TNA star Ken Anderson was recently interviewed by Al Castle, senior writer at The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling magazine. Topics discussed include Anderson’s days as a WWE jobber, having to deal with his father’s death during his first WWE push, the importance of blood in wrestling, the heat he got for portraying an anti-U.S. military character, how he deals with criticism, and more.
The magazine, which features Ken Anderson on one cover and Sheamus on the other, is on newsstands now and is also available at pwi-online.com.
Here are some highlights of what Ken Anderson said about:
His WWE Departure:
“The thing is that the chairman of that company likes guys who stand up for themselves. He likes guys who aren’t just pushovers, who aren’t just ‘glad-handing, nonsensical yes-men,’ to quote another wrestler (CM Punk). And yet, it depends on what day it is and what side of the bed he woke up on. So it’s really a gamble. If you’re a pushover and you’re a wimp and you say, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes,’ you’re going to be trampled over, regardless. You’re going to get steamrolled regardless of how talented you are. But if you don’t, if you play it the other way, you have a chance of being successful. Like you said, I made some mistakes. I stuck my foot in mouth when I shouldn’t have. I spoke up when I shouldn’t have. None of it was with bad intentions. What’s more, this is the wrestling business and some guys get injured. The interesting thing for me is that you look at that roster and there are guys that get injured time and time again. The Undertaker is good for an injury every year or so. Steve Austin’s been injured. Rey Mysterio gets injured. But when you haven’t made the right political decisions, and you’ve been injured a time or two, that could be possible ammo for some of those people who aren’t your allies to say, ‘Boy, he’s injured all the time. Is he not reliable?’ And when you’re not around to defend yourself, that could be your downfall.”
His "Asshole" Character In TNA
"It wasn’t so much a change as it was this was stuff that I had pitched years ago to Vince McMahon and he said absolutely not. The very first meeting I had with him, I pitched the ‘as#####’ idea. I would bring up how Steve Austin was always telling people, ‘There are about 10,000 people here calling you an as#####,’ and that was a bad thing. But what if we turned it around? What if we played into the notion that nice guys finish last, and so I’m an as#####. I think it was Colin Powell who said, ‘It’s sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.’ It was one of those things that I knew in my head at the time would work. But now that I asked Vince and he told me no, I can’t say it for sure. Even if I did say and it worked, I’d still get into trouble. Whereas if I just went out there and said it and it worked, I could have apologized later and said I just felt it at the moment.”
Whether Wrestling should be PG:
"I don’t know how it’s possible to have a show about guys that want to fight each other, with half-naked women running around and all of the other stuff that we have, and have it be PG. I just don’t understand how that works. It doesn’t make sense to me. Me favorite years in the wrestling business were the Attitude Era. Maybe it’s as simple as they’ve decided, ‘We need it to get away from this for a while, as far away as possible, so that when we bring it back it will be a what’s-old-is-new kind of thing.’… Our target audience is 18-34. And you’re giving them PG content … If you’re 18 years old, you don’t want to see PG stuff. You don’t want to see somebody called a ‘darn butthole.’ It insults their intelligence.”
Frequent Face & Hell Turns In TNA:
“Here’s where sometimes people don’t understand the full story. There are reasons why somebody will suddenly change from heel to babyface, from a logistics concern. Maybe somebody is hurt and maybe somebody needs to fill a spot that was originally intended for somebody else. And we can’t think of somebody else to fill that role, so we need you to fill that role. Part of me thinks that wrestling needs to evolve again. There’s this thought that, in wrestling, it needs to be black or white. You’re either a good guy or a bad guy. I don’t know anybody in my life that is wholly evil or wholly good. With Breaking Bad, or Sons Of Anarchy, or Weeds—you look at these shows and there’s a guy who is a chemistry teacher who sells meth. Is this a good guy? By society’s standards, no. But we look at the TV show and we can sympathize with him. So I don’t know what the answer is. But I do believe that sometimes in the wrestling business, it’s almost forced. And it can be insulting to the wrestling audience, whereas on a TV show like Sons Of Anarchy, you decide. But in wrestling, it’s ‘Hey, I’m the bad guy. Boo me,’ or ‘I’m the good guy. Cheer for me.’”
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Tara new interview highlights
In Your Head Radio with Tara
Hosts: Jack and Oneinchbiceps
Recap by Taso the Greek
Show available at IYHWrestling.com
Tara (a/k/a Victoria) joins the IYH hosts for the second part of the show. Tara calls out Jack and Inchman about being their favorite Knockout, and talks about her trainer Rob Conway and his metro sexual ways.
Tara talks about her match with Sojo Bolt, her first friend in TNA, and their match to benefit animal rescue upcoming for Remix Wrestling in Ohio. Tara said that Sojo was a great friend in TNA but she was gone way too soon, but now her new friend in TNA is Miss Tessmacher, Brooke Adams. Tara talked about how she gets along great with Tessmacher, and brings up her skill and the fact that she was trained as a wrestler in WWE. Tara said that Tessmacher has the best ass in the business. She went on to say Tessmacher works out four hours a day in order to look that good, though.
Jack asked about the importance of looking good as opposed to being a good wrestler. Tara explained that you need to have both to succeed. She said that the best wrestlers do not get TV time and she experienced this in WWE. She went on to talk about the differences between WWE and Impact Wrestling when she first got to TNA. It was different and refreshing to her to see that wrestling was more important than good looks. The women get as much air time in the ring as they want as well, another difference from WWE. "Walking on egg shells" was another way she put it, her time spent in WWE compared to being in TNA.
Tara and the hosts talked about the main event between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong, and also her main event cage match against Mickie James. She talked about first meeting Awesome Kong. She mentioned that she has not been used a lot recently on TV with Tessmacher as Women's Tag Champs, but she had no problem going to her bosses and explaining to them that she wants to be a fighting champion. Another difference between TNA and WWE is that you can go to your bosses and tell them how you feel.
Tara talked about the PWI 50 and how it is important to her to be number one on that list. If you are in the wrestling business, you should be trying to be #1 on that list until the day you can no longer wrestle. She hopes to wrestle for a long time.
Her dream match was to wrestle Chyna. She credits Chyna for helping her into WWE. She hoped to get a match with Chyna in TNA but it did not happen.
She would also like to wrestle Eve Torres. She practices BJJ , as does Eve, and this moves the conversation over to UFC. Tara felt that when she first talked about working in MMA she was younger and if she had jumped right in she might have been able to give it a try. But now she feels that women aren’t appreciated in the MMA world. She brings up an injury she suffered on her elbow in her cage match with Mickie James, and that was the end of any serious thought about MMA.
Tara talked about gimmick matches like ladders matches or cage matches. She felt that it was an honor to do a match like that because it meant people had faith in her to do a match like this. They are dangerous and one wrong move could end your career, so they are very scary to do.
Tara talks quickly about radio shows and radio interviews and how most interviewers don’t even know what most women wrestlers do, which she finds insulting.
More on Remix Pro wrestling: Her match against Sojo Bolt is for the #1 contendership to the title, which would mean a match against Sara Del Ray. Tara explained how huge of a match that would be for her as she felt that she would mesh very well with Sara. Also, Tommy Dreamer will be at the show and Tara talked about Tommy Dreamer’s Top 5 Crazy People in the Business list and where she is situated on that esteemed honor roll. Tara talked about Tommy and Chavo Guerrero and how you develop relationships in the business.
A caller asks what is the craziest thing Tara and Brooke Adams do? Tara mentions a Youtube video that everyone can check out of her and Brooke dancing around in a hotel room. Tara and Brooke will break out in song and dance almost anywhere, which sometimes freaks people out. She mentions that she is a huge Vampire Diaries and Twilight fan. She also said she is a huge Twitter fan as well. She talked about how she rescues dogs as well, and mentioned how crazy wrestlers are in general.
Hosts: Jack and Oneinchbiceps
Recap by Taso the Greek
Show available at IYHWrestling.com
Tara (a/k/a Victoria) joins the IYH hosts for the second part of the show. Tara calls out Jack and Inchman about being their favorite Knockout, and talks about her trainer Rob Conway and his metro sexual ways.
Tara talks about her match with Sojo Bolt, her first friend in TNA, and their match to benefit animal rescue upcoming for Remix Wrestling in Ohio. Tara said that Sojo was a great friend in TNA but she was gone way too soon, but now her new friend in TNA is Miss Tessmacher, Brooke Adams. Tara talked about how she gets along great with Tessmacher, and brings up her skill and the fact that she was trained as a wrestler in WWE. Tara said that Tessmacher has the best ass in the business. She went on to say Tessmacher works out four hours a day in order to look that good, though.
Jack asked about the importance of looking good as opposed to being a good wrestler. Tara explained that you need to have both to succeed. She said that the best wrestlers do not get TV time and she experienced this in WWE. She went on to talk about the differences between WWE and Impact Wrestling when she first got to TNA. It was different and refreshing to her to see that wrestling was more important than good looks. The women get as much air time in the ring as they want as well, another difference from WWE. "Walking on egg shells" was another way she put it, her time spent in WWE compared to being in TNA.
Tara and the hosts talked about the main event between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong, and also her main event cage match against Mickie James. She talked about first meeting Awesome Kong. She mentioned that she has not been used a lot recently on TV with Tessmacher as Women's Tag Champs, but she had no problem going to her bosses and explaining to them that she wants to be a fighting champion. Another difference between TNA and WWE is that you can go to your bosses and tell them how you feel.
Tara talked about the PWI 50 and how it is important to her to be number one on that list. If you are in the wrestling business, you should be trying to be #1 on that list until the day you can no longer wrestle. She hopes to wrestle for a long time.
Her dream match was to wrestle Chyna. She credits Chyna for helping her into WWE. She hoped to get a match with Chyna in TNA but it did not happen.
She would also like to wrestle Eve Torres. She practices BJJ , as does Eve, and this moves the conversation over to UFC. Tara felt that when she first talked about working in MMA she was younger and if she had jumped right in she might have been able to give it a try. But now she feels that women aren’t appreciated in the MMA world. She brings up an injury she suffered on her elbow in her cage match with Mickie James, and that was the end of any serious thought about MMA.
Tara talked about gimmick matches like ladders matches or cage matches. She felt that it was an honor to do a match like that because it meant people had faith in her to do a match like this. They are dangerous and one wrong move could end your career, so they are very scary to do.
Tara talks quickly about radio shows and radio interviews and how most interviewers don’t even know what most women wrestlers do, which she finds insulting.
More on Remix Pro wrestling: Her match against Sojo Bolt is for the #1 contendership to the title, which would mean a match against Sara Del Ray. Tara explained how huge of a match that would be for her as she felt that she would mesh very well with Sara. Also, Tommy Dreamer will be at the show and Tara talked about Tommy Dreamer’s Top 5 Crazy People in the Business list and where she is situated on that esteemed honor roll. Tara talked about Tommy and Chavo Guerrero and how you develop relationships in the business.
A caller asks what is the craziest thing Tara and Brooke Adams do? Tara mentions a Youtube video that everyone can check out of her and Brooke dancing around in a hotel room. Tara and Brooke will break out in song and dance almost anywhere, which sometimes freaks people out. She mentions that she is a huge Vampire Diaries and Twilight fan. She also said she is a huge Twitter fan as well. She talked about how she rescues dogs as well, and mentioned how crazy wrestlers are in general.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
TNA DVD Twin Pack - Sacrifice/Slammiversary
SACRIFICE 2011
TNA Wrestling presents "Sacrifice," live from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. "Sacrifice" features TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting defending his title against Rob Van Dam, plus the pro wrestling return of Chyna, as she teams with Kurt Angle to face Jeff and Karen Jarrett. World Tag Team Champions Beer Money – Bobby Roode and James Storm – defend their gold against the team of Matt Hardy and a surprise partner, and much more in this action-packed DVD!
SLAMMIVERSARY 2011
Celebrate 9 years of Total Nonstop Action as TNA presents "Slammiversary," live from Universal Studios in Orlando. Mr. Anderson takes his war against Sting to a main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Bully Ray faces "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles in a brutal and violent "Last Man Standing" match to settle their deadly feud. This epic event features all of your favorite IMPACT WRESTLING Superstars and many more!
DVD Review - Born to Fight (starring steve austin)
DVD Review – Born To Fight (starring Stone Cold Steve Austin)
By Phil Allely
WWE legend Steve Austin has carved himself a very nice career in the world of film since he retired from the wrestling ring. He has also been able to juggle big budget hits with low budget projects that can stretch him as an actor. Known primarily as an action movie star this is one such project that allows Austin to get his teeth into the role and expand his acting skills along the way.
Born to Fight is a nice addition to the CV of Steve and it also serves well as a film that may just gain him a whole new level of fan. Telling a story we can relate to in some way this film revolves around the all to real issue of bullying. Austin plays Dan a janitor at a US high school, here he seems to happily go about his work and not really show up on anyone’s radar. Young Matthew is the school newcomer who unwittingly ends up on the receiving end of a beating and other embarrassing situations at the hands of the school boxing star.
Although Matthew tries to overcome his belittling he decides he needs to learn to box to gain the respect of his foes and to stand up to them. This is where our muscle bound lead comes in, Dan it transpires is a retired pro boxer and he after seeing potential in Matthew decides to help him train to enter the upcoming school boxing competition.
Born to Fight is a cross between the Karate Kid and Rocky films (in Austin’s own words, watch out for my interview coming soon). The tale has a meaning and moral code is there too, this is a story that makes you feel like you have invested into the narrative. Austin deserves special credit for stepping out of his comfort zone here, he has more dialogue than in any of his action features. He has also picked up many good habits along the way as well, he now works the camera better, he owns each scene he is in and he doesn’t overshadow his co-stars.
Born to Fight is released on October 3rd by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Cert 12
RRP £15.99 (DVD), £19.99 (Blu-ray)
By Phil Allely
WWE legend Steve Austin has carved himself a very nice career in the world of film since he retired from the wrestling ring. He has also been able to juggle big budget hits with low budget projects that can stretch him as an actor. Known primarily as an action movie star this is one such project that allows Austin to get his teeth into the role and expand his acting skills along the way.
Born to Fight is a nice addition to the CV of Steve and it also serves well as a film that may just gain him a whole new level of fan. Telling a story we can relate to in some way this film revolves around the all to real issue of bullying. Austin plays Dan a janitor at a US high school, here he seems to happily go about his work and not really show up on anyone’s radar. Young Matthew is the school newcomer who unwittingly ends up on the receiving end of a beating and other embarrassing situations at the hands of the school boxing star.
Although Matthew tries to overcome his belittling he decides he needs to learn to box to gain the respect of his foes and to stand up to them. This is where our muscle bound lead comes in, Dan it transpires is a retired pro boxer and he after seeing potential in Matthew decides to help him train to enter the upcoming school boxing competition.
Born to Fight is a cross between the Karate Kid and Rocky films (in Austin’s own words, watch out for my interview coming soon). The tale has a meaning and moral code is there too, this is a story that makes you feel like you have invested into the narrative. Austin deserves special credit for stepping out of his comfort zone here, he has more dialogue than in any of his action features. He has also picked up many good habits along the way as well, he now works the camera better, he owns each scene he is in and he doesn’t overshadow his co-stars.
Born to Fight is released on October 3rd by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Cert 12
RRP £15.99 (DVD), £19.99 (Blu-ray)
WWE Night of the Champions 2011
WWE Night of the Champions 2011 – Pay-Per-View Review
By Phil Allely
WWE’s Night of the Champions is a pretty good addition to the organisations long line of PPV events. This one being a bit more special as it guarantees a title defence for every champion and of course in offering that we the fans hope that a new champion or two may be crowned by the end of the night.
Tag Team champions Evan Bourne and Kofi Kngston (known as Air Boom) battled the combo of The Miz and R-Truth in the opener. A reasonable way to kick things off the DQ finish and the post-match referee beat down by Miz/Truth showed them to be real bad losers and also set up their re-appearance later on the card.
Next up the Intercontinental championship was on the line with champ Cody Rhodes defending against Ted DiBiase. The former tag team (as part of Legacy) worked well together and pulled off a thoroughly enjoyable match. Rhodes retaining his gold with the help of a handful of DiBiase’s tights.
The four-way scrap for the United States title was an early highlight in the PPV, John Morrison, Alex Riley, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler trying to out-do each other with high spots. Ziggler did his usual sneaky heel routine and pulled of the win to keep his belt, this time he allowed Swagger to get Morrison into a prone state and then steal the pin after disposing of Swagger.
The World Heavyweight Title match between Randy Orton and Mark Henry on paper had a good few faults. However as it played out in the ring this odd pairing worked so well that you believed it was a match where anything could happen and both men deserved their place in it. Henry has been in the WWe for so long now we often forget that he has often been a title hopeful and yet never held the world strap in either brand. Orton on the other hand has been winning gold and having top line matches for many years now and will be a huge star no matter if he has the prized item in his possession or not. This was a good bout and even with Orton carrying the larger Henry through most of the set-pieces Henry did cover his back and make his size work for him in his encounters with the more agile Orton. Henrys power and under rated World’s Strongest Slam move proved to be his ace up the sleeve though and he pulled off his first world title with them, leaving Orton flattened in the middle of the ring.
The Divas Title defence by Kelly Kelly against the mighty Beth Phoenix worked reasonably well on most levels. Phoenix covering Kelly’s failing in the ring and even with a few mistimed moves and an ill-judged press move it kind of did its job. Kelly once more pulled off the surprise win to hold on to the belt for another while at least.
Alberto Del Rio had only recently saw his dreams of WWE Title holding come true, so logic dictated that the odds of him losing it so soon after such hype were slim indeed. His opponent John Cena is such a huge star that with or without the title his fans love him and his nay sayers will as awlasy mock him and put him down. Surprisingly though this wasn’t Del Rio’s night, he put up a fair fight against one man gang Cena, but he did end up tapping to the STF. Ricardo Rodriguez’ interference and Del Rio’s heel tactics were no match for the WWE’s poster boy and merchandise machine here.
Last up was the eagerly anticipated No DQ match between CM Punk and WWE’s C.O.O. Triple H (who is now juggling a career both behind the scenes and in the ring, due to low true star numbers in the roster). This all out battle was the perfect finale to events and if it had have been let run its natural course there would not have been a fan who ended up feeling short changed by the result. The brutal actions of both men fed the fans nicely and built up things into a frenzy. As we saw near falls and the combatants attempt their finishing moves we were met with appearances The Miz, R-Truth and John Laurinaitis. This is where things lost the plot and got very confusing, Miz and Truth seemingly were there to ensure Punk won the match, but then they attacked him and things got very muddled for all concerned. It got worse when Kevin Nash (who many had thought was once again away from the WWE) hobbled down to ringside and got himself into the mix, nailing both Punk and Triple H in the process. The perplexing end came when Nash fell to a Triple H sledgehammer shot and Trips then snatched an opportunist pin on a prone Punk (who was recovering from a Nash Powerbomb).
Night of the Champions worked very well in parts and along the way we saw two new World Champions crowned, however the ending of the Triple H/Punk match and the puzzling interference from Nash, Miz, Truth et al all left many dazed and confused as to what had just happened. Perhaps upon a second viewing this will be easier to interpret and may even make more sense.
By Phil Allely
WWE’s Night of the Champions is a pretty good addition to the organisations long line of PPV events. This one being a bit more special as it guarantees a title defence for every champion and of course in offering that we the fans hope that a new champion or two may be crowned by the end of the night.
Tag Team champions Evan Bourne and Kofi Kngston (known as Air Boom) battled the combo of The Miz and R-Truth in the opener. A reasonable way to kick things off the DQ finish and the post-match referee beat down by Miz/Truth showed them to be real bad losers and also set up their re-appearance later on the card.
Next up the Intercontinental championship was on the line with champ Cody Rhodes defending against Ted DiBiase. The former tag team (as part of Legacy) worked well together and pulled off a thoroughly enjoyable match. Rhodes retaining his gold with the help of a handful of DiBiase’s tights.
The four-way scrap for the United States title was an early highlight in the PPV, John Morrison, Alex Riley, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler trying to out-do each other with high spots. Ziggler did his usual sneaky heel routine and pulled of the win to keep his belt, this time he allowed Swagger to get Morrison into a prone state and then steal the pin after disposing of Swagger.
The World Heavyweight Title match between Randy Orton and Mark Henry on paper had a good few faults. However as it played out in the ring this odd pairing worked so well that you believed it was a match where anything could happen and both men deserved their place in it. Henry has been in the WWe for so long now we often forget that he has often been a title hopeful and yet never held the world strap in either brand. Orton on the other hand has been winning gold and having top line matches for many years now and will be a huge star no matter if he has the prized item in his possession or not. This was a good bout and even with Orton carrying the larger Henry through most of the set-pieces Henry did cover his back and make his size work for him in his encounters with the more agile Orton. Henrys power and under rated World’s Strongest Slam move proved to be his ace up the sleeve though and he pulled off his first world title with them, leaving Orton flattened in the middle of the ring.
The Divas Title defence by Kelly Kelly against the mighty Beth Phoenix worked reasonably well on most levels. Phoenix covering Kelly’s failing in the ring and even with a few mistimed moves and an ill-judged press move it kind of did its job. Kelly once more pulled off the surprise win to hold on to the belt for another while at least.
Alberto Del Rio had only recently saw his dreams of WWE Title holding come true, so logic dictated that the odds of him losing it so soon after such hype were slim indeed. His opponent John Cena is such a huge star that with or without the title his fans love him and his nay sayers will as awlasy mock him and put him down. Surprisingly though this wasn’t Del Rio’s night, he put up a fair fight against one man gang Cena, but he did end up tapping to the STF. Ricardo Rodriguez’ interference and Del Rio’s heel tactics were no match for the WWE’s poster boy and merchandise machine here.
Last up was the eagerly anticipated No DQ match between CM Punk and WWE’s C.O.O. Triple H (who is now juggling a career both behind the scenes and in the ring, due to low true star numbers in the roster). This all out battle was the perfect finale to events and if it had have been let run its natural course there would not have been a fan who ended up feeling short changed by the result. The brutal actions of both men fed the fans nicely and built up things into a frenzy. As we saw near falls and the combatants attempt their finishing moves we were met with appearances The Miz, R-Truth and John Laurinaitis. This is where things lost the plot and got very confusing, Miz and Truth seemingly were there to ensure Punk won the match, but then they attacked him and things got very muddled for all concerned. It got worse when Kevin Nash (who many had thought was once again away from the WWE) hobbled down to ringside and got himself into the mix, nailing both Punk and Triple H in the process. The perplexing end came when Nash fell to a Triple H sledgehammer shot and Trips then snatched an opportunist pin on a prone Punk (who was recovering from a Nash Powerbomb).
Night of the Champions worked very well in parts and along the way we saw two new World Champions crowned, however the ending of the Triple H/Punk match and the puzzling interference from Nash, Miz, Truth et al all left many dazed and confused as to what had just happened. Perhaps upon a second viewing this will be easier to interpret and may even make more sense.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Tara talks TNA and more
Knockouts Tag Team Champion Tara appeared on the In Your Head online radio show last night talking about her upcoming independent appearance for a good cause. Tara will be appearing for Remix Pro Wrestling on October 8th, facing Sojo Bolt, in an event that will raise money for the Humane Society of Ohio.
On the show, Tara revealed that she’s been frustrated recently over her lack of TV time along with tag team partner, Brooke Tessmacher.
Tara says:
Recently, Brooke Tessmacher and I, we haven’t been… I’m not at TV. We were supposed to have TV [tapings] today in Tennessee and we weren’t brought in for two TVs. I’m hearing on Twitter a lot of people are like, ‘Wow, you haven’t been used a lot’ and I’ll be honest, it’s frustrating, but I’ve been making my voice known to people I work with, my bosses and everything like that, so hopefully the squeaky wheel gets oiled.
We don’t get punished for speaking up over here which is really nice. I wanna be used. The belts [the Knockouts Tag Team Championships] are not jewellery for me. It’s a championship and I want to defend it. I’m not just here to look pretty with this around my waist, so I’m hoping they use a little bit more after Bound for Glory.
Speaking on whether looks or wrestling skills are more important for female wrestlers, she says:
It is entertainment. I like to stress that. I think it’s a package deal. Fit Finlay in the past said that the best wrestlers don’t get TV time. My experience from my past, for my skills and how hard I worked at my wrestling skills, [I] wasn’t as appreciated as girls that looked like a model and it’s very frustrating.
People wanna see some good looking women on TV and who am I to say, ‘No, you wanna watch wrestling, you wanna watch wrestling’, you know what I mean? I think TNA/Impact Wrestling does showcase different realms of the women. When I first joined — Awesome Kong, ODB, Sojo, Traci Brooks, the Beautiful People — it was just like a mix of people and it was so refreshing to see not the cookie-cutter long hair, blonde hair, blue eyes girl next door. It was really refreshing to come to a division that had so much to offer. It made me feel good.
Tara also talks about her experiences working as a WWE Diva versus working as a TNA Knockout, saying:
It’s nice that the women’s division on Impact [Wrestling] has a little more free range on what we do in the ring. It’s not like, ‘Hey, you have five minutes. Only do five minutes’. They’re like, ‘Well, how much time do you want?’ [...] When I first came there, I was like ‘How much time do I have in the ring on TV?’ and they were like, ‘You just do what you want to do’. I was kind of lost because I was like, ‘I need rules’. I was so used to having rules and structure. It was so refreshing. I was like ‘Am I allowed to do this?’. I was still walking on eggshells from the past [in WWE]. When I came into TNA, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this division’s completely looked at differently’.
Finally on her match with Sojo at Remix Pro Wrestling on October 8th, which will be a very rare independent appearance for Tara, she says:
We have a lot of history. She was the first friend I made when I went over to TNA/Impact Wrestling. She was the sweetest thing but you get her in the ring and things change tunes really quick.
We only had one match together and I was so bummed because I was looking forward to having some future matches together or as a tag team or something like that. Next thing I knew she was gone. I was so sad. I was left alone on the road.
I’m super excited to face her on October 8th.
On the show, Tara revealed that she’s been frustrated recently over her lack of TV time along with tag team partner, Brooke Tessmacher.
Tara says:
Recently, Brooke Tessmacher and I, we haven’t been… I’m not at TV. We were supposed to have TV [tapings] today in Tennessee and we weren’t brought in for two TVs. I’m hearing on Twitter a lot of people are like, ‘Wow, you haven’t been used a lot’ and I’ll be honest, it’s frustrating, but I’ve been making my voice known to people I work with, my bosses and everything like that, so hopefully the squeaky wheel gets oiled.
We don’t get punished for speaking up over here which is really nice. I wanna be used. The belts [the Knockouts Tag Team Championships] are not jewellery for me. It’s a championship and I want to defend it. I’m not just here to look pretty with this around my waist, so I’m hoping they use a little bit more after Bound for Glory.
Speaking on whether looks or wrestling skills are more important for female wrestlers, she says:
It is entertainment. I like to stress that. I think it’s a package deal. Fit Finlay in the past said that the best wrestlers don’t get TV time. My experience from my past, for my skills and how hard I worked at my wrestling skills, [I] wasn’t as appreciated as girls that looked like a model and it’s very frustrating.
People wanna see some good looking women on TV and who am I to say, ‘No, you wanna watch wrestling, you wanna watch wrestling’, you know what I mean? I think TNA/Impact Wrestling does showcase different realms of the women. When I first joined — Awesome Kong, ODB, Sojo, Traci Brooks, the Beautiful People — it was just like a mix of people and it was so refreshing to see not the cookie-cutter long hair, blonde hair, blue eyes girl next door. It was really refreshing to come to a division that had so much to offer. It made me feel good.
Tara also talks about her experiences working as a WWE Diva versus working as a TNA Knockout, saying:
It’s nice that the women’s division on Impact [Wrestling] has a little more free range on what we do in the ring. It’s not like, ‘Hey, you have five minutes. Only do five minutes’. They’re like, ‘Well, how much time do you want?’ [...] When I first came there, I was like ‘How much time do I have in the ring on TV?’ and they were like, ‘You just do what you want to do’. I was kind of lost because I was like, ‘I need rules’. I was so used to having rules and structure. It was so refreshing. I was like ‘Am I allowed to do this?’. I was still walking on eggshells from the past [in WWE]. When I came into TNA, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this division’s completely looked at differently’.
Finally on her match with Sojo at Remix Pro Wrestling on October 8th, which will be a very rare independent appearance for Tara, she says:
We have a lot of history. She was the first friend I made when I went over to TNA/Impact Wrestling. She was the sweetest thing but you get her in the ring and things change tunes really quick.
We only had one match together and I was so bummed because I was looking forward to having some future matches together or as a tag team or something like that. Next thing I knew she was gone. I was so sad. I was left alone on the road.
I’m super excited to face her on October 8th.
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