Who were some WWE Superstars that you looked up to as a kid and when did you decide that professional wrestling and the WWE was something you wanted to do?
Some of my favorite Superstars were Bret and Owen Hart, the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. I guess I leaned toward the villains a little bit. I enjoyed what the Million Dollar Man did. I found it to be very entertaining. I loved the lady wrestlers; I loved the Fabulous Moolah, I loved Sherri Martel, I loved, at the time, Alundra Blayze and then coming into my own as a teenager I really got into Trish and Lita and all the Divas that followed suit in their ground-breaking path. That's really what brought me to the television set initially and then after going to a WWE live event when I was 11 years old in WHAT Arena in Binghamton, NY I was hooked and I was like, somehow, someway, someday, I'm going to be a WWE Diva.
How about Molly Holly? I heard she paid for your wrestling training?
Yes! After I'd pursued wrestling for a while, I got to the point where I was told if you want to take this seriously, go to WWE's training school in Louisville, Kentucky. I had met Molly through friends and she had been my contact with WWE and she said "Go to Louisville." When I went there, we had to pay tuition for the school and it was very difficult for me to come up with the money, I was a young kid and I had nothing. Danny Davis, the trainer there, was wonderful and said I could make payments. I wrote him a little check for $200 and said this was my first payment and I'll do my best to get you the next one and he wrote me a receipt, and it was for about half of what the tuition was. And I was like, "Oh no, you made a mistake, Danny, I only gave you 200 bucks." And he said, "Oh no, someone made your first payment." And through much prodding and pulling I found out that Molly Holly had donated from her own money in her own pocket and her own hard work the opportunity for me to train. Not even to get signed or anything, she just bought me an opportunity I wouldn't otherwise had. I'd love to pay it forward as much as I can in my career because she said the Macho Man [Randy Savage] had helped her and she was trying to pay it forward to help someone else who wanted to do this. It's very rare to come across something like that and every chance I get I like to tell that story because she's just a wonderful person.
Sticking to Survivor Series, how excited are you and the rest of the WWE locker room for The Rock to finally get back in the ring?
You know, I hate to be cliché and cheeseball, but The Rock often uses an adjective to describe himself and that's electrifying. And I would have to say that is the definitely the mood in the locker room. Even sitting backstage before he made his appearance on Monday in Boston. There was a definite mood change, everybody was on the edge of their seat. For me, The Rock represents a bunch of things from many of my years as a fan, and to see him back in action, it's not only going to be a throwback to some of the most exciting years as a fan, but also I think everyone is going to welcome that nostalgia and see a new Rock, the best he's ever been. I think John Cena has been put on notice, for sure.
Whenever I ask this question of male wrestlers, I always get the same answer - the Undertaker. But as a Diva, who would your dream match be against?
Undertaker's a pretty good one. I'd have to say Undertaker or Stone Cold Steve Austin, because I dig his trash-talkin' style and his smashmouth hittin'. He's the kind of wrestler I always wanted to be, you know? He also has a technical background and can go with the best of them technically, but I just always enjoyed his trash talking and his complete air of confidence, bordering on arrogance. But one thing's for sure when Stone Cold hits you in the face, you never forget it.
How about a Diva?
Probably Lita. If not Lita, Trish [Stratus], but I have stepped foot in the ring with Trish, but I'd say Lita because I hear a lot of people would like to see that dream match and just because I a huge fan of hers. When I went to wrestling school the first day the first thing I said was teach me a moonsault and a hurricanrana. Little did I know that probably wouldn't become my style. (laughs) But when I started, I said I wanted to be just like her. And eventually, my style developed into something completely different. She'd be an awesome opponent and that'd be something the fans would want to see.
So, can you confirm or deny the rumor that you and CM Punk are dating?
I plead the fifth. No confirm or deny to that rumor.
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