Maria Kanellis Recalls Once Flashing Legendary WWE Tag Team At Autograph Signing

Former WWE star and current Ring of Honor talent Maria Kanellis stopped by the Wrassingh Show this past Sunday to talk wrestling. Maria revealed she had been a fan of wrestling ever since she was a kid, and recounted one story about flashing one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history.

“I was!” Maria answered when asked if she grew up a fan. “I watched it with my brother when we were kids. I broke my brother’s nose while doing wrestling moves on him when we were little little kids and then I got back into it when I was in high school. I went to a show when I was like 19 years old and um there was a big window where the Hardy’s were and they were doing a signing. So my boyfriend at the time, put me up on his shoulders and I flashed the Hardy Boys because I was just so excited to be there!”

Maria’s heyday as a wrestler in WWE took place during her first run from 2005 to 2010, whereas she mostly served as a manager to her husband, Mike Bennett, during her second WWE tenure. When asked who she clicked with best as a wrestler, Maria revealed she worked best with three fellow performers.

“I had a lot of chemistry with Beth’s Phoenix,” Maria said. “I loved tagging with Mickie James. I also had a lot of matches with Michelle McCool, so I had a lot of great chemistry with several of the girls. Everybody was pretty safe. The only time that things weren’t safe was when we were forced to wrestle in our heels or our bikinis or we didn’t have the proper gear. So that was the most dangerous part during that time. It had nothing to do with the girls I was in the ring with, it had everything to do with what WWE management wanted us to wear.”

Later Maria discussed who exactly helped pioneer the Women’s Evolution in WWE, something that is continuing to evolve to this day. According to Maria, there are so many important women in WWE history that you can’t pinpoint any specific ones that led the movement.

“So I don’t think that you can pinpoint it on a few girls,” Maria stated. “I think that you’re gonna have to look way back in time to really start the evolution. Alundra Blayze, who I had a really long conversation with the last time I saw her, was telling me about how she was just trying to get her name put on the card. Her name wasn’t advertised and that was a big win for her, just to get her name advertised. So, when we start talking about the history of women’s wrestling, we need to stop focusing on these most recent facts! We need to look past that and go farther into the past.

Like Molly Holly was a tremendous wrestler, but she gets thrown into like this whole, like ‘we hate the Divas’, and that was when it was all switching into the Attitude Era and then they overlooked the fact of how good she was in the ring. And again, if she was placed into matches that were shorter, it’s not her fault, she was very talented. Unfortunately, the WWE management was not talented enough to understand that women’s wrestling could be viewed as respected and could be viewed as important. So for me, there are too many to name but I would definitely say that there are, from every single era, there are women that have added to this industry and have created opportunities for others.”

Beth Phoenix Reveals The Origin Of “Glamazon”

The second WWE Icons was about Beth Phoenix. During her episode, Phoenix revealed how she came up with the Glamazon moniker.

The WWE Hall of Famer revealed she got it from watching the HBO show, “Sex and the City.” (H/T to WrestleZone).

“I had to start over,” admitted Beth. “I was looking for a way to repackage myself and catch everyone’s attention again like I had the first time. They knew I could wrestle, I needed something more. I was watching Sex and the City and I heard the term ‘Glamazon’ used and was like, ‘That would make a fabulous moniker.’

I got a phone call that said, ‘You’re going back on the road,’ and it never stopped. I started creating the tiara look to stand out, to have one item that would brand me amongst the women. It was my Bret Hart sunglasses.”

WWE Icons premiered on January 31, 2021, with an episode about WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna.

Kayla Braxton Reveals She Is Bisexual, WWE Hall Of Famer Responds

Kayla Braxton, a backstage interviewer for WWE SmackDown and the host of Talking Smack, has revealed that she is bisexual.

Through a tweet on Wednesday night, Kayla said that she is “over having to choose” not just her ethnicity but also her sexual orientation.

Kayla tweeted, “My whole life, I’ve had to choose. Are you black? Are you white? Which bubble do you fill in on the SATs? I always filled in “other” because nothing applied to me. Tonight, I choose to be over having to choose. Hello world. I’m Kayla. Oh. And yeah – I’m Bi.”

WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix responded and sent a virtual hug towards Kayla.

Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Lance Storm tweeted, “You be you, and be happy.”

Paige Hoping To Come Out Of Retirement, Beth Phoenix Responds

Former two-time WWE Divas Champion Paige is hoping to follow in the footsteps of WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Daniel Bryan and come out of retirement from a career-ending injury.

During a backstage segment on tonight’s SmackDown, Edge said that Bryan returning to the ring in 2018 inspired him to do the same. Bryan then said that Edge, the winner of the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble, should pick him as his opponent at WrestleMania 37 if Bryan is able to capture the Universal Championship at Sunday’s Elimination Chamber event.

Edge then asked Bryan if he would call that “a dream match.” Bryan said some people would call it “long overdue,” to which Edge said those people would be right.

While reacting to the segment, Paige tweeted, “one day” with a fingers crossed emoji. She was responding to a tweet from the WWE on FOX handle, which captioned “Retirement” while sharing the Edge-Bryan exchange.

Beth Phoenix, the wife of Edge, reacted to Paige.

“You deserve it,” wrote Phoenix.

Paige, 28, retired in 2018 after suffering a career-ending neck injury during a house show.

Candice Michelle Says She And Melina Nearly Had A Real Fight In The Ring

Former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle recently appeared on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast to talk about her no-show on last week’s RAW Legends Night despite being advertised for the show, her brief run as WWE 24/7 Champion in 2019, and a possible return to the ring, among other topics.

When asked to reflect on her return to WWE TV in 2019 at the RAW Reunion show, Michelle emphasized that she’s always been loyal to WWE and cherishes every appearance she makes for the company.

“I’ve always been very loyal to WWE,” said Michelle. “I’ve never taken anything personal. I remember talking to John Cena and he told me, ‘when you are starting to get noticed, get the fans to get behind you or hate you, you’ve done your job.’

“When you get to that level, or creep in there, and then its taken away from you…it’s really hard. But I remember him [Cena] saying, ‘it’s a machine, it’ll go on with or without you.'”

Michelle said her conversation with Cena helped her adopt a mindset towards the wrestling businesses.

“When I go back, I get to be a part of the circle. I love them there, they are my brothers and sisters. It’s a brotherhood there, I have a great relationship with everyone. And to take home the 24/7 Championship was awesome [sic]. Because when I went in there, I had no clue if I was gonna be featured or whether they want me back. My mindset was, I’m just gonna show up for me.”

Michelle stressed, “I believe the world belongs to those who show up and do the work.”

The former WWE Superstar also addressed the recent social media exchange between Cardi B and Lacey Evans.

“I didn’t watch the whole segment. But looking at it from outside, I can tell Cardi B is loud, in-your-face, and a great WWE character. People love her, and love to hate her. So, she’ll make great character in WWE,” she said.

Michelle went onto reveal that her match with Melina happened because the two women genuinely hated each other.

“When things start firing off on Twitter, things can get bad. That’s actually how my match with Melina happened. Legit. We hated each other. We were legit gonna go into a real fight at a house show. Twitter had just started, we said something to each other and then we had a match. It makes for great TV. Any time there’s any heat or drama, Vince is incredible at taking that kind of stuff and running with it.”

Michelle delved into the source of her hatred for Melina.

“She just hate the fact that she came up with the indie scene and to wrestling school, she busted her butt that way. And to her, I was this pretty girl from Hollywood who just got lucky and got a deal. For her to wrestle against me was almost a disgrace for her. And she made that very clear.”

Michelle admitted that working with Melina helped her improve as a performer.

“Most matches I had with her I actually learned a lot. We also did an indie show together and I gave this motivational speech and told Melina, ‘I respect you because you pushed me to be better.’ She taught me how to work the crowd. As a newbie not going to wrestling world, I want to perform for the crowd. I want to be great. When you can dance, its really frustrating.

She continued, “I remember coming back from a broken nose and telling Lisa Marie Varon that she needed to stay away from my nose. Lisa told me if she needed to stay away from her nose than I’m not a wrestler. It was different working with Beth Phoenix because she would lay out all the spots and the flow was great.”

Mandy Rose Reveals Which WWE Legend She Would Look Up To

Since placing second in the 2015 season of WWE Tough Enough, Mandy Rose has been a staple of WWE programming. Despite not winning the reality show, Mandy was signed to a developmental contract and starred in season 5 of E!’s Total Divas. Speaking on Table Talk w/ DVon, Mandy revealed she was not always a big wrestling fan.

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t always watch wrestling growing up,” Mandy said. “I watched here and there, but I wasn’t a huge diehard fan until I got a little bit older and I started kind of watching a lot of Trish Stratus, and Lita, and a lot of the women – Beth Phoenix.”

Since she made her way to the main roster, The Golden Goddess has received many comparisons to WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. According to Mandy, she has always viewed Trish as a role model.

“I’d have to say Trish was definitely one of my all-time favorites,” Mandy said. “And seeing her when I was kind of going through my fitness career and having similar careers into getting into wrestling, she was always kind of someone I looked up to. And she was such a success story where she came from. So, I felt like it kind of gave me the motivation. She’s always been my inspiration, and still to this day [she is].”

While the comparisons may be intimidating, Mandy says she doesn’t feel that pressure.

“She’s such a cool, genuine person to talk to,” Mandy said. “… When I saw her later on in life, I was like, ‘Wow, those shoes I would love to fill’.”

Both Mandy and Trish were entrants in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018, but their paths unfortunately did not cross during the battle royal.

“We didn’t get to actually work because in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble, I got thrown out by Lita, which I was like, ‘Cool, no problem,'” Mandy said. “So, I didn’t actually get to work with her one on one. But being in the same ring with her was obviously a really cool accomplishment.”

Staying in character in a big part of being a WWE Superstar. Most wrestlers embody their gimmicks both at work and in public. For Mandy, she says her character is close enough to the person she really is, so it’s not too challenging to play her part.

“I mean, I feel like I always try to kind of stay in character most of the time, especially at work. And a lot of us are all ‘versions of ourselves times a thousand’, we like to say,” Mandy said. “So, I feel like the closer you are to yourself, the easier it is portrayed to others and other people perceive you, and the more believable it is for sure. And I feel like I definitely do have a little routine though.

“Before my match, I have this weird thing where I have to do 20 push-ups, and sometimes, I do a little more if I have extra time. But it has to be 20, and just the normal [stuff], like stretching and kind of just getting in the moment, because once you come out those curtains, that’s it. You’re live. So, I would say I’m just really focusing on being in the moment.”

Why Did This WWE Star Retire In 2012?

Speaking on the After the Bell podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix revealed exactly why she decided to call time on her in-ring career back in 2012.

Phoenix was storyline ‘fired’ by then-Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero for her performance in a match with AJ Lee in October 2012. Yet, in reality, the former Women’s Champion had given her notice in September and wanted to leave for a number of reasons.

She told podcast host Corey Graves that both of her grandparents and her uncle – who she was particularly close to – all suddenly passed away from cancer during a one year period. Due to her commitments to WWE, Phoenix unfortunately had to miss funerals. On top of this, Phoenix also claimed she was exhausted from the crazy WWE schedule and the star admitted that she ‘shed tears over hoping that I didn’t waste my life.’

At this time in her life, Phoenix had also just met Edge in the wake of his sudden retirement from wrestling and the pair both decided they were ready to start a family. All of the above eventually led to Phoenix choosing to step away from the ring at such a young age.

The ‘Glamazon’ has since sporadically appeared in matches over the years, appearing in a few Women’s Royal Rumbles and wrestling at WrestleMania 35. Outside of the ring, Phoenix currently performs as an NXT colour commentator.

Beth Phoenix On Which WWE Star She Still Wants To Have A Match Against

WWE Hall of Famer and NXT announcer, Beth Phoenix, dropped by on this week’s episode of The Bump’s to celebrate the fifth-year anniversary of the Women’s Evolution, something that she had a big part in creating. In her career, Phoenix has risen above many challenging obstacles only to come out stronger.

Even though she looks like nothing can defeat her, she opened up about her insecurities with her body and how for a long time, she felt like the odd woman out because her body didn’t fit a certain mold in WWE. Now, she embraces her diversity and feels empowered to inspire other women in and out of this industry to embrace themselves as well.

“I’ve gotten amazing responses from friends and fans. I usually don’t put a ton of super personal stuff on social media,” Phoenix informed. “With the Women’s Evolution week, I wanted to share a little bit of my story. I was a bit of an insecure young person. When I first started in the business, I didn’t feel like I fit the mold.

“So it’s taken a long time and realization, but the Women’s Evolution has been putting that image forward that you don’t have to fit just one shape. I’m happy to see that message is being presented to young people because I have two young daughters, and I want them to see diversity so they’re okay with who they are.”

After having some in-ring matches here and there this past year, Phoenix says that she would love to go toe-to-toe against “The Queen” Charlotte Flair.

“Oh my gosh, it was great to get my hands on the newest generation,” she chuckled. “It would be awesome to have a match with Charlotte Flair. I see a lot of similarities in our physicality. I think she and I could tell a great story.”

Before making her huge return in the Women’s Royal Rumble, Phoenix thought her role that night was only to be on commentary. She wasn’t informed that she was going to be competing in the ring until the week before the big event. She says if it weren’t for her husband Edge, she probably would have passed on the offer.

“I got the news that they were going to invite me to participate in the Women’s Royal Rumble six days before [the show]. Up until that point, I thought I was just going to be there to announce,” she stated. “Then, I got that call saying, ‘Hey Beth, do you want to be in it?’ At that time, my mind and energy was being poured into my announce work and family life.

“We [Edge and I] had the conversation of, ‘Do I do this, or do I say no?’ We thought this could never happen again; this could be the last time I lace up the boots, who knows. I said, ‘I gotta go for it.’ He also said too, ‘You gotta go for it. You have to do this.'”

In 1999, Chyna became the first woman to ever compete in a Men’s Royal Rumble. Fast forward to 2010, Phoenix becomes the second woman to compete in the same event. Before accomplishing that historic accolade, Phoenix says that Chyna was a pivotal motivation in her career and an inspiration towards her “Glamazon” gimmick.

“Watching this back, it chokes me up a bit. As a young woman, I obviously, by my ring gear, looked up to Chyna,” she said with a big smile. “She was the reason I walked into a gym and started picking up weights. To me, the fact that I had that opportunity to fill that role and fulfill those same steps as she did was great.

Phoenix, like many of the front runners in the Women’s Evolution, never thought that her contributions would inspire a whole new generation of female Superstars. Before she ended her interview, she took a moment to say that she is so proud to see how far these women have come compared to when she first started.

“It’s been full transparency,” she replied. “There were times when I was working for WWE and I was blessed that I got pay-per-view matches, but where we struggled a lot was on television time. We didn’t get a lot of television time. When we did get it, it wasn’t necessarily the matches that I knew we could have. In my heart and soul, what I saw Chyna do, what I saw Trish [Stratus] do, those women contributed to this road and this path that has brought us to today, now.

“I’m so proud to see that they’re getting the ‘firsts’ done, so now, we can see the men and women equally. It gives me a sense of pride.”

Edge Reveals When He Started Dating Beth Phoenix

WWE Hall of Famer Edge never thought he would find love again on the job. Edge and “The Glamazon” Beth Phoneix, make quite the dynamic duo among other WWE couples.

In his WWE 24 documentary, Edge discussed the first time they met each other and how much they had in common, in terms of where they trained and who they knew outside of work.

“So, Beth and I started dating after we connected here [Scotiabank Arena in Toronto] on the day of Edge Appreciation,” Edge recalled. “It was so crazy. We were cordial to each other, but we didn’t know each other. That day, we started talking. ‘I had no idea that you trained at the same gym as me by the same people. And, that you wrestled at the same dive bars just seven years after me.’

“So, the woman I’m married to and have two little gorgeous girls with, are entire relationship starts here. So, this building is pretty huge for me. It’s kind of overwhelming.”

After him and Phoneix were attacked by Randy Orton (on separate occasions), Edge challenged his long time friend/ bitter rival, in a Last Man Standing match on night two of WrestleMania 36. After coming out victorious, Edge proved that no matter how much torment he’d have to take, he would sacrifice it all to protect his family.

Candice Michelle Says Storyline With Beth Phoenix Was The Biggest Highlight Of Her WWE Career

Last month Candice Michelle became the second woman to win the WWE 24/7 Championship and that moment came 15 years after her first foray into wrestling. Michelle was a part of the 2004 Diva Search and while she didn’t win, it did eventually lead to her becoming a WWE Superstar.

She reflected on that experience when she joined Lilian Garcia’s podcast.

“I was doing modeling in LA and my agent calls me and says that he isn’t sure if I was interested in this [Divas Search]. He was this surfer dude who lived by the beach, but WWE is having this Divas Search contest; the winner wins $100,000 and a one-year contract. I grew up watching WWF every Monday night with my stepdad Ken,” said Michelle. “We loved it, went to the shows. I had a Hulk Hogan doll. I’m athletic and it’s acting and modeling all in one, I am their girl.

“I auditioned and was in the Top 10 or 8, and being in the industry, that one hurt when I was cut. I thought that I was perfect for the role. I may not have been perfect as the winner but I was perfect for the company and so about a month later they called me and offered me a contract. I never knew that training on the indies existed. To me, these [WWE Superstars] were superheroes, cartoon characters, like, how do you become that character? It was something I didn’t know how you would go after it so when I was released from the Divas Search, I thought that I was done. When Johnny Ace called me, I think it was a month or three weeks later he had offered me a three-year contract so I knew from then that it was on.” 

Michelle made great progress from being just a model-turned-wrestler into a legitimate wrestler. She was even named PWI’s Most Improved Wrestler of the Year and Woman of the Year in 2007, which she is very proud of.

“That was awesome because once again what people don’t see. They think when you get that they say that it is their looks or Vince McMahon likes her right now, or she’s gifted, talented or lucky; these things don’t exist in life so whoever thinks that? I would go into the arena at house shows two hours early because I wasn’t trained,” said Michelle. “So, as they were setting the ring up I would get in there with the refs and I would learn and I would come home and I would pay $3 to rent this ring that had broken down chicken coops and the boards were broken and I would get in there and train. It was all those things where I was literally the most improved. People want to take that title away or that award away or that prize, but it’s like, I earned that, I literally put in the work for that so it was awesome to be honored for that.”

Before winning the 24/7 Championship, Michelle’s only other WWE title was the Women’s Championship which she held for over three months. However, despite that accomplishment, she points to something else as the biggest highlight of her WWE career.

“My biggest highlight was when I was in my storyline with Beth Phoenix. There was a point where it was going so good; it was when I really grasped the philosophy of a wrestling match,” revealed Michelle. “When you come in from Hollywood, they don’t train you on anything. You figure everything out, there is no protocol or TV beforehand; they throw you to the wolves. 

“Obviously, I had no idea on the philosophy but I actually remembered when I was working with Trish Stratus, she made it look so easy. But she made it look so easy because she put in so much work and I didn’t give her the respect that she probably deserved at that time because I thought I could do it too. But then when you get in there you are like, ‘Woah!’ But when you get the philosophy that is when the crowd gets it.”

Michelle knew that she and Phoenix were really creating something special when some of the WWE agents moved off their planned men’s matches to help out their feud instead.

“That was the moment when Arn Anderson and Ricky Steamboat saw what Beth Phoenix and I were creating. They came to us; it was a house show overseas. They were the top agents and they left some of the top matches to come to work our match and really explain that concept to us and that is when it clicked to me,” stated Michelle. 

“For me, as the babyface and her being the more Glamazon character, I had to be willing to sell everything she did to me. That was what made me the underdog and what made people want to fight for me. I don’t think the wrestling fans grasp in words, they grasp in feeling and heart is that we are all the underdogs at some point and desperately want the comeback. And so when I am down so bad because literally she can beat the crap out of me and if I have any fight or flight left it’s like, ‘hey, I can do that at my job or school.’ And maybe it’s not the words that come to mind but the feelings, which is why billions of people watch because it’s not just the storyline, it’s the hope and the concept, philosophy that you can put in your life. 

“When the audience feels that you feel it and when you get to a point in the match where it wasn’t scripted. Beth and I were listening to what the audience wanted. How long is she going to hold me in that hold? When is that audience going to get behind me? That’s not a given. You don’t just go out and they love it, you work for all of it. That is when it becomes really special.”