Beth Phoenix Talks Leaving WWE, If A HOF Induction Interests Her, Why It's A Great Time To Be A Diva
Former three-time WWE Women's Champion and former WWE Divas Champion, "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix, was the featured guest on this week's edition of Monday Night Mayhem. Here are interview highlights courtesy of Kahlil "Paterson" Thomas, MNM's correspondent & contributor:
Why she believes that the time was right for her to retire from the WWE: "I entered a different season in my life. I'm 32. 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. I absolutely loved everything I did with WWE, and I had a wonderful career with them. It's time to check other things and experience other parts of life that you can't when you're 'married to the business,' and that's literally what you have to do to be successful. I did so much in the way of my dream, and I certainly left no stone unturned. To chase other dreams, I kind of had to make that really tough decision to move on to the next phase of my life."
Her favorite matches and favorite moment in her WWE career: "My favorite match would be a tie, with my match with Nattie (her last televised WWE match in her hometown of Buffalo on the September 28th edition of SmackDown) and my match with Candice at Unforgiven (2007), which was my first match for the WWE Divas Championship. My favorite moment would probably be my entrance in the Royal Rumble. It's no secret that I've been influenced by Chyna. Her moment in the Royal Rumble was groundbreaking, and to be able to be the next girl to do was mind-blowing. I don't think my heart was beating the whole time I was in the ring."
Her thoughts on the current state of women's wrestling and why she believes "right now is the best time to be a WWE Diva": "Wrestling goes through seasons. Some things become trends for a while or other things become a trend or the style. When women's wrestling got really hot, it was in a mature era where the girls could be more sexual and then be tough at the same time., so there was a lot of attention on it. It's hard to call attention to something when you don't have the same tools that you did. It takes a while to condition people to a different product, as opposed to what they're used to seeing. I think right now is the best time to be a Diva. What it is about is finding out what they don't and making yourself a commodity in that area. I think eventually you will see the standouts come to the forefront."
Whether or not she sees a possible WWE Hall of Fame induction becoming a reality for her some day: "I think there is a long, long line of ladies and gentlemen for that matter that needs to go in there long before I'm even on the radar. It would be amazing. Would I be thrilled and would it be the most amazing thank you anyone can get? It would be amazing, but it's not something I need in my life to feel like my career had ended or anything. I don't need to get that awesome recognition, because I had so many great moments while I was there."
Much more is contained in Beth Phoenix's interview with Monday Night Mayhem, including her candid thoughts on what is she planning on doing while she is away from the business, why she would be interested in being the one selected to induct Trish Stratus into the WWE Hall of Fame, what WrestleMania means to her and more. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here.
Source: Monday Night Mayhem