Mandy Rose recently appeared on The Chris Van Vliet Show and discussed several topics, ranging from her time on Tough Enough to her popular storyline with Otis. Here are some highlights:
On how she got into wrestling:
Rose: “To be honest, I didn’t really watch wrestling growing up. I grew up with three older brothers and we constantly were wrestling obviously, you know, that’s why I’ve always been so tough. They joke around about that actually now, because they’re always like, ‘We always knew you were going to beat someone,’ you know, because of the way I was, I was crazy. But yeah, I didn’t really watch it that much. Of course, me and my brothers would watch here and there, we were big fans of The Rock and Hulk Hogan and stuff, but I really didn’t sit and watch, like I don’t remember watching it that much. So it was then when I got involved later on in life and an ex of mine, actually my ex-fiancée, he was the one that got me really involved in it because he was a really big supporter. And he was like, ‘You know, you could do this, you could be like the next Trish Stratus,’ and I was like, when someone tells me that, and then I start googling, and YouTubing and watching, and I’m like, ‘Yeah I could do this,’ and it was weird how it all came about, but yeah he definitely got me into it.”
On which wrestlers stood out to her:
Rose: “Definitely, obviously Trish Stratus because I would obviously watch a lot of her, her and like Lita, I loved watching because I loved the dynamic between the two. And John Cena, of course, like I was big fans of, you know, the larger than life characters and just like the super charismatic. And I loved the idea of the sports and entertainment, you know, I just thought it was really cool that it’s like the best of both worlds, and I had the background of sports because I always played sports, and I was an athlete growing up, and then the entertainment side, I had a little bit just because I had like a presence on stage because of from competing, and I just kind of like would walk out and have that confidence. And that’s what the judges and the people saw, and they were like, ‘Oh this is,’ you know, because I won my first show and I didn’t even know anything about it. I got my pro card at my first show. That’s when a few people were like, ‘Wow, you have a really great presence,’ and so it’s like, obviously, you know, there was so much more to learn in WWE, and I’m always learning every day. But I had like a little bit of a base where I felt like, I was like, ‘No, I think I can do this, and if I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m gonna make it look like I am.”
On whether not winning tough enough was a blessing in disguise:
Rose: “Yeah, I think so, because I think, you know, seeing the way the fans reacted to it, it was obviously a reality show. But there was some realness to it, of course, as well and you know, storytelling as well, but it was also like to see, you know, me growing up, and not really understanding the wrestling business as much as some of the other people. I didn’t really get why the wrestling fans didn’t like me at first. Because I wasn’t really acting like I wasn’t. The full B—- in me wasn’t really out yet, you know, but, like, just because I was the hot one, I’m like, ‘Why don’t they like me?’ Like, you know, I’d get all these hate tweets and all this stuff like, just, ‘Oh she’s just a Barbie doll, she’s just, you know, she ain’t gonna make it,’ blah blah blah. And I just didn’t get that because I was like, ‘Well,’ I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know, I, like, smoked the competition. I’m like yeah, I know I’m hot, but like, I already proved that, I’m like what? So then I started to get it, like I understand it, like, oh, no, they just don’t like me being on a roll. If they’re talking about me, it’s cool, whatever. And obviously, with the help of like Chris Jericho and some people that had been in the business for a while, like, they helped me in the sense of, ‘No, no, no, like, you’re good. Don’t worry. If they’re talking about you, that’s a good sign, that’s a good thing.’”
The full episode is available below:
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