NWA's Kamille On Standing Out, Being Yourself & History Happening At NWA 75 - Exclusive

NWA Champion Kamille has held the title for a historic run, nearly 800 days and counting. As champion, she has defeated the likes of Serena Deeb, Leyla Hirsh, Chelsea Green, Taya Valkyrie, La Rosa Negra and more across multiple companies and countries. Not too shabby, given Kamille's WWE aspirations. Now, she turns her focus to NWA 75, the massive anniversary show for the most historic wrestling company on the planet and a familiar rival in Natalia Markova, the number one contender. On her journey, she's learned the value of being herself, finding ways to stand out, and coming to terms with being a history maker as she breaks records and leads the charge for one of wrestlings top women's divisions. 

Jack Farmer: Kamille, thanks for being here ... you have a massive match coming up, NWA 75, world title on the line against Natalia Markova. You guys have been on the same side in matches before; you've also been across the ring from each other before. This time it's a little different though. Big, big event, headlining Night One. She's the number one contender. Talk to me, for anyone who maybe hasn't watched NWA in a while, or even if they have, what can they expect here? Give me the background of NWA 75.

Kamille: I recently did a promo, which is also going to add a little bit of spice to the match, which will be found out soon enough whenever they release the promo, but I mentioned in there that she's the number one contender somehow. Don't really know how. I beat her already at Crockett Cup, which was only a few months ago, and Billy's reasoning is because she came the closest to beating me.

And I was like, "Alright, well, I guess that's how you get number one.' I would understand if I lost the match and then I got a rematch. That makes sense. But here we are, Night One, NWA 75, me versus Natalia again. I think that she has done a good job of sucking up to the office, maybe, to get a little bit of rematch. Maybe that's how she became number one contender again. And it's — obviously when you get in there with Natalia, it's going to be a hard hitting match. She brings it every time. I got to give her the respect for that.

But this time, like I said, the promo that I am releasing — and it's going to be announced, it's going to make it, so at the end of the night, no one's going to be questioning, "Oh, maybe they had it. Oh, maybe ..." No, no, no, no, no. At the end of the night there will be a definitive winner, and there's going to be no more, "Oh, she came close to beating you," none of that. Right? It's just going to be, "I beat you, you're not better than me, and I'm still the one-time champ at the end of the night."

I know you've talked about that a bit in some previous interviews, but because you faced so many people, some big names as well, when you first realized that you're going to have this match against Markova again, when you knew that she was going to be across the ring from you, what does that feel like, getting to see that you are going to be having a match with her? Do you get excited about the potential of what that can be? Do you get worried she was the closest to beating you? Do you get interested in what the promos are going to sound like? When you first see that you're going to be having a match with her, what's going through your head?

This is going to be the most lame answer, and I'm so sorry for it, but it's just the truth — I don't go into any match with really any different headspace, any different thinking, because I have been the champion for so long. Maybe if you would've asked me this question when I had had it for three months, then I'd be like, "Okay, I am really thinking about strategies and how I'm going to work with this person because they have a different wrestling style, they're more on the mat" or whatever.

But at this point, after two years, I have faced everyone, shape and size, every style of wrestling. I've done it all. So I just go in there knowing that I can take on any sort of opponent, and I just do me no matter what. I do what the Brickhouse does, and I played sports my entire life growing up, and what I do is I find a way to win. It might not be pretty, might not be what you wanted, but I'm going to find a way to win, and that's what I do.

And as far as promos and stuff, that's the buildup to the match. I mean, that's on me, getting on social media and just trying to build it up and stuff like that, because unfortunately when we have these tapings, there's so many new people coming in and out that they're trying to get exposure to, which is totally understandable. So it's like we don't have a lot of time to build up stuff through promos. We don't really do the vignettes like we used to do back in the day. So it really comes down to just social media and pushing it that way.

Social media is relatively new. NWA? Absolutely not. It's the most historic wrestling brand in the world, and it's a major milestone. I mean, every milestone's big, but this is a nice number, 75.

It is, yeah.

And you're main eventing Night One for a title that you've had for so long. You are now a history maker with that title. When you look at this day, do you feel the weight of just how big this event is, or is this another day in the office for you? Do you realize this is a very big moment that you're going to have?

Last year, when I faced Taya, main event, Night One at the Chase, that was definitely a huge realization for me. I was like, "I'm sitting here in the Chase where — Harley Race was in here, and Bruiser Brody, and I'm about to main event in here," and so that was a huge moment for me in realization. And the fact that women were main eventing the first night was awesome. But ... since I've done it, it still is, trust me, very, very important to me, but I've done it, and so that sort of pressure — I don't know if pressure is the word, but that feeling is out of my mind now because I've done it and I know I can do it. I've always said, ever since college, and I played softball in college, I'm a game time player. When it's game time, that's when I'm going to perform. When the red light's on, that's when I'm going to perform. So I don't know, I've just always done well under pressure. Let's be honest, when I win the first night, I'm going to have to defend my title the second night. I should be main eventing that night too, because everyone knows who people are coming in to see.

You really have been the face of the NWA in a lot of ways, and I want to talk to you about that journey a little bit because I know you've said in previous interviews how you got that phone call one day ... Do you know what led to that phone call [from Dave Lagana]? Did they tell you where you were found? Do you know why they called you?

Yes. Dave Lagana, when I was living in Florida, Dave always kept an eye out for new talent because it's just like, of course everyone loves the legends and people that you can bring in, but what's cooler than starting someone from scratch, starting someone from fresh? So he always had an eye out for new talent, and he had kept up with what I had done on the indies. And then, like I've said, I was disenchanted with wrestling for a while, so I was out of it, and it just happened to be the right timing, because when he messaged me about the opportunity to come in at NWA 70 as Nick Aldis' insurance policy, I was missing it a bit. Wrestling is definitely a type of thing that once you get into it, there's no other sport, no other anything that is like it, so I was missing it. So the call really came at the perfect time.

And you had mentioned in another interview ... that you weren't even sure if this was just going to be a one-off thing. You didn't realize it was going to be a big thing. Because of that, I'm curious, do you know what you did that made them want to keep you on long-term? And do you have advice for people, in this world where a lot of people get one-offs now in different places, any advice for them on how to stand out and maybe how they can take advantage of that the way you did?

I mean, I've never been told, "Hey, this is why," so I can only presume ... At that time, there was no one doing the Triple H, Chyna gimmick, you know what I mean? Where you have the female enforcer with the male wrestler. No one was doing that. And this might sound vain, I don't know, but I just think that my look and my presence was very interesting ... I don't know what happened in the past five years, but now tons of girls are muscley and in shape. But I feel like around then there wasn't a ton, there really wasn't. And so it was just something different, I think.

And that would be my advice to anyone, just try to be unique and bring something different to the table, because that's the thing in wrestling. People think, "Oh, it's competitive." And maybe if someone new's coming in, you're looking at them like, "They're going to take my spot." That's not true at all. Maybe if they come in with your exact look and exact gimmick, okay, then there's some competition, but there's room for every type in wrestling. So my advice would bring something new to the table. That's it.

You only had a handful of matches before you were in the NWA, before you were the NWA World Champion.

Yeah.

How did the locker room take that? Was there a level of, 'Hey, who's this new person coming in and running the show?' Were they supportive of you?

Well, hold on, Jack. Hold on, hold on, hold on, because even though I hadn't been wrestling, I had been there since the resurgence of NWA. So really, I'm an OG, so nobody could come in that locker room and tell me nothing. Right? And so yeah, I don't know what was going on in people's heads, that's none of my business, but everyone was totally fine. And I mean, when I won and I came back, everyone was giving me hugs and clapping and stuff, and excited for me. And I don't know, I think that everyone was supportive. They understood the reasoning, because I was the homegrown NWA talent, and I don't think anyone had a problem with it. I mean, there might've been one, but hey, you can't please everybody.

Right.

I'm just me. I go with the flow, I show up to work, I do what I'm told. I don't try to whisper and politic ... I show up and I'm like, "What's up? What are we doing for the day?" And so everyone knew that it was a naturally occurring thing. So I think everyone was cool with it.

When did you realize you are really good at this? ... Because everyone has imposter syndrome, everyone has that like, "What's going on?" When did you realize, no, you're not just someone pretending on the weekends, you're the real deal?

So I'm going to be silent for a second because I need to really think about this for a moment.

I would say probably me and Taya's match last year. I'd been the champion for about a year at that point. I had put on lots of pay-per-view matches defending my title, not only with the NWA, but on the indies. And like I said, I was really feeling that pressure ... It's women main eventing and it's on our biggest pay-per-view of the year at the Chase, so I was really feeling that pressure. And when I went out there and just, we killed it, I was like, "Yep, I know what I'm doing."

And then from then on, you can't tell me nothing. Really, watch every pay-per-view we've had. I've had the match of the night for every single pay-per-view, and that's not just me saying it. You can go and ask tons of people, because I know what I'm working with. I know how to get people invested in the match. And like I said, I would love to be able to do that with vignettes leading up and promos leading up, but we don't always have the opportunity, so I have to make the best of it in the match. And I think I've done a good job of knowing how to get a story going within the match and really get people invested.

We definitely live in a world right now of pro wrestling where these very long title reigns are happening across the wrestling world. And I always feel like NWA's Nick Aldis was the one that made that cool, because he had the long title reign before a lot of these other really long title reigns started, and you were a part of that title reign, as well. A lot of people have paved the way for you to get where you're at, a lot of wrestlers in general, female wrestlers as well. This is a big moment. You are doing something historic. I don't know if you've realized this yet, but you are currently paving the way for another generation. How does it feel to know that you are doing that? And if you could speak to that generation, what would you tell them now?

It is weird, because like I said, I don't know, I'm just very laid back, and I mean, people are going to hate to hear this, but I do look at wrestling as work. It's my job, and when I go in there, I show up to work. That's how I look at it. So I'm not really thinking deep, like I'm inspiring anybody, or anything like this. I just go to work. Who's work inspires anybody? Whatever. But sometimes I'll work indie shows on the weekends and stuff, and I'll have people, girls or sometimes even guys that say, "Oh, I really like your work," or "I've watched this match," or whatever. And I'm just like, "What? Why? I'm just like you." It's nice. Do not get me wrong. It's really nice.

And I always say to those people too, there's a difference between paying your dues and getting taken advantage of, and I've always been someone that stands up for myself. I try to do it as respectful as possible, but I'm me, and so I know I can come off aggressive sometimes, but just to stand your ground and stay true to your values and what you think is right or wrong and just do not budge from that, no matter what. You don't want anyone to ever be able to hang something over your head to get you to the next spot ...

I didn't think this was a thing when I got into wrestling, because like I said, I came from a sports background, so all this politicking and stuff, I don't know. I was just like, "If you're good, you're good" ... And to me, I look at it as, why would you want to give someone something where they can hold this over your head? So I just think, yeah, it might get you to the top faster. Yeah, it might get you some more opportunities, but I really think you should just let your talent speak for itself. Stay true to you, stand your ground, and what's supposed to happen will happen.

[In previous interviews] you mentioned that you like to read. Are you reading anything right now, and what are you reading?

Yes, I am. Currently, I'm reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I'm not sure how you say the last name, but I alternate between fun fiction, adventure books, and then also ... I don't like saying self-help, but I mean, I guess they are self-help books. But I have to alternate because sometimes they get ... Even this Power of Now, I'm having to read it very slowly because it's heavy, and you got to take it all in. But yeah, that's what I'm reading now.

The other one is I want to talk about singing. What's your go-to karaoke song?

Oh, god. You know what's funny, is sometimes a song will play in the car, and I literally have the thought, I'm like, "Oh my gosh, if I ever did karaoke, this would be the song." But I never remember them, so I'd be screwed if I ever get a karaoke opportunity. I don't know. Oh, man, you know I'm not going to be able to give you an answer, but maybe next time I'll write in my notes when I hear one of those songs.

NWA 75, August 26th, you're main eventing Night One, world title on the line, historic world title on the line. I think if people love you, they're going to want to see you continue this reign and make more history. If people don't like you, this might be their chance to see it all come crashing down.

There you go. It's a win-win.

Any words to people who are like, 'Hey, I've been thinking about trying this NWA thing out?' Anything for them that maybe, why they should tune in to NWA 75?

I'll say what I always say, and I can't speak on the men's matches, because truthfully, I don't even watch a lot of them. I watch my husband, that's about it. But I watch all the women's matches, and they are always entertaining. So if you don't tune in for anything else, tune in for the women, because we lay it out all on the table and pour our hearts out to entertain you guys. And so I mean, that there is worth the cost alone of the pay-per-view.