WOW wrestler Abilene ‘The Governor’s Daughter’ Maverick was Kevin Kellam’s guest on WrestleZone Radio. Maverick opened up about her beginnings in wrestling, WOW, and gave her thoughts on the women’s revolution.
Highlights appear below; Women Of Wrestling premieres tonight on AXS TV.
On Not Being Allowed To Watch Wrestling Growing Up & The ‘Stone Cold’ T-Shirts:
I was actually not allowed to watch wrestling as a kid because I’ve always had people say, ‘Who did you look up to growing up?’ The only person I knew existed was ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and that’s only because every kid at school had his shirt on. I really didn’t know who that was. I was just like, ‘That’s a weird shirt. It’s like a skull with smoke coming out of it.’ My mother – in the 90s and 2000s – didn’t want a little girl to be watching it because the product was a lot different then, so I didn’t watch it growing up, but when I was about 17 or 18 years old, I was taken on a date to see a wrestling event live. It just got in my blood. I was sitting there and was like, ‘Oh my God.’ [I was] wide-eyed. There were fireworks. There were all these people and I saw the women and the men in the ring and they were just so entertaining and so powerful and athletic and beautiful and hot and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the coolest thing ever.’ I instantly became a fan and still, to this day, I tell people, ‘If you know nothing about wrestling, go to a live event and your view on it will change forever because there’s nothing like seeing it live and that’s just really what did it for me.
On Giving Up Everything To Pursue Wrestling, A Lack Of Support From Her Family, & Her Father’s Key Advice:
I dropped everything I worked so hard for in school to become a wrestler. I was like, ‘Well, this is what I’m doing. Goodbye everything I’ve ever worked for and I’m gonna jump into wrestling school.’ Three days after I graduated high school, I started driving….about a 4 hour round trip. I did that three days a week for almost two years. It was brutal and the place that I trained, I was the only female and it was concrete flooring, no windows, no a/c, no heat. It was rough, especially in Texas weather, it was super super rough. I trained with nothing but guys, so I got my butt handed to me, pretty much every day.
I cried almost everyday and the thing that kept me going – my family pretty much abandoned me when I decided to become a wrestler because they couldn’t understand why I would do this, why work so hard on a scholastic level….and just drop that and become a wrestler. The only person that ended up really supporting me was my dad and right after I graduated high school and I started training, he sat me down and said, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m 52 years old and the one thing that I regret in life is that I did not travel the world. I didn’t go out and see the world and with this wrestling, I believe that you’re gonna be able to go out and see the world like I didn’t get to.’ Of course he said, ‘I’m gonna be your manager. I’m gonna follow you around. You’re gonna take me all over the place.’ My dad was always like one of my best friends.
WOW’s Abilene Maverick On GLOW Comparisons, Rivalry w/ Santana Garrett, & The Women’s Revolution (Exclusive)
On The Impact Of Her Father’s Passing:
He was actually gonna come see me practice. It was the very first time he was gonna see me practice….and he ended up unexpectedly passing away that very day. Right after I leave the house, my sister calls me and says, ‘Come to the hospital, something’s happened.’ I know that’s a very daunting and dark way to start everything off, but…I’m a big believer in that everything happens for a reason. With that I dove headfirst into this wrestling and I took it 1000% serious and I wanted nothing but success through myself for him because I made a promise. I told him I would see the world and I would do it for him.
On Whether She Has World Championship Aspirations:
Absolutely. I think that anybody who says they don’t is lying, or anybody that doesn’t realize they want it is just selling themselves short. At the end of the day, I think that every person in this company wants to be the WOW Superheroes Champion. They want to be the WOW Women’s Wrestling Champion. Santana has had it for quite some time. Of course that’s gonna be new to TV…but absolutely, I think that getting a title shot – and I can’t give away any spoilers for this season, as far as who’s getting title shots and who isn’t – but absolutely, yes, I would love to be champion. One thing I have a lot of pride in is that I’m still a dominant force for this company. I am still representing this company regardless of being champion. I think that actually has a lot to say about this character.
(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)
Readers may listen to Kellam’s interview with Maverick in its entirety in the player below:
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