Nita Strauss On Possibly Wrestling One Day, Ronda Rousey, How She Became A Wrestling Fan, Mick Foley
As previously noted, Wrestling Inc. President Raj Giri recently spoke with guitarist Nita Strauss, who recently performed SmackDown Live's Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance theme live at WrestleMania 34. Among many other things, Strauss talked about how she got into pro wrestling, Monday Night RAW's Ronda Rousey's in-ring debut at WrestleMania, whether she would ever try her hand in the squared circle, and the classic Hell In A Cell match between Mankind and The Undertaker.
According to Strauss, she got into pro wrestling because of her current boyfriend.
"I started watching when I started dating my boyfriend, Josh, maybe three years ago." Strauss explained, "he works in the [pro] wrestling industry and he works with a lot of wrestlers and indie promotions, so a few months after we started dating, he said, 'I want to watch WrestleMania.' And I was like, 'WrestleMania?' I didn't know anything about it. I thought it was for kids. Like, people who don't understand wrestling don't understand its reach and how cool it is, so we watched it. We got the [WWE] Network and we watched it. When the show was over, I asked him, 'what do you like about this?' You're dating someone new and you want to understand their interests, so I was like, 'tell me what you like about this. What is cool about this? Why do you like this so much?' So he put on the Monday Night Wars, the series the Network did about the Monday Night Wars, and that got me hooked. The story, the way it all happened with WCW and WWE or WWF at the time, it just got me completely hooked and from that moment forward, I've always been on the Network, just watching stuff myself and got super into it. We got to indies shows. We go to PCW ULTRA all the time. It's just a fun community to be a part of."
When asked whether she prefers 'The Attitude Era' or today's product, Strauss claimed that she like them both, but for different reasons.
"It's different, right?" Strauss philosophized, "that's like saying, 'would you rather listen to Led Zeppelin or Avenged Sevenfold?' It's apples and oranges, I think. I think the old stuff has better storylines and the new stuff has maybe better technique. In wrestling, they're doing crazier tricks that the older wrestlers weren't doing, so it's different. I like both."
Strauss said Ronda Rousey's WrestleMania debut was great and that she proved her doubters wrong.
"Yes, actually, we're going over to Ronda's today to barbecue." Strauss continued, "yeah, she's so awesome and I've been a fan of hers from her MMA days, so it's so cool to see her transition so well. And that was the other [WrestleMania] match I was really excited for. She absolutely killed it. It really was [a great debut]. I know a lot of people were skeptical that she wouldn't be able to transition from MMA to [pro] wrestling and not be awkward and she did it so well. I haven't heard a single person say that she didn't perform well that day."
During the interview, Strauss admitted that she would love to wrestle. With that said, the guitar goddess has some reservations, as she is concerned about injuring her hands. 'Hurricane Nita' noted that she will probably get involved in the ring at some point.
"Of course! How could you not? Of course, I have." Strauss explained, "I'm athletic. I can do stuff! The problem really for me, is that my hands are the way I make my money. My hands are the way I make my living, so if something were to happen to my fingers or something, that would be hugely devastating for me, but I don't think that's going to stop me. I think I'll probably doing a spot somewhere, somehow."
Also during the interview, Strauss talked about her ongoing Kickstarter campaign to fund her debut solo album. In Strauss's view, going the crowdfunding route affords her greater creative freedom than working with a record label.
"I thought rather than go with the traditional record label deal where they give me X amount of money and I have to pay it back and I have to run everything by the label, 'is the [album] cover okay? Is this touring schedule okay with you guys?', I just wanted to do one thing that's my own. My whole career has been playing other people's music and playing it how they want it done, so doing something with Kickstarter allows me to do something entirely on my own terms and having a lot of fun with it. And the fans have been having a lot of fun with it too because it's different." Strauss continued, "on the Kickstarter campaign, we have everything from album preorders to vinyl, to signed posters and 8x10s, to Skype guitar lessons. I could be any type of Skype call. I put in the Kickstarter campaign that you can just show me around your house or whatever you want to do for a few minutes! Yeah, pizza night, which sold out the fastest. I had to add more and there are a couple of pizza nights left. An invite to the album listening party, all the way up to one of my guitars that I play on stage, signed, and personally handed to you when I get off stage."
Strauss will also be playing out Mick Foley at Foley's "20 Years Of Hell" solo show this Thursday in Pasadena, California. Strauss mentioned that she had been squeamish about watching the Mankind versus Undertaker Hell In A Cell match until recently.
"I didn't want to watch it for a long time. For a while I wouldn't watch it because it was totally gruesome. Like, it was so brutal. Gradually, Josh got me into ECW and we started going to PCW ULTRA, which is that old school, very bloody, very gory, chairs being thrown around, and all this stuff. And then, I started to get acclimated to it and then, I could watch it finally, but there are still parts where I have to turn my head in that match. It's pretty brutal." Strauss said, "I'm flying in that morning for that, basically for Mick's [show], to play him out. Again, it's just so amazing as a newer wrestling fan, to get to have these amazing experiences, to be a part of it, it's really an honor."
If you are interested in supporting Nita's debut solo album, go to her Kickstarter page here. Pledge options range from a digital download of the completed album all the way to an autographed guitar.
Source: Wrestling Inc.