I'm very proud to represent Buffalo in the WWE.
Beth Phoenix
I always enjoyed being a villain more, probably because you get to do and say a lot of things you wouldn't do in real life.
You don't know what a broken jaw feels like until it happens.
My parents wanted me to protect myself and have something to fall back on. I even remember reading a quote from Razor Ramon in WWF magazine where he talked about the importance of getting an education if you wanted to pursue a career in pro wrestling.
Chyna was the woman that made me say 'Whoa, I want to do something like that. I want to change the game.'
I've always been alone, done things by myself and stood stronger than the others.
I had one little brother and I would use him as a scapegoat to get us games. Obviously, I would get the more girly toys like dolls and Barbies, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I really wanted video games or action figures or something so I would send him to ask mom, 'Hey, I want this video game' when it was really we wanted this video game.
When I first came into the WWE I enjoyed working with Candice Michelle, a girl who was a model and seemed to live a carefree life and worked really hard to become a WWE Diva.
When I was a wrestler, my job was mostly looking mean and throwing punches and kicks.
All the time I was in college, I was going to wrestling school on the weekends.
Being married to a wrestler has its unique challenges, being a wrestler married to a wrestler is next level.
My ideal summer date would definitely be outdoors, something by the water.
Wrestling goes through seasons. Some things become trends for a while or other things become a trend or the style.
This isn't a business that you can pick up in a few weeks. This takes years of commitment, dedication, passion, and hard work. With that is WWE's road schedule that doesn't provide for enough in-ring time for the divas to develop.
In fact, I was voted Prom Queen by my classmates in my senior year. So I went from being a wrestler to the prom queen in a year.
To be fair, the hardest part of my week is live-tweeting 'The Edge & Christian Show,' because I just can't keep up with the tremendous response and the controversy.
For a long time when I was working to get a job and in OVW to create an image to get hired by WWE, they kept saying, 'we're looking for the next Trish Stratus. We want that look - that beautiful, feminine fitness model that kicks butt, and you just don't fit the mold.' That was holding me back for so long.
A boy on the team, who shall remain nameless, constantly picked on me during practice. I bided my time, and when I had the chance to wrestle him, I took every advantage I could. I bent fingers, dug my nails into his skin and rammed my elbow into various, tender, parts of him. I basically beat him down in front of the whole team.
I was able to be influential and create a mold. There was no one else who was shaped like me or looked like me.
A beach date would be awesome, with like a little picnic basket, some fruit and bread - just something really, really relaxed and laid-back. I like just relaxing all day, maybe playing in the water a little bit. It's just totally a day to chill.
Respect is important, and if you don't have it you won't be on the professional level very long.
I would say at leaner times in the women's division, I feel like there were certain girls who tried to keep the torch going for women's wrestling. If I was one of those women then I feel like I did my job.
I have two little girls. Who knows what they want to do in the future? But if they want to be wrestlers someday and I helped forge a path for them be more successful than it was all worth it.
I had a Nintendo DS, which I liked. I had 'NintenDogs' for that, which is really cool.
I had the regular Nintendo, and I had a ridiculous amount of games for it.
I skipped N64, but I got it later when I was older. I got Game Cube first, then N64 after that actually.
I got pregnant five or six months after I retired, and then it was off to the races! It was a complete change of gears, and I was refocusing my life on my family.
The challenge with WWE was keeping up with the schedule and trying to stay healthy and uninjured during that time. Now, with motherhood, the biggest responsibility is trying to protect this little baby and care for her and her needs.
I wanted to be a female like Chyna, who broke boundaries and did things that were really special.
We're moving away from the one-dimensional nature for women. It used to be that you were known for one thing - a cultural thing, the way you walk, talk or look. Now everybody is allowed to be a layer cake.
Things that used to be a glass ceiling aren't anymore. Now not only is it a possibility that women are going to main event WrestleMania, I know that they are going to do it.
My parents didn't have any money.
You can disagree with someone and still do business as a professional.
I left wrestling to spend more time at home with family.
As far as the experience level of some of the WWE divas, there are girls who get rushed along in the process. They're beautiful and we want to get them on TV as soon as possible. Sometimes that doesn't leave for a lot of time for wrestling training.
I loved being a stay-at-home mom.
I followed wrestling, but I had just kind of made peace with, like, that was my career. I'm now a mom, and I'm going to find other things to do with my life.
I started wrestling when I was 19 years old, and I spent my entire adult life on the road chasing this dream, and I loved it.
It's no secret that I've been influenced by Chyna.
It takes a while to condition people to a different product, as opposed to what they're used to seeing.
I'm not a super social person.
I have my best friend in Natalya. That's who I stick to and I don't go out and party or anything like that or socialize a lot with the other divas.
I think it will be quite the spectacle to have Awesome Kong and Beth Phoenix in the same ring at the same time.
I had an opportunity to work for the US Department of Probation in Buffalo.
We're on the road 300 days a year. There's no recovery time. It's a test of your physical and mental endurance.
There are so many X-factors going on in the ring. You have to protect your opponent. You have to be conscious of what your opponent is going through and make sure they're safe.
What's the quality of my life? Often times, when you're in there, you're not thinking about that. You're thinking, 'I want this match at WrestleMania to be the most incredible thing anyone has ever seen.'
I've always wanted to be one of the guys, and don't expect to treated any differently.
My entire life I've proved that I'm able to overcome people's negativity toward me.
The first time I won a medal at a female wrestling tournament, all of the other girls there had coaches and family members cheering them on. I went in alone, said nothing, wrestled three girls and beat three girls - convincingly.
