Impact Wrestling Knockout Rosemary was recently interviewed Sportskeeda to discuss the rise and creative control of her character, changes in Impact’s management and Laurel Van Ness’ (Chelsea Green) departure from Impact. Highlights of the interview below.
On being considered one of the most popular character on Impact: “Thank you for that. There are a couple of reasons why and one of them has to do with the fact that Rosemary has never tried to hide the fact that she’s different. She has encouraged herself and other people to embrace being different, including Crazzy Steve and Abyss when we did the story when I was transforming them. I thought it was a very iconic moment in our group when I convinced him to take off the mask because people called him a monster, and to me, he was beautiful. I think it was an iconic moment in the group because it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. You have to love you, and you have to accept you for who you are. And then, you can achieve great things. And even though we’re not on the side of good, and not necessarily on the side of evil…we’re just on the side of Decay, it was a moment of like, embrace who you are! And I think that moment spoke to a lot of people. Even my fans who’re called The Hive, I’ve seen so many of them interact on social media to each other. Not even necessarily with me. They come together because of finding acceptance in my fan base and not all of them are socially popular or accepted in like cool circles or anything like that. They know that it’s okay to be different in among this group.”
On Laurel Van Ness’ Impact departure: “Laurel’s an amazing character and an incredible friend of mine. I know that she simply wants to go and expand and grow. She’s still very very young in the business, she has so much more to offer and she’s already this good at doing a character which is amazing. And I love her so much. She’s so talented. Wrestling is fluid. It never stops moving and it’s circular. There’s never an end. There’s no reason that down the road Laurel might not return to the Impact Zone. It’s that right now her part of the story is over and she might show up at a chapter down the road. It’s wrestling. Never say never. It’s definitely a loss not to have her as such a strong character in the division. But there are strong characters waiting to debut and waiting to come up as well. And we will fill the void as we always have with every departure. Same as we did with Maria’s departure. And we’ll keep doing so.”
On the company’s direction under new management: “To anyone who’s concerned about it, these past tapings that we just did in January, were possibly the most positive feeling in the sense that it felt very fresh and it felt like we had a direction, which I can honestly say was the first time in a year. This new direction under Scott D’Amore and Don Callis…I know that Impact and TNA have constantly, through the years, asked fans to give them a chance. As a personal feeling, I honestly believe that if you were going to give Impact another chance, now’s the time. I felt the difference backstage in one taping block. And I think there’s really something there, going forward. And I’m excited about it. So, I hope other people can feel excited about it as well.
On still being a part of the Impact roster: “I have a lot more of Rosemary’s story to tell for one thing, and I look forward to telling those chapters. I look forward to see what’s in store for her. I have a lot of fun doing my character and seeing what Rosemary’s going to do next. Learning about her and learning about myself in playing her. I really love the amount of trust creative has in me, to bring this character to life since they don’t really tell me what to say. They tell me what point needs to come across in the promo. They tell me to say it like I would. They don’t give me any lines.”
Rosemary also discusses her feud with Taya Valkyrie, being influenced by Kane and The Undertaker and her experience wrestling in India.
You can listen to the full interview below:
What did you think of the interview? Have you been enjoying Impact’s new creative direction? Where would you like to see Rosemary’s character go next? Let us know in the comments below!
