Ashley Massaro Speaks On Playboy, WWE, Injuries, & More

source: PWInsider

WWE Diva Ashley Massaro was interviewed by IGN.com yesterday. She discusses her recent Playboy shoot, life as a WWE star, injuries, and more. Here are several highlights from the interview:

Being Picked to Do the Playboy Issue: "I got a phone call and was told Playboy was interested in doing a cover shoot. They used the word interested, like "don't get excited, we're going to talk about it, come to a meeting", but at least they were interested. How do you not get excited when you get that phone call? Finally we're at the meeting, executives from Playboy are there, Vince McMahon is there, a couple of other people are there and we sit down and the people from Playboy start discussing how they want to use me for the cover and pictorial. I'm through the roof, but I'm trying to act all cool and professional, so I'm sitting on the edge of my chair – no bumps this time – and the executive from Playboy's first words out of his mouth are "We want Ashley for the cover and we want to keep her exactly as she is on the show. We want her exactly as she is, we don't want to alter anything. We want to leave her piercings in, we want to leave her tattoos un-airbrushed?we want to leave her as she is." When I heard that, I knew right then that I definitely wanted to do it. That's the first time a magazine has been more than supportive. They spray painted my tattoos on the backdrop of the set, they painted two huge nautical stars like I have on my elbows, and they even wrote the article as "Star Struck" after my finisher. They were just above and beyond supportive." You can view her entire Playboy spread at the link at the bottom of this page.

The Lifestyle of a WWE Star: "We're on the road about 300 days a year and it really takes a certain type of person to do that and be comfortable in that type of situation. Luckily, I'm that type of person. It's probably a lot more work than people imagine. Besides the matches and the physicality and the training, you have all of the appearances and the media and other things you need to attend. We have three live events and one TV show every week, go home for two days, then head right back on the road again."

Injuries: "What we do is dangerous. Obviously things could happen and you have to be as safe as you can, and a lot of that goes back to training safely then applying that in the ring while at the same time being aware that things like that could happen. I know after I broke my leg I was certainly aware of that. [laughs] I went over the top rope and landed on my leg in a Divas Battle Royal. Mickie gave me a head scissors and was pulling me over and Candice dumped me over the rope and I landed on my leg. I had a spiral fracture, a five inch metal plate and eight screws put in my leg, a severed nerve, and a couple of broken bones in my foot. I knew this was a possibility, and you hear the tragic stories of people getting injured in the ring for years and it just comes with the territory. You just have to try and be safe, but at the same time, don't let that riddle you with anxiety. My mom wants to freak out when I do something risky in the ring, but I've always been the type of kid who climbed the highest branch on the tree and jumps down. I broke my arm skating when I tried a rail slide for the first time, so I've always been the type of person who knows I'll get it right eventually, even if that means I get hurt the first time I try."

Preferences between straight and gimmick matches: "I like just having singles matches because it's challenging. I like a challenge and I like going out there and giving it my all. That's my favorite thing to do. I like wrestling, and I like training with the boys, it's fun. It's a satisfying feeling to learn a new move. Practicing something over and over then applying it to the ring and having it work, it's extremely gratifying. Paul London and Brian Kendrick, the tag team champs that I manage, have been spending a lot of time with me in the ring, and I love being able to walk out to the ring with them, watch their matches, and take it all in. That's good for me."