Former SmackDown Superstar Kristal Marshall was a recent guest on Noonan Speaks podcast to look back at her WWE career, which Superstar she was starstruck by and which Superstars she stays in contact with. Highlights of the interview below, courtesy of Wrestling INC.
On first arriving at WWE: For the most part, I would say the Divas that were already established and on the road, they were very welcoming. At the same time, they were kind of keeping their eyes open to find out who the bad seeds were, more or less. Who didn’t really want to be there? Who didn’t really want to adopt? Who just wanted to cause problems and be a prima donna, so, for me, I was very alert. I didn’t want to piss anybody off and there were a few girls that I really, really respected, so I just stayed clear away from them and kind of gave them their space. I was very starstruck.
Which Superstar she was starstruck by: I remember the first time that I saw Lita, I just stared at her like a moron! I was just kind of like, ‘hi!’ I didn’t really know what to say. I had those moments for a while and you adjust, sort of. It was surreal! She bounced around [between brands], so I didn’t get to develop much of a relationship with her, but from the bits and pieces that I did gather, just watching her career through the years, Lita is a certified badass. She is. She’s a pioneer. There was never anybody like her. There’s never going to be anybody like her. And there was a big part of me that wanted to be like her. Not in the sense of having the tattoos and all that, but I wanted to be at her level of badassery, if that makes any sense.
On Melina being misunderstood: In all fairness, I’m going to have to bring up Melina. I think that Melina was one of, definitely during my era, one of the most misunderstood female wrestlers and I say, ‘misunderstood’ now because, when I was there, I didn’t like her. I thought she was really rude. I felt like she thought she was better than anybody else. But now that I’ve kind of seen her here and there through the years, kind of got the chance to talk to her a little bit more, and I’m starting to get the feeling that that’s not the whole version of Melina that we were exposed to during that time. And, in all fairness, looking back, I think she was probably incredibly shy. Incredibly shy and I felt like, again, like I said, there’s usually just that one spot on TV for a Diva and when I was there on SmackDown, Melina was at the top of her game and she was that b—h, so I feel like there was a lot of animosity from other girls towards her, so I think maybe she had a target on her back at the time, but now, it’s like I see her in passing and it’s like, ‘Hi, how are you?’ and she’s so sweet and she’s endearing, and very sensitive, and some wonderful things there, so I don’t know. Maybe she [has] changed or whatever. But I do kind of wish that I took the time or I could’ve gotten to know this Melina.
On her WWE departure: There was a time when, like I said, I was super bitter, very upset. I felt like when I left, there [were] a lot of things that I set out to accomplish that I didn’t. There was a point where I felt like certain girls got more opportunities and boo hoo hoo this and that. But do you know what? Like I said, I’ve done a lot of work on myself and there are a lot of f–king things that Can be really happy for. And there [are] a lot of s–tty things that happen in the business, but nothing’s f–king perfect. The wrestling business is one giant dysfunctional family and there’s like one cousin you can’t take anywhere, like a drunk uncle, there’s your slutty cousin. There’s somebody that fits every dynamic of a family, but the one thing that’s very interesting about wrestling as much as everybody hates it, everybody did hate it or had mixed feelings about it, if you ask anybody if they had any good moments in wrestling, they will always say, ‘yes’ and they will always smile if you ask them, ‘what was the best part of your [pro wrestling] career?’ There will always be something positive.
On which Superstars she stays in contact with: I talk to Layla quite frequently. I was actually in her wedding. She got married a couple of years ago. Let’s see, who else do I talk to? I touch base with Ashley; Torrie, here and there; Barbie, I touch base with Barbie every now and then – we’re kind of touch and go, Barbie Blank, Kelly Kelly; Sharmell, every now and then we kind of reach out and chitchat; Jillian also. I think that’s about it. I keep in touch with those girls because we were all in the SmackDown locker room during that period of time. Also, another girlfriend of mine who was in developmental, her name was Krissy Vaine, Kristin Eubanks, who is actually married to Ryan [Parmeter] who is part of Ascension right now. She’s one of my very dear friends. Like, she’s amazing and she helped me through some pretty rough patches.
Marshall also discusses her relationship with Bobby Lashley, dating in wrestling and thoughts on how things have changed since she was with the company.
You can listen to the full interview here.
What did you think of the interview? What are some of your favorite Kristal Marshall moments? Would you like to have seen her do more during her wrestling career? Let us know in the comments below.
