In a recent interview with Bodyslam.net, former WWE Superstar Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria) discussed quitting WWE and potentially being interested in transitioning to a behind-the-scenes role.
Victoria’s first WWE run lasted from 2000 to 2009. Victoria was the tenth entrant in the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match, marking her first appearance with WWE in almost twelve years.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On why she left WWE: “The reason why I left WWE was, when I would come out to the car, the fans were, like, going ‘Oh, boo! How did you lose that match. You can totally tell!’ and I was like ‘Oh no. They’re not believing the magic.’ and it was getting to me. It was getting. It was hurting my feelings and I don’t have thick skin, whatever you guys think, I don’t. I’m very sensitive, too sensitive for the business, as Tommy Dreamer would say, but, you know, Fit Finlay was the man. He (Finlay) made us girls tough as nails, man, he was the freakin’ Godfather, I mean, the grand-daddy, like he made us freaking tough as nails. I was just, I was going to Fit (Finlay), he was like our dad, and I go ‘Man, am I ever going to wrestle for the championship belt again, or the championship straps or belts,’ right? The title whatever.’
“It was bothering me, and I went to go have a conversation with Vince (McMahon) and I was like ‘Do you guys see the championship in my future?” and they were like, THAT look. I was, like, ‘Alright, I get it.’ Basically, I was doing the outfit, came back to wrestle, to help bring up the talent, right? Enhancement, I guess you can say. So, didn’t plan on going to TNA, I just was like going ‘Man, I want to leave,’ I ended up going back and talking to Vince, Johnny Ace and Stephanie. I was knocking on the door and Chavo (Guerrero) comes by and he goes, he thought I was pitching a story line, all right, ‘You got this” and I’m like “Don’t talk to me. I’m going to cry. Don’t talk to me.’”
On what she told WWE when she left: “I went in there and I said “Hey guys, I really appreciate, like, my career. I wanna still love what I do, I don’t wanna be a bitter vet, like talking bad about “They didn’t do this with me”, I don’t, I don’t wanna be like that and I still love what I do“. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, when I grew up, even though I was an adult, and I was, like, I didn’t know if I wanna have kids. I still want to leave being on top, not like “That poor Victoria. Look what happened to her!”, you know what I mean, I still wanted a passion for it. They said “Yes. Is there anything you need?” and I go, “Could I have one last match?” and they agreed, so they had me wrestle Michelle McCool. Yeah, yeah, so I was bawling, all day, and I had a whole speech written down. Nope, didn’t even, nothing. I was so emotional, when I cry I can’t talk, I’m one of those people, you know what I mean?”
On TNA being her second family: “Yeah, wow. My second family was, like, TNA, you know, was at ODB’s wedding, Maid of Honor. Made some amazing friends, you know. Val/SoCal Val, Mickie James, myself, we have our own show in GAW TV, on Youtube. Thank you, thank you COVID for something positive out of it. Yeah, we wanted to do something and it’s our third year doing it and we love it. It’s doing well and we have amazing guests. I wanna say to everybody that wants to be a wrestler – Be kind to everybody. Don’t think you’re over anybody. The reason why, it’s like, when we asked our friends to be on our show, they don’t charge us. They’re like ‘Oh my God! I was waiting for you to ask me, I was kind of insulted you didn’t ask me’ and we’re like ‘Oh my! We don’t wanna bother you.’”
On potentially going back to WWE in a backstage role: “When people say ‘Would you go back and wrestle?,’ that’s probably your next question, I would love to be an agent, a coach. I don’t have anything else to prove in wrestling. I would rather help the younger talent, you know. Character development or work the psychology of a match, that kind of stuff, like, what Molly Holly does or what Gail Kim does, that kind of stuff. I don’t need to be on camera, you know, we have YouTube.com with GAW TV show, okay, slash (/) GAW TV show. That’s our entertainment right there, we’re in pajamas, drinking wine and shooting the s**t just, you know, having fun, having great guests on there sometimes. Just us.”
You can keep up with all your wrestling news right here on eWrestlingNews.com. Or, you can follow us over on our Twitter and Facebook pages.
Former WWE Superstar Lisa Marie Varon, also known as Victoria, recently discussed her departure from WWE and her potential interest in transitioning to a behind-the-scenes role in a recent interview with Bodyslam.net. Varon’s first run with WWE lasted from 2000 to 2009, and she made her return to the company as the tenth entrant in the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match.
During the interview, Varon revealed that one of the reasons she left WWE was because she felt that the fans were not believing in the magic of her character. She mentioned that their negative reactions were starting to affect her emotionally, as she is a sensitive person. Varon also shared that she had a conversation with Vince McMahon about her future with the company and realized that they did not see a championship in her future. This led her to make the decision to leave WWE.
Varon also discussed her departure from WWE and her desire to still love what she does without becoming a bitter veteran. She expressed her gratitude for her career and her passion for wrestling. Varon requested one last match before leaving, which WWE granted, and she wrestled Michelle McCool. She admitted that she was emotional throughout the day and didn’t deliver the speech she had prepared.
When talking about her time in TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling), Varon referred to it as her second family. She mentioned that she has made amazing friends during her time there, including Val/SoCal Val and Mickie James. Varon and her friends have their own show called GAW TV on YouTube, which has been running for three years. She emphasized the importance of being kind to everyone in the wrestling industry and shared that their friends willingly appear on their show without charging them.
Regarding her future in wrestling, Varon expressed interest in transitioning to a backstage role in WWE. She mentioned that she doesn’t have anything else to prove in wrestling and would rather help the younger talent with character development and match psychology. Varon cited Molly Holly and Gail Kim as inspirations for this type of role.
In conclusion, Lisa Marie Varon’s interview shed light on her departure from WWE, her time in TNA, and her potential interest in a backstage role in the wrestling industry. Her insights provide a glimpse into the challenges and emotions that wrestlers face and the desire to continue contributing to the industry in different capacities.