Independent Wrestling Star and Mae Young Classic competitor Candice LeRae recently spoke with Ring Rust Radio to reflect on her experience of taking part in the Mae Young Classic, the possibility of signing with the WWE and the rise of intergender wrestling. Highlights of the interview below courtesy of Ring Rust Radio.
On being a part of the Mae Young Classic: “It’s still really insane to me that it even happened. I kind of feel like I did after I got married where I was seeing my name, like this new last name and I realize that I’m married and thinking did this really happen and even though I had all the pictures and stuff. Same thing with the Mae Young Classic. I got all the WWE.com accounts tweeting at me and all this stuff and I just don’t even believe this is actually happening. My husband came home from work the one day and said, ‘Alright, you ready to watch it? It’s airing tonight.’ I said no way this is actually all real. Still to this day it’s insane to me because it is something that I’ve wanted since I was a six-year-old little kid. It’s super cool and I felt like I’ve been preparing my entire career for that. That’s what everything was for so I could have that opportunity. I used to think I got into wrestling at the wrong time and it was never going to happen for me because I was a little different than some of the other girls that I was around when I first started wrestling. I’m starting to realize everything happened as it was supposed to and I got into it at exactly the right time so I am very thankful.”
On her level of interest in signing with WWE: “I would love to end up there. I’ve turned down other opportunities just in hopes of the opportunity to come to the WWE someday. Obviously, my dream has always been to wrestle for WWE and have a full-time contract there so I kind of felt if I was going to go anywhere else or do anything else I was cheating myself out of my lifelong dream. It is still to this day my ultimate goal so I’m being very hopeful and taking it day by day and crossing my fingers.”
On her dream opponents: “I would love to wrestle Kenny Omega and I didn’t realize it before, but recently I want to wrestle Cody Rhodes and part of that is because I feel like I’m converting him into liking intergender wrestling a little more than he originally thought he did. Fingers crossed. He did tweet and say I was a dream match and fans were shocked because they thought no way. Obviously, I would love to wrestle Bayley so much. She and I are both California natives and we tagged together and wrestled against each other before she was signed so would love to be able to wrestle her again. I also wish I could wrestle Asuka, that would be super cool too. I have so many people, but those four probably my top of the list with Kenny Omega be on the top of my list.”
On being the poster child for intergender wrestling and possibility of seeing it in a company like WWE: “I do understand why WWE being a family-friendly company might shy away from it because there’s that gray area where people are thinking it promotes domestic abuse and this and that. While I understand that, I’ve had a lot of women come up to me like shaking and practically in tears and some men that will come up and say that my intergender wrestling has been very empowering for them in their lives. I don’t think there’s ever a time where other than when I very first started doing it, where I was being put in the situation it wasn’t me going after the match. I feel like there’s ways to have it done tastefully. It’s 2017 and little girls want to play sports in high school with the boys so I feel as though they should. To be fair, a punch in wrestling is not a thing. It’s illegal; you can’t throw a closed fist so guys shouldn’t be punching women in general. I don’t at all support domestic abuse or domestic violence in any way shape or form. However, if I want to compete with men and wrestle against men and I’m okay with that, then I know what I’m getting myself into. I think it’s slowly but surely becoming more and more accepted by just people in general and society in general. We are in a time of women empowerment so I have faith, someday.”
LeRae also discusses working for WrestleCircus promotion, how she deals with misogynist fans and women recovering more main event opportunities.
You can listen to the full interview below:
What did you think of the interview? Would you like to see Candice LeRae signed by the WWE? What are your thoughts on intergender wrestling? Let us know in the comments below!
