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Tonight, Paige became the first woman to grace a live edition of the Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network. In the interview, Paige talked about coming from a wrestling family, lessons learned, overcoming adversity, the Diva Revolution, Tough Enough and more.
Her first match: Paige recalls her father being short a woman for a match and tossing her in as a substitute. She was knocked out during the match, possibly through taking a bump incorrectly. She loved it nonetheless and after the experience was “bitten” by the wrestling bug.
Her mother wrestling while pregnant: Saraya was gorilla pressed out of the ring onto Paige’s father and didn’t feel well afterwards. She found out she was pregnant with Paige shortly after. Paige jokes that that’s how she got scoliosis.
Being a bouncer and a bartender: Paige talks about tending bar and bouncing at the family bar as a teenager. She broke up a fight between two girls when she was fifteen, catching one in a headlock and sitting on the other’s head.
Wrestlers she looked up to as a child: She says she looked up Bull Nakano, Lita (who she dressed up as for Halloween), Alundra Blayze, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rikishi. She says she admired Austin’s ability to retain his character whether he was a babyface or a heel.
Failing her first WWE tryout: She made the mistake of trying to be a stereotypical “Diva”, getting a spray tan, getting her hair done and dressing all colorful. She didn’t feel comfortable at all. She was so nervous she busted a woman’s lip open during her tryout. Six months later, she tried out again dressed like herself and made it.
Wrestling “snug”: She says as long as you’re not hurting anyone, you can wrestle stiff. However, her fellow Divas didn’t like her physical style and were mean to her. She tells a story about accidentally knocking Summer Rae in the teeth and making her cry, prompting the other Divas to accuse her of trying to sabotage Summer.
What she learned from the late Dusty Rhodes: She says Dusty kept her sane inside of insanity. She was lonely, having moved across the world at NXT and feeling isolated from the other girls. One of the most important things he taught her was to save her money. She tells a story about getting frustrated with him in promo class, calling him a “motherfucker” and storming off to the locker room. The two had a hear-to-heart afterwards where Paige realized that he just wanted to bring the best out of her.
Her father instilling toughness: She tells a story about getting hit by a car and her dad insisting she work a show that night. She admits it took a while for her to realize that most of the other girls weren’t brought up with that kind of toughness.
What she learned from her mother: Her mother would slow her down by smacking her if she rushed in the ring. After a while, she’d start smacking her back, but Saraya put a stop to that quickly.
The roots of the Diva Revolution: She credits Triple H with starting the Diva Revolution back during the first NXT live special, having given her and Emma 20 minutes to wrestle on the show.
Performing in front of small crowds: Some wrestlers lament when a live event only has 1,000 or so people in attendance, but she says she’d wrestle in front of two people if she had to.
Being tough on Tough Enough: She says she’s gotten death threats over her harshness as a judge. She’s a 10 year veteran and says her parents were tough on her when she was coming up, so she wants to impart the same thing on people like Sara Lee.
Amanda getting saved last week: She says she has nothing against Amanda, but doesn’t think she should’ve been saved by The Miz for being hot.
Goals for the future: She wants to be Divas Champion again, wants to wrestle at WrestleMania again and make it into the WWE Hall of Fame. She also jokes about changing the Divas Title back in to the Women’s Title.
Wrestling at WrestleMania 31: She says the logistics for the open air stadiums make it difficult to hear the crowd in the ring, so she mistakenly thought the crowd was dead during their match. Dean Malenko assured her that the sound “disappears” in a stadium and she should be able to hear a pin drop in the ring.
Watch clips from the interview below:
You can watch a replay of the special on the WWE Network.
What did you think of the interview?
