EXCLUSIVE: Surviving The Widow’s Peak – An Interview With WWE And TNA Legend, Lisa Marie Varon Aka Victoria/Tara (Part 2)

Former WWE Superstar and TNA Knockout Lisa Marie Varon, formerly known as Victoria while in WWE and by Tara during her time with TNA, recently sat down with Bodyslam.net correspondent Nathan Krogh. You can check out the first of this two part interview by clicking here.

In part 2 of this exclusive interview for Bodyslam.net, I continued my conversation with the 7 time Women’s Champion, pioneer and wrestling legend. We discussed the background on her life before wrestling and life after, since taking a step back from it, and more.

Transcription of the second part of our Lisa Marie Varon interview is below:

When asked if she heard back from the WWF (WWE) and how she broke into the business, Ms Varon said:

“I got a call. Kevin Kelly, KK, called me and I didn’t tell anybody, my ex-husband was the only one that knew that I did this (the video package). He helped me put my package together. He (Kevin Kelly) called me and he goes “Hey, Jim Ross got your packet on his desk and he said he’s never seen such a professional tryout package as nice as yours. We would like to meet you in thirty days”.”

“I was like “Well, what do you see me doing? Do you see me, like, walking the guy to the ring, like Trish and Tori at the time, I go or do you see me wrestling? They said, we actually see you wrestling, and I was like “Oh, my gosh!”, he goes to wrestle and I go “I have 3 brothers that did it. I am very much of a tomboy, you know, and I did hip – hop dancing and gymnastics as a kid”, well, kid, you know, in my young adult life. I Googled, I don’t even think it was Google at that time, ‘Pro wrestling school’ and Ultimate Pro Wrestling school came up, UPW.”

“So, I called them and said “Hey, can I train at your facility? WWF wants to meet me in 30 days” and, of course, they’re like “Yes! Absolutely!”, because if they have one of their students make it looks cool for them like “Hey, we got this person”, you know, that kind of stuff. I went to the wrestling school (UPW) with my fake nails, I didn’t have extensions at that time, but my cute little outfit, matching outfit, and no wrestling boots, just tennis shoes. No need pads, nothing.”

“I didn’t know what I was to expect, okay, they looked at me as a joke. It was, this school was: Jerry Lynn, John Cena, Samoa Joe, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels. Jon Heidenreich, It was such a good school, It was, Mike Bell. It was ran by Rick Bassman and you’re training in a boxing ring, which has no give, wooden, okay. They said, “We’re gonna teach you how to bump”, my first day, and you tell a gymnast to land on your back and they’re like “Wait, Whoa! This is crazy!”.”

“I came back the next day, and they looked at me, and they’re saying “What are you doing?” and I go “Oh my God! I just drove 3 hours cause LA traffic right” and I said “I just drove 3 hours, was I not invited?. They said “We didn’t think you were gonna come back”, and I said “I’m gonna be honest with you, I can’t turn my head left but now I have twenty – nine days to learn how to wrestle”, which is impossible. I used to think, naive Lisa, I thought it was like a dance routine; you memorized the whole match and, you know, you don’t just go out there, which is known as calling it now, you know. You go listen to the crowd, and you don’t memorize everything, you know, you know what the finish is gonna be, in certain spots, like I wanna get the in,. but that’s that.”

When asked about getting her start with the Godfather as one of his ‘ho’s’, Ms Varon said:

“Man, I was training and Godfather (Charles Wright) was looking for permanent ho’s, and, so, they were at Staples, in LA. Went down, met him and, you know, where you bring sexy clothes, you know, you don’t know what they’re looking for and that kind of stuff. I met Godfather’s wife and, we even had him on our GAW TV show, and I go “Ask your wife if she remembers me, because your wife was the one that gave the okay in which girls could be permanent”, because, you know, they used to get their the ho’s/ girls from local strip clubs, okay? And, I got the okay, that was my foot in the door, you know.”

“Of course, I didn’t tell my parents what ho, what ho was. When they came to a show, they were like “Why are they, why are they chanting ‘Save the ho, save the ho?” and I go “Oh, it’s, you know, you see us up with a sign, we’re getting the crowd all hyped, that’s what we do!”. They’re like “Okay, you are going back to med, you’re gonna go to medical school eventually?” and I go “Yeah, I’m gonna get burned out, of this, you know me, I get tired of things and I’m gonna try another adventure.”. But, it was so challenging, being a wrestler. So, so, oh, my gosh, it’s just, it’s a lot of sacrifice, you know.”

“You eat, breathe, and sleep wrestling. You’re away from your family and you have a birthday? Nope, I have a show that day. Anniversary? Sorry I have a show, you know, it’s the show must go on. We don’t have an off season, like football and baseball, you know, or soccer, and it bit me in the butt. There was a lot of people that didn’t think I was gonna, wasn’t gonna, make it and that made me work harder. I was watching the people grapple in the ring, you know, like they set up the ring and people kinda go “Hey, I wanna try a new move out”, or something like that, and people are like working out in the ring and stuff like that. There’s like some local guys trying to get a dark match, that kind of thing, performing and doing their match in front of the agents, you know.“

“I was standing in the back because, you know, I was just the side kick, I didn’t feel comfortable, wasn’t welcomed into the big wrestling family yet so I had to prove myself, and Brooklyn brawler was behind me. He said “What do you think of that?” and I go “I wanna do what they’re doing in the ring. I wanna do, I want to get in the ring. I don’t wanna just walk to the ring but I don’t want to sound ungrateful”. He (Brooklyn Brawler) goes “Go talk to. JR, go talk to JR”. I did, knock, knock, knock, knock (on his door), the best talent relations guy ever. He really took care of the talent. I love Jim Ross to death, honestly, he was always there to listen to, you can call him at 2 o’ clock in the morning and he’ll answer the phone. He’s like a dad.”

“He (Jim Ross) goes “Well, I thought you’re a physical therapist?” and I go “No, I’m a personal trainer, The PTs.” and I go “Well, Jerry Lawler says I need to move to Memphis cause there’s a school out there that, like, is a little bit, little bit more hard core, like old school style. It’s like, it’s, you know, shows on the weekends at Armory’s, at the gas station, and that kind of stuff. You train every day, there’s no day off .”. He goes “Oh, are you willing to move?” and I was like, “Yeah, if it’s gonna make me better out in the ring, yes”. So, they had a meeting. The next weekend I came back, for the Godfather, and he said. Kevin Kelly goes “How fast can you get to Memphis?” and I said “When do you need me there by?”.

“He (Kevin Kelly) goes “Can you be there by next weekend?” and I was like, okay, you know. of course. You don’t say no. I thought, I thought I was just gonna be in Memphis for like 3 months, you know, just away from home and my ex husband. I go (to my ex-husband “They want me in Memphis by next weekend” and he goes “Okay. Well, I’m going to quit my job. Let’s pack up the U-Haul. Let’s go to Memphis”. I go, “Well, what if I’m just there for 3 months? Why quit the job? What if I come back?” and he was like “No, I’m not gonna let you go out there by yourself” and, so, we moved out there (Memphis). Moved into an apartment complex, with all the boys, you know, Ekmo/ 3 Minute Warning (Umaga), you know, American dragon, Bryan Daniel, I can’t, I can’t even still, I can’t even do it. I still call him Dragon (Bryan Danielson).”

“Yeah, Spanky was there, oh my gosh, Low Ki. The Haas brothers, that’s who I travelled with mostly, and the Samoan boys. My gosh, incredible school! Bobby Eaton greeted me, cause I moved into a hotel, a travel lodge, and he came out and goes “Okay, we’re gonna have practice tomorrow”. So, I was like moved in. Didn’t unpack. Go to practice next day and I was there for a year, then they closed down the school.

When asked about where she went, after UPW closed its doors, Ms Varon said:

We had individual meetings, some people were let go and it was freaking me out as I was the last person, since I was the only girl. Molly Holly was at the school too, and then I said “Kevin! Kevin! KK (Kevin Kelly) I’m freaking out! Everybody’s either coming back out like stoic or just not selling it or happy, but not showing it. What’s going on!?”.“

“He goes “Well, I already told you you’re moving to Louisville” and I go “I thought you guys changed your mind” and he was like “No, you’re moving to Louisville to OVW. So, I went to that school. Holy moly, it was, it was going from school to school, like community college to the University, Med school or Dental school, you know. PhD in status. OVW, I was in class with; Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, Eugene, Rob Conway, oh my, Shelton Benjamin! This school, I know I’m forgetting names and I don’t want it sold to anybody, you know, but everybody made it from that school. Yeah, and at that time, I’m so green, you know what I mean.

On my first day, when I went to school, I got there and Eugene (Nick Dinsmore) and Rob Conway would be early, 3 hour early or 2 hours early before class, the regular class, because I didn’t know what the hell I’m doing. I didn’t know how to grapple, didn’t know to lock up, I did lock up but not great, and they worked with me and I had a twelve minute match with Rob Conway. They (the coaches) said “I want you to have a 10 minute match” and I go “I’ve never had a match. I don’t know what I’m doing”, so they’re like “Just do all your repertoire, what moves you can do”. I was like “Okay”, so no psychology, just get in there, locked up, so Rob Conway’s leading me all the way as he’s calling all the shots right? It went to twelve minutes, not 10, he (the coach) goes “Okay, you can stop. Good job”. I go, I ran out, vomited outside in the parking lot in the dirt.”

“Yeah, I was like, I was so blown up because nerves, so fast, cause when you’re nervous you work too fast. You’re not slow, you’re just like, you’re a deer in headlights and like “What next? What? What do I do? What what else do I do?”. Yeah, Danny Davis and Jim Cornette, oh, my gosh, this school was freaking incredible man. You don’t realize it because, I you know, green, I assumed every school was like this, until you visit another school and you’re like “Oh. yeah, oh go back to basics”, you know what I mean, instead of going straight to the flying stuff, and that’s when I realized I don’t want to be a flyer. I was a big girl and I’m a better base. I’ll I’ll catch you all day long, but to fly, more risk of injury. I’d rather hurt myself and catch somebody and let them do their pretty spot, than me to have that pretty spot.”

“I got called up few times (whilst at OVW). Remember when Godfather threw me through a table? Or the ‘Goodfather’ with RTC (Right To Censor). Yes. I didn’t know so I was “I can wrestle, I go to wrestling school, yeah I’ll go through the table”but I didn’t know it was going to take me off TV. They took me off TV, said “You’re gonna go train, 100%, and we want you to come back as a full-fledged wrestler”.”

When asked how she returned to the WWF (WWE) from OVW, Ms Varon said:

“So, I was, like, there for quite a while and would get an occasional call (from WWE). Danny (Davis) would make an announcement, because he’s watching us on the screen, on the monitors in the back, when we have matches and stuff. He’d say “Victoria”, I was Queen Victoria at the time, “come into the office”, I would go to the airport then get a call again that they changed their mind. So,I was like “Oh, okay” and again it happened and I thought, I’ll be honest with you, I thought they were testing me to see how badly I wanted it. I really did. I’m not going and being disappointed, so I thought they were holding the carrot in front of me but they (WWE) just didn’t like the story line. They were just, like, going (to Danny Davis) “That’s not really her. We have something better coming along” or they were casting me in matches that, you know. they would fit a dark match.“

“Even when I was ready to go back up (to WWE) as a full fledged wrestler, you still feel green and nervous and ask “Am I ready for this?. This is, this is, the big leagues, this is Broadway and this is the big stage”. Yeah, yeah, it was just a an incredible experience, incredible experience and I always hear, like when I do appearances, you know, like when fans are upset and say “I hated that storyline” or bup, bup, bup, bup, bup., We don’t have control over that. We can pitch ideas, but they’re not always going to go with it, right? And it’s like a, it’s like a movie. “Why did you lose that match?”, you don’t tell somebody or an actor “I don’t want to die in that movie, make my character last”, you know what I mean. It’s still the pro and you’re just, you’re just humbled and honored to even be part of having a match, even if it’s thirty second long, you know. I was in a really good generation of girls, even Jazz was at my OVW (class), she was the one that helped me learn, she was a great heel. She looks like freaking tough as, she looks like me right, but when I wrestled her and locked up she goes “All right baby, alright. We’re gonna, okay, then I’m gonna shoot you off and give you give me a clothesline”, you know, like very soothing to make you comfortable in the ring and, trust me, that was my forte.”

I think my longevity in the business, was, I was able to work with ‘green’ girls and make them feel comfortable in the ring because I was a deer in headlights a lot of the time, too. I always, you, rely on somebody else to go “It’s okay. No one knows what we’re doing, okay, we’re human”. Also, we can mess up a spot, you know, whatever, there’s the show, it’s not a retake, there’s no retakes. So, yeah, see when I do these interviews, I don’t realize how much I’ve done. It makes you appreciate, you know what I mean, like, because I still feel like a kid that has so many things to overcome, like just a lot of goals and I’m 52. I’m like “I don’t have anything else to prove in wrestling”, but, man, I have no complaints about anything in my career at all. I loved the families that we created.”

When asked why she left the WWF (WWE), Ms Varon said:

“The reason why I left WWE was, when I would come out to the car, the fans were, like, going “Oh, boo! How did you lose that match. You can totally tell!” and I was like “Oh no. They’re not believing the magic.” and it was getting to me. It was getting. It was hurting my feelings and I don’t have thick skin, whatever you guys think, I don’t. I’m very sensitive, too sensitive for the business, as Tommy Dreamer would say, but, you know, Fit Finlay was the man. He (Finlay) made us girls tough as nails, man, he was the freakin’ Godfather, I mean, the grand-daddy, like he made us freaking tough as nails. I was just, I was going to Fit (Finlay), he was like our dad, and I go “Man, am I ever going to wrestle for the championship belt again, or the championship straps or belts”, right? The title whatever.”

It was bothering me, and I went to go have a conversation with Vince (McMahon) and I was like “Do you guys see the championship in my future?” and they were like, THAT look. I was, like, “Alright, I get it”. Basically, I was doing the outfit, came back to wrestle, to help bring up the talent, right? Enhancement, I guess you can say. So, didn’t plan on going to TNA, I just was like going “Man, I want to leave”, I ended up going back and talking to Vince, Johnny Ace and Stephanie. I was knocking on the door and Chavo (Guerrero) comes by and he goes, he thought I was pitching a story line, all right, “You got this” and I’m like “Don’t talk to me. I’m going to cry. Don’t talk to me”.”

“I went in there and I said “Hey guys, I really appreciate, like, my career. I wanna still love what I do, I don’t wanna be a bitter vet, like talking bad about “They didn’t do this with me”, I don’t, I don’t wanna be like that and I still love what I do“. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, when I grew up, even though I was an adult, and I was, like, I didn’t know if I wanna have kids. I still want to leave being on top, not like “That poor Victoria. Look what happened to her!”, you know what I mean, I still wanted a passion for it. They said “Yes. Is there anything you need?” and I go, “Could I have one last match?” and they agreed, so they had me wrestle Michelle McCool. Yeah, yeah, so I was bawling, all day, and I had a whole speech written down. Nope, didn’t even, nothing. I was so emotional, when I cry I can’t talk, I’m one of those people, you know what I mean?

(After leaving WWE) “Yeah, went home joined an MMA freaking gym because, you know, going from wrestling, you can’t just go STOP. I thought, man, I still wanna be in shape, I still wanna do something active and did that for a bit. Then, TNA called me, after my 90 day no compete clause, and they said “We want to bring you in” and I was like “Can I think about it?”. They said, “Actually, we wanna debut you Monday” and I was like “That’s 5 days from now!”. They sent me the contract, they wanted to sign me for 3 years and I said “How about we just do a year, you know”. I took a big, huge pay cut, you know what I mean, wasn’t safe pay and I go “Let me just prove to you that I’m gonna be 100%, in every match you give me. I’m gonna do my best and prove to you, so my second year maybe give me a little bit of a raise and see”. I just wanted to make sure I was happy, you know, what if I didn’t like it and I’m stuck in a 3 – year contract, but I ended up staying there for 4 years.”

“Yeah, wow. My second family was, like, TNA, you know, was at ODB’s wedding, Maid of Honor. Made some amazing friends, you know. Val/SoCal Val, Mickie James, myself, we have our own show in GAW TV, on Youtube. Thank you, thank you COVID for something positive out of it. Yeah, we wanted to do something and it’s our third year doing it and we love it. It’s doing well and we have amazing guests. I wanna say to everybody that wants to be a wrestler – Be kind to everybody. Don’t think you’re over anybody. The reason why, it’s like, when we asked our friends to be on our show, they don’t charge us. They’re like “Oh my God! I was waiting for you to ask me, I was kind of insulted you didn’t ask me” and we’re like “Oh my! We don’t wanna bother you”.“

“We don’t know, like, how people at home are, if they’re still doing Comic Cons and stuff like that. So, because you’re nice, you’re like “Yeah, anything for you buddy”, you know what I mean, that kind of thing. Just yeah, yeah, so be nice you guys, you’re never over your other opponent, even if they’re just jobbing out or doing a thirty second match and let you beat them up, you know, those people help you. The lighting, the cable guys, the sound guys, everybody is part of the show. you know, man, did I even let you answer any question? (chuckling).”

You’ve done it for me. I’ll plug the questions in. It’s okay. It’s just great to chat and great to hear you.Yeah, that’s fine (chuckling). One thing I would want to go back to, though, is you’re breaking in (to WWE), you’re green. The WWE finally gives you your call back and you debut on a segment of Sunday Night Heat in 2002, I believe. You are pushed right to the top, in the segment with Trish Stratus, who’s the champion at the time. What’s going through your mind with that?

“You’re never, you’re never ready. I’ve gotta lot to prove. I gotta lot to prove. I gotta prove to them, that I deserve to be here, I’ve got to up my game. You can’t stop like. you know, and we’re human. Trish was the one that came up with storyline and when we’re up there. we would get VHS tapes and, like, in the catering room, see people’s dark match try outs and stuff like that. I had an angle with her and, we beat each other up a lot, I mean it was, it was brutal but you say sorry later, it’s not ballet and we had Finlay. We couldn’t do anything wrong with Fit Finlay, Fit Finlay was our dad. He, my God, even to grapple with him, like, before the show starts, we locked up and he took me down and I was like “W…Whoa! Easy! easy!”. He (Finlay) would laugh, you know, with this giggle and I was like “Oh, my God, yeah, he’s very snug, not stiff, snug, but safely snug.”,you know what I mean. We we were trained to work a little bit more like, not strong style. I don’t wanna say that, but just tough.”

“He made us, like, freakin’ incredible wrestlers, you know, and you don’t finish learning when you’re up there. all of us girls, in my generation. I don’t know if they do it any more, at house shows, live events, Raw, Smackdown, Sunday Night Heat and Velocity, we would get there 3 hours early and Ricky steamboat would be there, Arn Anderson, Lance Storm, Fit Finlay, Regal, they would all be prepared with their wrestling boots. They’d be like “Hey, who wants to come in the ring? Let’s just screw around” and, you know, you can ask anything stupid, like “Well, I’m not really sure how to do this move”. I’m too embarrassed to say that, but you can always say what you can’t do instead of screwing up a spot, right, or move, ask “Hey, I need to learn more on my repertoire, I mean what like I need more move set. I can’t do the same thing over and over again.”Yeah, so they would work with us before. you know, but we learned so much and by the time the show starts, we’re like beaten up and sweating and we’re like “Oh my God! I go get my makeup done, the show’s starting, the show’s starting! It was freakin’ incredible man“

When asked how she came up with her finisher ‘The Widow’s Peak’, Ms Varon said:

“How I got my finisher, t’s one of them. Molly, Holly went to an independent show and Molly Holly is very sweet and giving. She’s one of the agents up there (WWE) now, too, and she came back and goes “Victoria, I have a move for you, the finisher!”. I was like “Okay” and she goes “Okay, put me up in a power bomb, boom, over here. Okay, I’m gonna grab your wrist, hook my neck and then drop down to your butt” and I go. “What!?” cause she’s upside down. I’m like, “What? Are you serious?” and I do it and everybody’s watching because, you know, it’s not on TV, we’re just, everybody’s in the arena talking about what we do different, this match.”

“Some people are grappling, learning some other stuff, you know, the training still continues, and everybody went “What!?” (at the finisher on Molly Holly) and (Molly goes) “Vince, do you like that for Victoria?” and he goes “Are you okay? (to Molly Holly)” and she goes “Yeah. awesome!”. She (Molly Holly) got it, she went to an independent show, saw Roderick Strong do it and came back and gave it to me. I met Roderick Strong, when he was thirteen years old years old, at a hotel lobby, and he goes “Victoria, Victoria. I’m the one that came up with your Widow’s Peak” and I go “Roderick Strong?” and he goes “Yeah” and I go “You put me on the map, dude!”. I go, “Victoria would not be where she’s at without that move. It’s freaking awesome. Thank you so much, I hope you’re not insulted I took it?”.

“He (Roderick Strong) goes “No, I’m very flattered” and, yeah, took a picture with him and yeah, so, thank you Roderick Strong, very thankful! It’s devastating looking right? Crazy, Craaazy, oh my gosh yes, I’m very lucky. I’m very thankful, you know, very political (answer) but no, but I’m serious. I’ve done a lot, and nothing bad to say about anything. I was, I was lucky to be in it for so long.“

With the road you’d been on and, as you said, the confidence doubts and everything that you had, how did it feel when they put the strap on you? When you got the women’s title, beating Trish Stratus from it, as well, at Survivor Series, a major PPV for the company.

“Oh my god, yeah, I chipped my tooth, broke my nose, got a big old lump on my head. We’ were really, physically like it was, it was brutal. You don’t rehearse “Okay, hit me with the Singapore sling. Okay, catapult me in the, the corner spot”, where she catapults me. You know, I was supposed to catapult into it, she (Trish Stratus) reverses it and I go into the trash can. That’s a real trash can. It popped back out and got my nose, and I go “I broke my nose! I broke my nose!” and the referee is like “Do you want me finish it? You wanna end it? You wanna end it? and I’m like “F you! I’m getting the the title!”, you know. Adrenaline’s an amazing drug, by the way, and when you get the belt, it’s a pat on the back that you’re doing a good job but, at the same time, you’re a target.”

“Everybody wants that, they want to be the Champ. So, everybody’s pitching story lines to go against you, “I wanna, I wanna rip that championship off of her. I wanna be the next champ”, you know, cause we only had one match per night (the women’s division). You know what I mean. Also, too. what made Victoria, at the time; Stevie Richards. He really, he gave me confidence, going out there, even though I second guessed EVERY time I would go out (to the ring), I said, “Oh, wait,wait, get away! I think I’m gonna throw up. I’m gonna throw up!” and he goes “Oh my God! Again!?. I get so nervous, I get nervous belly. I want to puke, I want to pee my pants and I’m shaking. My hands are sweating and I’m just like “Can I do this? I don’t wanna mess up. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I hope the crowd really reacts”, like you’re so much pressure on you and you know the agents are watching on a monitor.”

“Vince is right there, in the Gorilla, you know, you come back and you get the eye contact, so you’re like “Oh, I got eye contact. Thank God!”, you know what I mean, cause he’s watching every single match. You know, it’s not like he’ll go, stand up and give you a hug, you know. We were, in my generation, hey, we didn’t want to go “That was a great match”, “What did I do wrong?, we would ask Fin (Fit Finlay). He would, “That was great. “This wast was great” and I’d go “Yeah, but that close line I did sucked. It didn’t land, I mean, it didn’t make sound.”, I’m like “It kind of it looked weak right?” and he goes “Well, you can make that”, you know. We wanted to be criticized, to make our craft better. We would like, would crave the, not insulted, just constructed criticism because we want, we wanted the next match to freakin’ take it higher and higher and higher, you know what I mean.”

“So, yeah, it was incredible. It was incredible, but every time you see that confident chick going out there, you know, the ‘Black Widow’ (let me plug in my shirt and then look at it, look at what it says on the back; ‘The Lady to mess with. I ain’t the Lady to mess with’. Yes, I just got that made and big shout out to Cacan Art), that top confident girl that looks like a bully and can tear through metal, it’s a facade.”

“As soon as I would, I would, be so nervous. I face the curtain. I say my prayer 3 times, cause 3 is supposed to be a lucky number for me, and then I go “Hey! Don’t forget. Watch out. I mean, I’m gonna lay this in man, just keep, you know, I’m just warning you”, that kind of thing, just bump, bump, once you feel it bump and then I hear my music. I go (head turns), right away in the freaking zone. Lisa did not exist, I became that character, that I hated in school or on movies, that were just “What an a**hole!”, you know, like, that kind (of character). I like being a heel much better because it’s easy to get people to hate, you than love you. It takes a good heel to make a great baby face, and a great baby face to make a good heel.”

“So, whoever you have a program with, you’re a married couple, you’re married for that whole story line. You’re just like, you know, “I got you. I got you.”, you trust, they have to trust you. I’m not gonna drop you, man. I got you. I’d rather hurt myself than be responsible for someone else breaking their arm or something like that, you know what I mean. Yeah, I’m very proud of today’s, like, generation of girls, champions, superstars. I almost said divas haha.”

When asked about the Women’s Revolution in wrestling, despite being part of a generation of great women wrestlers, and her thoughts on today’s generation, Ms Varon said:

“Yeah, of course, of course, we paved the way and also the people before me, you know, May and Moolah,. all the the divas before us; Medusa and Sherry Martel, I mean they freakin’ paved the way for us, and then they probably watched somebody else, you know. So, it’s not just one generation that turned like “Oh look, we’re good now!”, you know what I mean, and the fans are pi**ed off about that. You guys are more upset about that than we are. We realize, you know, cause the girls give us a shout out going “I used to watch this character. Oh my gosh! She was my favorite!” and they still say “Thank you”.”

“You know, it’s this Women’s, what, Revolution, I think is the title. It was very catchy and it’s like ‘Divas’, you know what I mean, and the next chapter, it’s like a next chapter. So, but these girls are freakin’ incredible! Incredible! They can run circles around me and I was really impressed when Trish got back in the ring and I was like “Girlfriend, you haven’t lost a beat!”. I go “You’re actually better, now, than back then!” and she goes “Yeaaahh”.”

“It’s just, they are amazing, man, they’re caliber of moves and their endurance, like, wow. I would tell the camera guy and I was like “Hey, I’m gonna hit this move, zoom in close to my face cause I’m gonna tell you I’m gonna kill this person”, do you know what I mean? I’m gonna tell a story on my face, you want the storytelling, you know, like, I was more I’m gonna stalk my prey and then attack, and then she gets one up on me. I’m gonna do whatever, I pull her hair or something to get her off me, you know what I mean.”

“It wasn’t spot, spot, spot, spot spot. I don’t work that way and I don’t memorize matches like that, yeah, that would be very brutal for me. You know, there’s a talent of calling a match, going out there and going “We got this. What do you plan?”. I go, “I might do this move, I’ll call it out there. I might do this, you know, we know the finish. Just listen to me out there”. You can go out there, you know, ODB, we never planned anything. Have fun. If the fans don’t get it, let’s turn it up, turn it up, you know what I mean. If they’re not booing, I’m gonna get on you. I’m gonna make them boo me or vice versa, but listening to the fans like, yeah. These girls (today) are ridiculous! Ridiculous, how good they are!”

“So, people trying out to be the next generation or the future superstar, they gotta be ready. These girls like the training, you can’t go in there just not knowing what the hell you’re doing, yeah, I mean, you gotta have some good training from schools even more now, you know what I mean. Yeah, and they can talk on the mic! You know, I wasn’t a very good talker. When they would they give me, like, they wouldn’t give us scripts, but like “Hey, speak on the mic just here. Here’s your bullet points. Mention this, the pay per view, bup, bup, bup and put in your own words”. I was like “Oh man, I’m more action girl man, I’m not a talker man.”. I can talk as Lisa all day long but as, you know, like, oh my God! What if I say something wrong? It was just so much pressure, I was more let me just show you what I can do, that kind of thing.”

“But, now, this generation now, you’ve got to be an expert in every freaking (area); talking, your move set in the ring, being fit and be able to keep up with the girls and get better every match. There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure, you know.“

Obviously, with the respect that’s now being given to the Women’s division, not that it hasn’t before cause it has, but it’s more of a focal point now. What was the locker room like that you were in? Were the women still seen with respect or were you just treated the same as the boys, so you just got to earn your stripes?

“No, we knew, like, we knew in my my era, they still want the sex appeal; the butt and the boobs, like, you know, be the sexy part of it with the photo shoots and stuff like that. When we had lingerie matches, were we excited about it? Absolutely not. We hated it, but we would go like this “Hey, I got a real cut, a good cut off, a great cut off spot where the people are going to forget that we’re in lingerie”, you know. We’re already half naked out there in our gear so, you know, I think we’re more clothed with our lingerie because we wore 2 bras, double underwear and our tights, you know what I mean, just the TIDAL lingerie or bathing suit kind of thing.”

“Yeah, we would try to kill it. Okay, you want them lingerie, we’re still gonna freakin’ kill each other out there, right, and forget that they’re not gonna be judging on what we’re wearing. But, we would always, like, go “Man, I wish I had a little bit more time on the screen, you know. Like, instead of a 5 minute match, I wish we had 8 minutes.”, you know what I mean. There was a lot of times, you would get to gorilla and we would have twelve minutes (match length), they’re like “Hey guys, the other matches before you went too long”, so it cut time on other people. You do not want to cut time on the main-eventers. You wanna tell Undertaker we went 5 minutes over? That you have to cut 5 minutes off Undertaker. Absolutely not! So, we would get cut a lot and, all right, we got so used to it. They’d give us the time queues (in the ring) and we’re like “Okay, let’s go home”, you know, at the end of the match. (We) still have a good match, we just cut out like, okay, I plan on doing this, let me just take that out but but we were still a family.”

“Honestly, when we had problems with each other, we would sit down in a circle and just, like, get it out. We have to get along, you know, we gotta be friends back here and you’re putting each other’s life in each other’s hands. I loved my lock, our locker room. I loved our locker room. It was a good time. I had a blast, I had a blast, but what went on the the locker room, like, you know, the ribbing and all the folks and stuff like that, it created a lot of bonding. Also, you know, when we had long drives together, we would drive like in threes or fours and share a room because we had to pay for our own rooms and our own rental cars, and a lot of bonding moments happened on our long road trips. Okay, we’re on this town now. We have to go there for the next house show, now tomorrow’s TV and then tomorrow’s Smackdown, you know what I mean.”

“So, yeah, you’re with each other more than your own family and your loved ones, you know. So yeah, I’m thankful I was in that generation, I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure the lock room right now is amazing too, I mean, cause they have amazing matches. So, I’m hoping that no one thinks they’re better than each other and (they) think of each other afterwards going “Hey, thank you!” “You made me look great!” “I got the bell because of you, thank you for making me look good, and I deserve that. Make me look like I deserve it”, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, just like, there’s just double the amount of women there when I walked in the lobby for that Royal Rumble, I was like “Oh my God! There’s like thirty women in here! We only hade like 6 to 10, you know”.”

When asked about her appearance in the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble, as the 10th entrant, Ms Varon said:

“So, I got a call (from a) 203 area code, that’s Connecticut, and I got a flashback. I go “203!? Oh my God! Am I gonna get fired?”. You don’t want to get the call from 203, this is back then, when they were doing cuts and stuff like that, and I just let it go to voicemail. As I picked it up (the phone), I go “Oh, my God! They want me in the Rumble!”. I was running errands, I don’t wanna call when I’m driving. I gotta be parked, like, I gotta be focused on this and I called Mickie and SoCal Val and I was like “I think they want me. They want me in the Rumble! I don’t, it’s in, it’s in 2 weeks! I don’t have gear! I don’t work out anymore, I don’t have my red streak (in my hair), I don’t get my nails done, I don’t tan! You know, I’m living. I’m a foodie, I’m a foodie now and a home body”. Mickie (James) was like “You need to do it. The fans need closure. You deserve this! You need to do it!” and I was like “Okay, let me call”.”

“I was like, “When is this?”, they’re like “2 weeks” and I go “I don’t have ring gear, I don’t have ring gear”. I was like, “Oh my God! I gotta call somebody to make me ring gear in a rush and how am I going to get in shape for this!?”. I bought a recumbent bike. You can’t do a recumbent bike and get ready for a match but I can’t be so sitting on my a** at home. No ring near me, you know what I mean, and I don’t know what the heck I’m gonna do. I didn’t tell anybody, I didn’t even tell my family that I’m going to be going back because I didn’t want it leaked on Facebook or, like, “Hey, good luck in Florida” or something. Got there (to the arena). They had rehearsals, which was telling you your number, and they said “Victoria’s number 10” and I start crying, and they were like “Let her get her s**t in, everybody’s been waiting for her to come! Let her get all her moves in!.”

“I go, “What!? I get all my! Oh my God! What do I do? What do I do? Out in the ring? Where? Where are my…what’s my repertoire?” and Torrie came up to me and she goes “Sis! You’re here!?”. I go, “I did not want to tell you because you would have called Candace and then Candace would have told somebody. I just wanted to be a surprise. I wanted to be a surprise”. Yeah, and, so, I’m glad that I’ll be honest with you. It was like, I wish it was in front of a live crowd, I think I would made a mess of my pants (chuckling), if there was a live crowd. It was really neat to see the computers because you’ll see me at the moment, look, and I was like “Oh my God! I’ve never seen these screens like this. There’s actual faces that are watching it and they’re actually in the audience!”, you know what I mean.”

“I thought it was really cool! But, then I was like “Okay, I gotta go to ring and, thank God for Mickie, and, you know, Bayley. Oh my gosh, oh gosh. There were so many girls that helped me. I kept on going outside, I wanted to throw up, I was so nervous. Just a lot of pressure, you know. I hadn’t been back in a long time and I’m like “I hope I look okay out there. I hope my knee brace still feel fits.” and Mickie kept on going “You know, you’re a freakin, Victoria!” I’m like, “Am I? Thanks, thanks I’m just nervous”. She’s like “You don’t need to be nervous, like, you know, people want this. They want this.”, and it was, it’s a lot of nerves. I didn’t eat, Torrie brought me fruit and she goes, she goes “You need to eat something” and I go “I’m going to throw up. I’m so nervous”.“

“They’re like, “My God, how long you been doing this year?”, and I’m like “This is big! This is big!” and did my stuff, the girls were so great. Bayley was like, “I’ll take that move. I’ll take that move” and, like, a lot of people wanted to take certain moves. They’re like, “I’ll take that move!” and I’m like “I just gave you a move (chuckling)” and it was really neat that they wanted to take a move from me, was like, I’ve never experienced that before. I was not used to it, okay, so when I got eliminated from the match, I landed outside and I went like this (tugging motion) to the the camera guy and go “Oh my god! I am so effing blown up!”. I go, “I have to leave? Hold on!”. I was so out of breath, I thought I was gonna cough up a lung, you know, that burning like when you swim too long and I was like I couldn’t get enough oxygen in.”

“I went to gorilla, you know, I’m not ashamed, I went up there and I go “You need to call the talent 2 weeks before doing this!”. I go, “I am so out of shape!”, I was like “Oh my gosh!” but it was, it was great. One of the guys said “Hey! You are ready to come back full time!”. Wait, Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute, you know what I mean. It was incredible. I was very, very, it was, I cried. It was very emotional, very, very emotional and, like, all the love and support I got on social media. I stayed off my phone for like 5 days, I was, I felt like I got hit by a truck, even though I got all my s**t in, right. I couldn’t get out of bed. I was like, cause of the nerves and just mentally and physically exhausted, I needed time off and just did not talk or anything and just veg out in my bed. No makeup, a bun, and that was, oh my God, it was, it was nuts, man!”

“When people say “Would you go back and wrestle?”, that’s probably your next question, I would love to be an agent, a coach. I don’t have anything else to prove in wrestling. I would rather help the younger talent, you know. Character development or work the psychology of a match, that kind of stuff, like, what Molly Holly does or what Gail Kim does, that kind of stuff. I don’t need to be on camera, you know, we have YouTube.com with GAW TV show, okay, slash (/) GAW TV show. That’s our entertainment right there, we’re in pyjamas, drinking wine and shooting the s**t just, you know, having fun, having great guests on there sometimes. Just us.“

“Honestly, I don’t, you know, I don’t know why people are shocked. They’re like “Oh, you need to go back!” and I’m like “No, no, no, you know, I’m 52 man. These girls are incredible. I had a great career”, you know what I mean. I would like to give back more, I’m enjoying my appearances, Comic Cons and stuff like that, you know. So, yeah. did I miss anything? No? So, yeah, look when, I’m telling you, when I do these interviews, I don’t realize what I’ve done. Honestly, yeah, yeah and it’s weird, like, I usually get recognized, I have no makeup on at Walmart, and I’m like “Oh my God! You still remember me!?”. I’m still baffled by it, it still shocks me. Crazy huh? It’s crazy!”

So, since taken a step away from the ring, what are you up to these days? What hobbies you into? What interests you got going on?

“Yeah, well, we have our show. Mickie James, SoCal Val and myself, have a show, It’s GAW TV ‘Grown Ass Women TV’ and it just started from COVID. We would just drink wine and it’s supposed to be we’re in pajamas every time, but every weekend, how many pajamas can we own? Honestly? So, we just do normal clothes sometimes, you know what I mean. We have amazing guests on there. Trish Stratus was just on there, she did the Widow’s Peak in her last cage match, and we had her (on the show). She reached out, she said “I’m only gonna do your guys’ interview since I did your move” and we’re like “Oh my God, okay, wow! Great!”. I am enjoying it, I mean, I have 2 dogs, you know. I love doing my Comic Cons, my autograph signings. I’m a nerd, geek, at heart, so my Comic Cons are a guilty pleasure for me, but I’m into paranormal stuff. I’m obsessed with the freakin’ paranormal.”

“What my baby goal is, is to be a guest on one of the, you know, like Fear Factor, Project Fear, be a guest going with someone on a ghost hunt or something like that. Yeah, but, you’ll probably see me cry because you watch it at home, in the safety of your own home scenario but I would be out there in a second, you know what I mean. I’m enjoying just, I live with my boyfriend and I have my 2 dogs but I’m enjoying doing our show and doing a lot of podcasts, stuff like that. Yeah, I do my live auctions. I have a live auction Saturday 28th October, you know, those are the signings when you could bring the fan in and talk to them, o it’s like a personal meet and greet, right, in the wrestling world.”

“I’m not totally, you don’t say ‘retire’ when you’re a wrestler, pro wrestler, it’s just not in your vocabulary. You’re always gonna be, sometime, you’re gonna be linked to it somehow, you know. It’s just, it’s nice to, you know, a lot of us like old timers, we’re friends. We don’t really, you know, Melina and I, Candace (Michelle), Torrie (Wilson), like all of us, you know, Gail (Kim) Tracy Brooks, ODB. We’ll call “Hey! What do you have planned today? You have shipping to do?, I’m like “Yeaah” and they’re like oh, I’m oh, I got ODB – “I got my food trucking to do” and then Melena goes “Oh, I’m organizing my damn closet”, like we talk about normal stuff.”

“It’s crazy, but we still end up talking about some kind of wrestling but it’s just not 24/7 now, you know. So, yeah, yeah, I still feel like a big kid though. I’m 52, and I feel like, I still feel like, I don’t know, what I want to be when I grow up. Yeah, I’m just going along with life and just not as stressed, you know, but still hustling, doing a lot of signings because I live in San Diego, California. I rest my case on that. People are like “You do a lot!” and I’m like “I have to! Look where I live, the bills won’t pay themselves.”

You can watch the complete interview with Lisa Marie Varon on the Bodyslam.net YouTube channel below:

(Please credit Bodyslam.net and Nathan Krogh when using this interview and transcriptions)

I would like to thank Ms Varon for taking the time out of her busy schedule to talk to myself for Bodyslam.net.

You can follow Lisa Marie Varon on:

Instagram (@reallisamarie)

X (@REALLiSAMARiE)

GAW TV (http://gawtv.com), alongside Mickie James and SoCal Val.

Lisa Marie Varon. com – http://lisamarievarondirect.com

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