's like, I'm going to be. You know, Stevie Richards also helped me a lot. I mean, like, we just had good chemistry. Can I do this to you? We never asked that. Whenever you fill out there, just do it. There was one time when I came out in the ring,

and I was only supposed to smell him, but I bit his ear. I felt it. I don't know. I just felt it. And you just said, what was that? And I go, I'm so sorry. Is that okay? And he goes, no, that's great.

I don't know. Where did that come from? And I go, I'm psych. I'm crazy. I'm like, the sniffing is not just good enough. I need to, right? Yeah. My boy toy, you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah. But he always gave me encouragement, like before, I used to get super nervous, nervous, nervous, like where nervous belly wanting to throw up, my hand sweat, and just, I couldn't talk to anybody. I'm like, okay, just, I need to face a curtain and just not, just get ready and go over my spots and just like, okay, don't forget this, don't forget, okay, the camera's over here on this side this time, you know what I mean? There's a lot going through your head.

I need to make sure my hair is out of my face to show my selling on my face. Like it's a lot. People don't realize how much goes into a match. And we get one chance, right? And you did it too. It's like you don't get it. Okay, take two. Let's take it from this angle.

You don't get that. You just like, I'm done with my match. I hope they liked it. You know what I mean? And the other thing that you need to keep in mind is where are the cameras? That's the biggest thing when you get called up. And the important thing, too, is like, When I noticed now, like when I went backstage, maybe a couple years ago, I went to go,

it was the same camera guys, same lighting guys. And I'm like, oh, my God. Hey, oh, my God. Oh, my God. This changed so much. You've got to communicate with these camera guys and the lining guys and say, thank you. These are the guys that make you look good. And I would go to a camera guy.

I was like, hey, after this move, close up on my face, close up on my face, because I'm going to go psycho. And I'm going to tell a story with my face. And so you've got to communicate that. It's all about a storytelling, right? Yeah. You know, it's like, you know, it was, oh, I, it's crazy that I'm talking about this now because I'm like, I can't believe I did this, you know?

Yeah. Isn't it weird? Well, I mean, you did it every week. It's crazy. It's crazy. Yeah. I think one of the big things you had going for you when you came in a WWE was an incredible theme song.

And it was not my choice. Well, they, but that tattoo song was all over. over the radio, it was all over MTV, and then for that to be your entrance thing, I know. You're immediately over. I know. And I had no clue. When they played the song for me and they showed me the video.

Oh, no. I was like, are you guys wanting me to be a lesbian? Yeah, the music video is like these two girls kissing. Yeah. And I was like, uh, in like rain. I was like, what story in line? They're like, no, you know, listen to the words. And I'm like, okay.

And I said, let me go get fit. So I had fit watch it with me. And it goes, it's not creepy enough. So they added the beginning. Yes, I've lost my, yeah. And then the eyeball and like the video thing. And so because can you make it some like some little bit more scary at the beginning to make her when I come out. You know?

And we only owned that for a year. Wasn't my choice to change. And then it was the Nikki Minaj thing? Yeah. And it wasn't Nicky Minage at the time. Oh, she was. She had a different name. Yeah.

And so they're like, what kind of music are you into? And I go, believe it or not, if you look at me, you're thinking I'm into really. heavy metal and like all this death metal stuff, right? I go, I did hip hop as a kid, you know, as a cheerleader. I did hip hop classes and stuff like that. I like hip hop. And that's when they chose that song, I ain't the lady to mess with. And she made it for my entrance. And then years later, I found out it was from Twitter. I can't believe Nick and Nicky Minaj did your entrance. And I'm like, oh my God, Nick and Minaj. Who did you think it was? Just some demo singer? Yeah. I thought, just New Yorkers.

I don't know. We don't know that side of it. You know, I don't go meet the artist and say, oh, can you say this line? Yeah. We don't get that freedom. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Yeah. You need to have a conversation with Nikki Minaj. Seriously. Actually, she needs to thank you. No, I need to thank her. No, you put her on the map. No, I did not.

Oh, now she's going to drink some wine. I am. I am. Because I feel uncomfortable with that conversation. No, that was pretty cool, though. That was pretty cool. I think it's safe to say a lot of things have changed in 2020, including how we work.

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all one word at betonline.org. Betonline, your online sportsbook experts. Or who were your favorite rivalries that you had? Okay. Molly Holly. Yeah. Trish. Lita. Gail Kim.

Mickey James. I, Odie. I had so many. I had such, I had good opponents. Yeah, you did. Ivory. That was my role model. She was so nice to me when I first got in the business.

She came down to, who was it, Memphis. I had a singles match with her. I didn't think I was ready for a singles match. I was in Memphis. That's my second year. Not even my second year because I was in UPW for four months, five months. Moved to Memphis. They sent her down to wrestle me. Super giving and just like very good leader and stuff like that.

And when I came up to TV, she goes, you guys want to drive with me. I'll show you the ropes. Like you would get up early to go have breakfast. We'll go to the gym, maybe the tanning salon back then. And we'll go to the beach. building, started getting ready. And she showed like the friendliness and like she was super humble and just she taught a lot. That's where I learned how like when every new girl came in, even if they just lasted a week. I was like, hey, do you want to drive with us?

You don't feel lonely. Yeah, because it's very catty. It's very clicky backstage. It's very high school. Like you don't know who to talk to and you're like, you're looked at who's this new chick. Is she a stripper? She was a godfather ho. You know what I mean? Is she just. just here just for the week or the weekend, you know, so I was, I became friends with all the newbies. Oh, that's great. And of course, who they want to have an angle with, their new friend Lisa. I didn't do that purposely, but they trusting. You've got to trust your opponent, you know? Yeah. Between all of that, I would think that you would have stayed in WWE for a long time. Yeah. Did you know that your contract was coming to an hour? Did you know that you were leaving?

No, I had two years left on my contract. And I asked for my outs. And then they actually gave you the ability to say goodbye. I talked to Vince, Johnny Ace and Stephanie McMahon. And I asked them, do you see the title in my future? And they were like, that face gave it away. And I was like, and if I would have known if I would have been like enhancement talent, like a Fit Finley, like all the new guys would go through him because he'll teach him the ropes in the ring, right? I would have stayed if I would, you know, been told that. but when the fans like going out to the parking lot

to get our rental car oh man you Victoria my God you could totally kick your ass they weren't believing my ability you know and I was like and you want that facade still to be oh she's such a badass it was like I think people were starting to feel sorry for me

and I was like oh I don't want that and I don't want to hate the business so I thought I was done I was like I don't know what I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up you know what I mean So I was like, I told him that. I go, I don't, I know I'm in my 40s, but I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. And I was like, I'm a kid still here and I don't want to hate the business.

I still love it. I want to have passion. And I want to be that bitter vet. You meet those people at Comic Con that just talk so badly about the business. You're just like, I am not going to turn into that. No, I want to appreciate what I did and love it still. Yeah. And then we had a 30-day, no compete clause.

TNA called me. And it's like, I need to think about it. They're like, we need to know tonight because we want to debut you, debut you Monday. Wow. And then so I said, let me just sign for a year. Let me see if I like it. Yeah. And then.

So was it that you were done with wrestling at that time? At that time. No, not WW. I didn't have plans to go to TNA. No, I was just, I was done. I thought I thought I was done with wrestling. But I never said retire because you never say retire as a wrestler. Yeah.

Your speech was like kind of just shortened to the point. It's like, this is the last time I'm, you're going to see me. I had a speech prepared, but when I cry, I can't talk. Oh. It was so much longer, but I just, I was like, let me just get out of here. But the fact that they gave you mic time does not happen anymore. Like, my time to say goodbye? I know.

But I had such a speech ready, man. I was so disappointed. I was like, man, I had so much things to say. But when I came backstage, all the wrestlers, all the boys, all the agents and everybody standing ovation. and I was like, it was worse backstage. I was like, yeah. I was like, oh, my God, I can't believe it. You know what I mean?

But when you, when you first got to TNA, where there's some immediate differences that you noticed? Yeah. It was very, I went to every table and went to every person and say, hi, my name's Lisa, just in case I didn't meet him. They're like, and then someone from WWE that was there said, Lisa, this is not WWE. You don't have to go say hi to every single person,

but that was like, you should do that anyways. It's not a WWE thing. It's being kind and like going, hey, you know. And also in WWE, like all the new guys that would be lined up, the indie guys, and they wouldn't sit down at the chairs and stuff like that. And they'll be in the suit, like trying, I hope I get a dark match. I would say hi to each and every one of them. And then I ran it to them later.

And they're like, you were the only one that said hi to me when I was backstage. And I was like, that's a shame. I mean, like, it's, isn't it awful? Because it's hard to be like being new in the business and coming backstage. and you're looked at like, what are you doing here? It's an awful feeling. You know what I mean? It's almost like not being bullied,

but you're just going to a new school. Sure. And everybody already has their click. And they're like, who's this chick? You know what I mean? So, yeah. But you had some great storylines in TNA and you had some incredible matches in TNA.

Which are some of the ones that really stand out from there? Mickey James and I had a cage match. Awesome Kong and I had a cage match. ODB and I had a hardcore match. match. Oh, my goodness. There were so many matches. And the spider thing, you know, wasn't my idea, but I came to TV. They were like, oh, you're the spider chick. And I go, oh, Black Widow, I wasn't a tarantula girl, but they gave me the tarantulas. And of course, when I signed, I said, you give me a match. I'm one that doesn't complain. You know, I'm like, I'll make it

the best match ever. Yeah. I'm going, you know, the bra and panties we hated, but we're like going, we're going to give a great cutoff spot that people forget that we're in. lingerie. That's a great match. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so they came with three spiders and I go, I don't, um, what is this? And they're like, oh, after your finisher, you're going to put the tarantula and I go, oh, so they don't have venom in there. And they're like, no, there's venom. And I go, of course, I talked to big game signing with them. And I was like, don't, I don't want to sign for three years. Give me a one year, one year at a time because I want to make sure I'm happy here. And so you can tell the first time I have my spider. I'm like this though. My, my, it's,

Every time. I was like going, this one, because you don't get the same spider every time. But I would go for the biggest. Oh, this is like Jake the snake. Yeah, yeah. They would give me three spiders. I go, I go, which one's really docile? And he goes, oh, they're pretty good with people because it's from Gatorland.

I didn't own it. And I go, well, I want the biggest one because it'll show better on camera, right? Yeah. Yeah. But it was, they were like, are you afraid of spiders? I go, I don't know. I don't just, I'll do it. I'll do it.

I would just have to blink my. mind just going and also too like I didn't know their body link I had a Wikipedia the tarantula and like when they do like there it's a defense mechanism they think they're so after my match I'd go and he would go like this and I would look at the ref and I go he's going to totally bite me right now and they explode like light bulbs um so I was like I can't drop them pita's going to be after me I'm so I'm very into animals so I was like going oh my gosh and also two they shoot fibers. So when birds hunt them, they'll lick their fibers so to blind their corneous. So I would always got an itching. I would go to Gatorland guy because they had to have a pet guy,

an animal safety guy, because of Universal Studios, got paid more than some of the mid carters. That's sad, right? And so I was like, I'm itching. He goes, oh, it's the fibers. They think they're getting attacked so they shoot fibers. And I go, you didn't tell me this. I didn't know that. I didn't know that either. I learned on the spot. I love that you learned about the spiders for Wikipedia. I know. I know.

I had to learn from somewhere. It was a rose tarantula, too. I also like that when someone asked you, are you afraid of them? You said, I don't know. I don't know. I did not know. I'd like, if it's a brown recluse, you know.

Sure. You kill you. Yeah, yeah. I was like, but I was like, I don't know. You know, I have three older brothers. So they did amateur wrestling like you. And we hunted. snakes and we had bizarre animals growing up, you know what I mean? So I wasn't really afraid of

that kind of stuff. We didn't have a tarantula. I don't think. I don't, I really don't remember, but you see on TV, people have tarantulas and they can crawl on it and stuff like that. So I was like, oh, yeah. That was my introduction. You're like, if they can do it, I can do it. Yeah. And plus, I talked a big game going to TNA. I was like, oh, you give me any match. You know, there's nothing I'm really, I'm your go-to girl. You want something done? I'll do it. And I'm like spiders, I go, mother, jumper. Are you freaking serious?

Of all the things. Are you serious? Serious. Oh, my God. I'm interested to know who came up with Victoria. Who came up with that name? Because Lisa Marie could have been a good resume. I wanted my real name.

Everybody got their real name. And I was like, what did I? I don't understand. And they told me to go home. Think of some names. And so I googled stripper names. Moka. Candy.

Destiny. Yes. Yes. Next on. stage, right? Chris Van Vleit. Did I say it right? He did. Okay. Okay. And so I came with a list. I have the list still in storage. I don't know where it's at. I do have that list. And I said, I came up, here's a list of names. And they're like, oh, you're Victoria. And I go, oh, I don't get it. They're like, there's nothing to get. You're Victoria. I go, okay. And then when I first

started, everybody was like going, Veronica. And I go, my name doesn't even fit me, you know. But then, of Of course, you Google the name of Victoria, Victoria. I was like, oh, I kind of like my name. Yeah. But it's hard, it's a hard name to chant. You can't go, Mickey, Mickey, Mickey, Victoria, you can't do that. Vicky, you know, I was like, oh, I got a three syllable. That's a hard, I'm never going to get a chance.

You need two or four syllables. Right. To chant. Yeah. Yeah. So when you went to TNA, obviously, you couldn't be Victoria anymore. No. Why couldn't you be Lisa Marie that?

I was supposed to. I should have put it in my contract. They told me I was going to be my name. And then I get to the TV and they're like, oh, are you Tara? I go, oh, no, Lisa Marie. And they're like, oh, no, your name is Tara. And I go, and I complained. I was like, oh, my God, this is my first day on the job.

And I already felt like, oh, my God, I was lied to a little bit. And I was like, I should. And I'm very trusting. I'm just, I always, okay, they're going to, you know, they're good for it. Right? And I was just upset. And I was like, okay, Sting was there. And I go, okay, he's old school, you know.

And let me go up to him. I go, Sting, can I talk to you? And he goes, yeah. And I told him, they changed my name. I wanted my real name. And it wasn't in the contract. And then they gave me Tara. And he goes, oh, I go, and they gave me another name.

He goes, what's the name? And I go, Tara. And he goes, oh, that's really sexy. And I go, I'll keep the name Tara. Good old Sting. You got to take his word for it. I'm like, oh, okay, it's a sexy name. Okay, I'll take it.

And I didn't want to. cause, you know, I'm a difficult person. Oh, she's a diva from WWE, being a prima donna, that kind of thing. You know, she doesn't want her, she doesn't like her name. And I was like going, you know, I was like, okay, whatever. Okay, pick and choose my battles. I remember seeing the widow's peak for the very first time and going, my God. I know.

Because a lot of the women at that time, a lot of the divas at that time had pretty boring finishers. I know. It's hard to come up with a finisher, too. That's unique. Sure. How'd you come up with it? I didn't come with Roderick Strong. Molly Holly went to an indie show and saw Roderick Strong do it. And she came back to TV and said, Victoria, we don't call each other by our real names in the business, by the way.

I have a move for you. Put me over your shoulder. Put me over the shoulder. Okay, hook my neck. I'm going to hook my legs around your waist. Okay, drop to your butt. And I go, drop to my butt. How's your neck going to hit not?

is she's holding on my wrist, you know, so it prevents her from, like, her neck snapping on my shoulder, right? And so that's the important part is grip my wrist. You know what I mean? Unless you're tall, you're not going to hit it. You know, their knees hit further, I mean, first before my butt. But it almost is like a jawbreaker too. Yeah, yeah, right?

And I dropped to the ground. This was before the show. And everyone went, and then Vince saw it. And then Molly goes, hey, Vince, do you like that for Victoria's finisher? He goes, you okay? She goes, yeah. He goes, I love it. And the first person to take it was Stacey Keebler.

So, yeah. Yeah, so thank you, Roderick Strong and Molly Holly. Yeah, Molly Holly was super giving. Did Roderick know you were doing the move? He didn't know probably until he saw it. Okay, so I saw him at a hotel. I forgot what town. I think it was, I want to say Boston, but I'm not sure.

Don't quote me on that. Maybe Jersey. You know how like fans are in the lobby waiting to get autographs? and he was like maybe 13, 14 years old, I don't know, like maybe 16. He looked very young. He goes, Victoria. And I go, oh, hey, hey, buddy. And he goes, I'm Roderick Strong.

I was one that came up with your finisher. And I go, oh, my God. I hugged him. I go, you put me on the map, dude. I go, oh, my, thank you. Oh, my gosh. Molly, Holly got that move from you and gave it to me. Oh, my, you have no idea.

And, yeah, that was my first meeting with him. I was like, he was the one that was my devastating, finisher. Yeah, it was, that finisher, I think, really made me. For sure it did. Totally. Yeah. And then my spinning sidewalk slam, Crash Holly gave that to me. Wow. Yeah. You wrestled like the guys. Yeah. That's what made you so entertaining. We would like back in my day, I can't believe I said that. It's so old. Back in my day, we would get there a few hours earlier than what the other got, like what our check-in was. And so there would be a group of guys on Fit Finley, Dean Malinko, Regal,

oh my gosh, Tommy Dreamer, Lance Storm, like all these guys would be, they knew us girls would be showing up early. And we would work on our craft. Hey, I need more on my repertoire. You know what I mean? Because sometimes, you know, it's not a script, you guys. Like we don't memorize every single move.

So there's times we have a brain fart and we're like going, I don't know what to do next. It's nice to have something in your back pocket. Okay, she's in this position. I can do this move. You know, so like I need something else really mean to do this my opponent. Do you what I mean? So they would be there before with us and help us train.

Ricky Steamboat too. It was like my dangle, dangle move, which where Christy Hemmy was the first one to take it, I would take her hair. It was almost getting her into the widow's beak, but I would turn her over dangle dangle like here and she would kick her feet. I called it the dangle dangle. because you do like the new girls, like the new rookies, like you, you name it different.

Like, so they'll remember. Yeah. Dingle, dingle. Yeah. You know, dangle, dingle, dingle. And then I would chew them off. And I got that from Ricky Steamboat. Oh.

Yeah. And I try to do Ricky Stimbo arm drags, but that's, it takes to do that on drag. It takes the other person knowing how to exactly throw themselves over to, because I've tried, like, Rick Flair helped me. And Ricky Steam, I'm like going, it's not Ricky Steamboat style. Yeah. You know, his arm drags, man.

Jeez. Is there a favorite mistake that you had that maybe happened in the ring or backstage that really helped you kind of push things forward in your career? Oh, my God, that's a good question. I guess, ooh, I hate saying that. I have a torn ACL, right, my right laid. And I had the knee brace. And I felt like Steve, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I really felt cool.

And I remember talking to him about the torn ACL and he goes, if you can prevent getting surgery, don't get it because you're going to have arthritis. It's going to cause more problems in the future. And when they ship me to Alabama to go to their doctor, WWE doctor. And he goes, wow, I never had said you don't need surgery. And I go, is it partially torn then? He goes, no, it's torn. He goes, it's a good thing you have thick legs.

And I go, thick legs. You mean muscular. Muscular. And he goes, yeah, muscular. It's a good thing you have muscular legs. He goes, because the way you trained from bodybuilding, and I had strong hamstrings and quads. Wow.

So, yeah. And so, but I still have that knee brace to this day, and it's duct taped. I've always, I tried to get a new one. There's nothing like my good old fashion one. This should be an item that you sell. Eventually, but you never know when I'm going to come back. You know, you never say retire. You always keep that in the corner.

You're like going, what if I have that one match to come back? Our knee braces, haven't they advanced? This one covers like the new ones are like the whole front knee is open. Yeah. I mean, my knee is not protected. So this one has a big old rod. It's just, it's so bulky and freaking archaic. I have duct tape on it.

Shoot. I have duct tape. And it's, I can't replace that knee brace. And we used it a lot on spots. Like Mickey took it to the nose and so did, you know, Candice. And like I used it as a gimmick. And I also felt not that it's iconic that saying that's what put me on the map. But when I when I would put it on, I'm like, oh, I'm kind of like still cold Steve Austin.

So you're saying in a weird way, tearing the ACL actually helped to propel your career. It made me work harder because I was like, oh my God. Because when that happened, I partially tore it hopping over the top rope. And the spring of the mat came up on my knee and it snapped. And I heard it snap. And I told the referee, and I just stood there. I tore my ACL. He goes, shut up, Lisa.

I'm at Victoria. And I go, I tore my ACL. I go, let me, I'm going to try to walk, but just stand by me. I started to walk. And I go, I tore my ACL. I tore something in my knee. And then they did the X mark. And I go, no, no, no, no, no.

We have a tag match. I'll just manage. I'll just hop on the side. Trainers, everybody came out to get me. I was really embarrassed because it makes you seem weak. Yeah. And then I completely tore it when I wrestled. Jackie Moore in a hardcore match.

And I did a moonsault. And there was a trash can lid. And she moves out of the way and I land on the trash can lid. But my knee, you know, it's a real trash can lid. And it don't bend, right? So my knee went into the corner of it. I mean, the round part of the edges. Yeah.

And it completely tore. And I was like I knew it because I was walking and it felt like it wasn't my leg. I don't. The sensation when you tear something like that, it wasn't instant pain. I just felt like, wow, it's a weird sensation. It doesn't feel like my leg, I have control of it. Like it's like a phantom leg kind of thing. It was a weird sensation.

I go, and I was like, they laid me on the table. And I looked at fit and I just bawled. And I was like, my career is over. My God, I'm done. I'm freaking done. I'm done. I can't believe I just invested all this time and leaving home and like training. And I'm done with in a couple years.

and then the doctor said that. And then so I still, I said, what exercise am I not strengthen your hamstring more so than your quads? Because I was very quad heavy, like very strong in my quads. Quadzilla. Quadzilla. You got to keep it separated. And so they told me exercise and don't run downhill and stuff, like certain things.

You know what I mean? But I can't wrestle without my knee brace. Wow. Yeah. I want to go back to your time in TNA because it seemed like you were having a great run. Yeah. How did you know your time was done? Oh, no, I got fired.

Good luck with your future endeavors. Not even that. They don't say future endeavors. No, they do not. But how did you know, or did you know, did you know it was coming to an end? I wasn't going to resign. It was, it was, it's great now because, you know, Gayle Kim is in charge. Like, they have a great office now at that time.

It was so, I didn't know I was booked on a pay-per-view until I read Twitter, Twitter. Twitter, Twitter, and I called the office. I said, hey, am I on pay-per-view? I haven't got travel. I'm supposed to travel tomorrow. They're like, oh, shit. That's not just an example, but it was very unorganized. And I just, I didn't feel appreciated, I guess, as much.

I don't know. It's always important, like, in the business, if you guys aren't agents or producers or stuff, I always give a pat on the back to the wrestlers. You know, we don't know if we're doing a good job. Like that thumbs up back, I was just telling you earlier to get that thumbs up. Yeah. Means a lot. Or acknowledgement, like eye contact going something or wink or something like that.

Yeah. And, um... What's because you just went out there and gave your all? And you're like, about to break your neck. And like you're just, you're giving your everything to a company. And you just what, I just felt like I was like, okay, I think, I think I'm done. You know what I mean? And, um, I felt it.

And then I had two more months on my contract. I got the call from travel department, Bob Ryder, and said, you know, I have to, we're letting you go. And I was from the travel department. I got let go. Travel department. Honestly. And I was like, wow, the owner, talent relations didn't even call me to let me go. And Bruce Pritchard was talent relations.

And then I ran into him at a Comic Con or a wrestlecon or something or wrestledcade. It was all wrestling, signing. and the guy that brought me in brought him in. And so he was in the same car. And I go, Bruce, I go, this has been bothering me a long time. I go, I just want to say this, you know, because I'm not going to go back to the business. I don't care who I, not piss off. But I go, I was really upset.

You didn't call me to release me. He goes, I didn't know you got released until the following weekend, the week. And I go, what? And he goes, that's because I got released the following week. And I go, oh, I was. really hurt because you and I go back to OVW. I mean, UPW. Yeah.

Like back and back. And I was like, oh my God. I go, we've been through a lot together. I've been, we're at WWE, WWF. And I was hurt. And he was like, I got released the following week. And I was like, okay, that makes me feel better. Not that you got released.

Yeah. But it hurt my feelings that I didn't get released by proper people, not the travel guy. God bless him. I still can't believe that, though. It was time. I was done. Yeah. I mean, yeah. How did you know that you were done, done with everything? You just retired last year. Against Molina Perez. Yeah. Going over the match, I knew we were main eventing, and it was a guy and girl show. Did you go into it knowing this is my final match? No. Oh. No. I was like, I found out I was getting the belt.

Do you want to see the belt you're winning? And I go, I'm getting the belt? What? I was shocked. I was like, your main event. I got to pick my opponent and Melina Perez. And we were going, I go, okay, we're main eventing. We can't do a ha ha, ha, gaga match. It has to be serious. And like, freaking, we have to do dangerous stuff. And I remember going over the match. And then Melina goes, do you have some eyeliner I can borrow?

And I go, Melina, we're up in 30 minutes. Do you have a match? Like, we get to go over it. And I would stress because I'm a little older. I'll forget stuff too. And I'm like, I don't want them to think I'm an old timer. I don't want people to, you don't want people. to see you slow down or feel sorry.

Oh, she used to be a badass. Oh, what happened? Oh, you know what I mean? Yeah. And so my nerves, like, I was getting anxiety. I was like going my stomach and I was like going, I was sweating. I'm like going, oh my God, the way, what I put myself through, I was like, I can't do this anymore.

I can't. I go, I'm already physically and mentally exhausted and having wrestled yet. And I was like, and I don't want people to be disappointed. Okay, I'm getting the belt tonight. We're main eventing. what better way? What better way can I go out? I asked the guy, I took his mic,

thank you for coming to my last match. Every went, even the promoter goes, you didn't tell me it was your last match, we could have promoted it like that. I go, I didn't know until 30 minutes ago. But I felt good. I was like, oh, do you miss it? Didn't even mean?

And I go, when you're doing comic cons and you're doing interviews and you're still, still involved and you get to talk about it and live through it again. Yeah. And no, I have no, I don't feel bad at all.

I'm like, no, I'm not sad. You'd obviously been thinking about it for a while. I didn't know when it was going to happen. Right. I didn't know what that was the day, but I'm like going, it's TikTok because I'm getting older. And I don't, I don't want to, the way that the people work now, a little too fast for me to spot fest. I like more storytelling facial expressions and more I'm going to hunch you down and like, oh, shit, she's going to get it. You know what I mean?

I like that. And the way girls were moving was so. So boom, boom, boom, boom. I was so blown up. And I was like, I'm like, we got to let the people register what we just did. I didn't like the new style. It was too spotty for me. It was maybe Lucha Libre.

I wouldn't survive in Lutra Libre. It's too much spots. I'm not that athletic anymore. And I just knew. I was just going. And coming home, did I come home, David? Or was I going away for the weekend? Came home.

And I got in the car. and I started crying. And I was like, I can't fucking, I can't do this. I'm caught room. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I go, my neck. Freaking A.

I go, my God, I took a suicide dive. What the hell am I doing a suicide dive? I didn't do the suicide dive. I took the suicide dive. What the hell am I doing? Because I have something to prove. I don't want them to think I'm an old lady. I can't do stuff.

And I'm like, to these newbies. I mean, the younger girls, I'm sorry, not newbies. Younger girls, I don't want to be that old timer that goes, oh, no, I don't do that. Oh, no, I'm not going to lose a match. I prefer to lose the match going back to pass the torch. I'm not going back. Let this girl say, I beat Victoria that used to be in W or Tara and TNA. You know what I mean?

I don't have anything to prove. Let them win. But I was like, I came back and I was like, I can't turn my neck. I go to that freaking flight. I couldn't sleep because of my back. Like I was getting tingling, mine down my leg. And I was like, I can't, I can't do this. I go, what the hell?

I go, I want to be in my 50s, be able to walk and do normal crap. You know what I mean? Like I want to enjoy life still. I don't want to be walking, you know, like Sean Michaels or Undertaker with their back. I don't know if you ever seen them walk, but they're just like, it looks painful. And I'm like, I'm not going to be like that. I can't, I can't let myself be like that. You know what I mean?

So I just, which one am I going to retire on? I didn't know I was going to read. Like Melina, I thought like her and I, like we have good chemistry too. And she was super giving. She's like, get this move in. You used to do this move. I'll take it. I want to take the Woodrow Peak.

And I'm like, oh my God. She was like going, Lisa, I got you. I got you. You know, and she was so giving. I don't need to get that move in. I go, no, do your split thing. No, do that. Come on.

You got to do signature stuff. You and I have signature stuff. And she was so, you know, just super giving. I thought at the end of the match, my ponytail was right here, and my ponytail was right here. I was so, which you pin me as I love you so much. And then, yeah, it was great. So you didn't end up winning the match.

I did. I got the belt. And they were like, when I said I was retiring, she goes, how are we going to get the title to now? Are you going to come back and wrestle one more time? And I go, I'll come back and I'll watch and I'll put the title on the line. Who, out of these two girls, they can have, they can have the title. I go, I'm not going to get in the ring again. Yeah, I was like, I can't, I can't.

So do you have, do you have big plans for next year? You turn 50 next year. I know, February 10. This is a suit. I love my birthday. This is two months away as we tape this right now. I know. Do you have big plans?

No, but it's girls like, and like we're all, like all of us are talking about what, where can we go? And if it's COVID is over. You know what I mean? We need to do something big, you know, like inviting like Trish, lead it, like all of our old friends together and just celebrate. together, even though it's like, it doesn't have to be fancy. I'm very, you know, you give me a wine and a paper bag. I'm pretty happy, you know, I'm a cheap date.

So I don't need to do anything like a cruise or they're all talking. Maybe we should do a cruise. And I'm like, ooh, that's kind of pricey. I'm like going, why don't we just go to Vegas or, you know what I mean? Just get a cheap hotel and this all of us get to hang out and stuff. You know, we haven't talked about that. But we're hoping like Gaw TV by next year, you know, takes off. We're going to learn from you, Mr. YouTuber.

I'll tell you everything I know, but it's only going to get you a little bit further than you currently are. Did you steal that vase? I did. I meant David. David, get that face. He's kind of successful. I want to wrap this on. This has been an incredible conversation.

I'm so sorry. Yeah, I talk too much. Sorry. No, I talk a lot. This has been amazing. This has been amazing. But I'm very driven by gratitude. And I always say that if you can be grateful, you can be great.

Be great, be grateful. And I end every interview by asking, what are three things that you're grateful for in your life right now? Oh, my gosh. I should watch your show. I am grateful to have like a great boyfriend and a great family that's super supportive. And being back in San Diego and California is being close to my family and having my dad in my life. And like, you know, I lost my mom a couple years ago. but my dad's still, you know, kicking.

And my three brothers are in my life. Oh, my goodness, I have two great dogs. I'm great. The number one thing, too, is God TV. Out of this COVID thing. Yeah. We launched a freaking badass show that that's our Friday night. We could have sit down with the girls, have a glass of wine, shoot the shit,

talk to fans. They send in questions. and just people get to get a little peak, peat ski as Mickey James always says. She always has the ski at the end of everything she says. I like that. Yeah, she goes, Mickey's ski. Part of our, I mean, like, it's,

hopefully we'll be big as you, you know what I mean? I think you should set your goals a little bit. No, no, no. Honestly, you have an amazing show. Come on. Thank you. That's very kind of you. No, but I'm just grateful to be freaking still healthy.

Just like be able to walk and you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Those are three great things. Is it? I think I need more. I think a big thing is people often like focus on the negative things in their life. And I think it's so important to take a second every day, but take a second to just go, oh yeah, there are some really good things in my life.

And I don't do that every day. I think that's super important to do. I think I need to start doing that. Like some grateful things. This is going to sound cheesy. No. But I literally, the first thing I do when I wake up now is I smile. I'm laying in bed.

Sometimes the alarm's gone off. Sometimes I just get, you know, just wake up. Yeah. The first thing I do is smile. I'm like, oh my God, another chance. Yeah. Another day. And, yeah, starting and ending every day with three things that you're grateful for.

That's awesome. We completely change your life. We need to do that because I think most people, and I'm guilty of it, is always thinking the negative. Yeah. Oh, shoot. I didn't get this done today. But then what you focus on is how you're going to feel.

Focus on the negative things. Exactly. Exactly. And I just learned something about myself. It's like I made a list of things I needed to do. I need to do a daily things list thing because I had a list of things I needed to do. I was like, that's too much stuff. I can't get through that whole thing today.

And then ODB is the one that said, just make a list of things you need to do that day. Monday, I'm going to do this. Tuesday, I'm going to film some or do a photo shoot for Ga. You know, that kind of, you know, for a Patreon. members and like, you know what it'll really shift it. Those aren't the things you need to do. Those are the things you want to do. Yeah, get to do. Yeah. Get to do. Yeah. And then when you cross them off, I do this every day. You cross them off. The end of the day, you're like, oh, look at all the things I did. I did 17 things today. It's amazing. My God. I need to do that. I think it's important.

I agree. You're right. You should be a life coach. I don't know. Sure. Sure. No, but it's important because most of us, like myself, I'm guilty too, of being negative. I got it like. There's just so much to be grateful for. Honestly. And every day in every situation. And I'm grateful for you. You made the drive up from San Diego.

You're worth it. For a little lay. Yeah, you're worth it. They're like, you're driving out for an interview. And I'm like, it's Chris. I offered a drive to you. I know you did. And you're like, no, I'll come to you.

No, I'll come to you. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Totally. Let's change scenery. And it gave us a chance to come to L.A. and just get out of San Diego a little bit, you know. Yeah.

You know, I love San Diego, but it's just, it's nice to get out, you know, like nice drive, listen to music and, you know what I mean? So, and then hit the Halloween store on the way back, but it's closed. Halloween store? You know that one that's like, like off the highway? They're open all year round. Oh. Okay.

Well, I get good like stuff for photo shoots. Yeah, sure. You know what I mean? Or a funny hat or for gong, that kind of stuff. I'm like into, I like surprising, like exactly when you were on my show, our show, our show, our dragon outfit to be spontaneous. I'm wearing a dragon outfit. I know. Oh, dragon onesie.

It's great. And then now, like, the pressure for me is I always have a funky cup, but I haven't gone out. They're like, oh, Lisa, you got the same cup. And I go, oh, my God, now I have, I pigeonholed myself about having a funny cup. You know, the first episode, I had a wine glass, had a wine cup here. It was the bottle underneath. That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know. Yeah. You're right about the negativity though because I need to work on that myself. I mean even being able to say I need to focus on that is a and there's also two apps like for affirmation apps like you know like say positive things a day. Melina Perez is the one that send me a couple apps to follow yeah. Do I read it

every day? I do not. Melina does. Maybe you should put it on your get to do list. Yeah and cross it off. There it is. I got to do that. Well, I got to do this. Yes. Thank you for having me. Thank you. My pleasure. Oh my goodness. I'm so excited for this. I mean, what a week. It's going to be the interview that I got to do with you guys. And then this one dropping, well, now as people are listening or watching this. Thank you, guys. So I will put a link down below to God TV. Please subscribe.

And also a link to our interview from God TV. Yes. And we'll put it on ours too. And then where can people find you? I am on Instagram, Twitter, at Real Lisa Marie. I have a fan Facebook is Lisa Marie-Varon slash someone took my name and then I have another one but I don't know the address

it was supposed to be personal but it ended up I ended up following everybody and just it just yeah and what else what else is there like Twitter Instagram that's it I think you got it

yeah and I have a store Lisa Marie Varen dot big cartel.com I sell my wrestling gear my wrestling boots how awesome hats my Sailor Moon like all my comic book stuff

I have storage trying to get rid of storage It's just a waste. I mean, it's in boxes. What am I doing with that? It's just a waste of money. You know, $164 a month I'm paying for storage. That's a car payment, you guys.

Who needs that? People? So I'm not a hoarder. I'm like, I'm very minimalist, so yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you. What a way to end it. Yay! All right, thank you so much for checking out this episode with Lisa Marie Varen.

Isn't she great? And as we mentioned there, you can check out Gaw TV, her show with Mickey James and SoCalVal on YouTube. You could also check out the interview that I did with Mickey James and SoCalVal. That is episode number 100 from July. Wow. That was 50 interviews ago. This is episode 150 and that was episode 100. That was in July. Man, time is just flying this year.

Crazy. But it reminds me of this quote from early. Earl Nightingale, who famously said, learn to enjoy every minute of life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious time is

that you have to spend. Whether it's at work or with your family, every minute should be enjoyed and savored. And I hope that you enjoyed and savored this episode. I know I did. What a great chat with Lisa Marie. Be great. grateful, my friends, and we'll see you on the next one with the Young Bucks.

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