Victoria Says Royal Rumble Return Was Nerve-wracking, But She’s Happy To Be Back
Victoria still ain’t the lady to mess with.
Victoria spoke with WWE.com after her surprise return in the Women’s Royal Rumble match and said she was nervous going into the match, but she’s known for always being like that.
“Nerve-wracking. I’m going to be honest with you, I think people know that I’m one of the most nervous females—I think just period—but wrestler. I get a nervous belly, sweaty hands, about to throw up, stuff like that. Not to be a Diva, but I was so nervous and these girls are so freakin’ tough!
When asked about Shayna Baszler eliminating her from the match, Victoria said, “I’ll get you next time, Shayna! She’s a tough cookie, man!” After speaking about why it meant so much to have her in the ring with today’s stars, Victoria said “I appreciate it and I want all you Widow’s Peak Freaks out there to know I love you so much, and I’m happy to be back. Thank you.”
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Victoria (Lisa Marie Varon) announced her retirement from in-ring competition last year, and spoke with WrestleZone about why she knew it was the right time to hang up her boots. Lisa didn’t know it would be her last match going into the event, but ultimately decided to retire shortly before her singles match with Melina, an opponent she’d surprisingly only had one singles match with prior to her farewell bout.
“I didn’t plan on my last match to be that night, I’ll be honest with you. The promoter said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me it was your last match? I would have promoted it like that.’ I said, ‘You know, I decided it 30 minutes before going out.’ For how nervous I get before matches, almost turning 50 and being in a main event of a wrestling show,” Varon said, “not just a female wrestling show—it’s with males. I said, ‘We have to turn it up. I mean we have to do some dangerous stuff. We can’t just do a “ha-ha ga-ga match,’” you know?
“I was so nervous, I was about to puke, this is me every time though—I pace, I sweat, sweaty hands, nervous belly. I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ I’m exhausted before going out to the match. I [thought], I’m main eventing. I’m getting the championship belt and it’s from a female promoter,” Varon said, “and I can’t go higher than this. I asked the referee out there, ‘Can I have the mic?’ Get the mic and said ‘Thank you guys for all coming to my last match’ and it was like (gasp)—yeah and I decided there. And I felt good about it, I wasn’t sad or anything like that. You know your body. The nervousness comes from I’m older and I don’t want people to see any weakness in my performance. I still want to work just as good as I was back in the day. I wanted to go out with people saying ‘You still got it.’”
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
Read More: Lisa Marie Varon Decided She Was Retiring 30 Minutes Before Her Final Match Against Melina