Charlotte On Being Blown Away By Ronda Rousey In WWE, If She Was Nervous For The ESPN Body Issue
Charlotte spoke with Yahoo! Sports on the ESPN "Body Issue" photo shoot and Ronda Rousey. Here are some of the highlights:
Being the first WWE Superstar to be in ESPN's "Body Issue":
"I've always been a huge fan of the issue and growing up as an athlete, it was very encouraging to see that strong was being shown as sexy. So, the athletes very much inspired me and I guess almost helped me full comfortable in my own skin. I'm an athlete, I am sexy. It was obviously a bucket list but a WWE superstar had never been in the issue, so when I found out that they were going to have me in the 10th anniversary issue, I was like is this real? I kept annoying our talent relations department like, 'I really am picked, they aren't going to change it? For sure?' Up until the shoot, I kept checking in. I was just so excited and the fact that the women have worked so hard for WWE for so many years to be more than just eye candy, more than just the women are divas. Just to show the world that we are athletes and have so much to offer.
The Body Issue reaches a whole different demographic in that they can see wow, women's wrestling has come this far and she's an athlete. I hope this opens doors for more women to be represented in years to come in the issue to a whole new demographic. I was very honored and very excited and it also made me feel proud to be an athlete because I know when I first started, I had such a hard time. How do you do your makeup? How do you look like a star? How do you dress like a diva? And here I am almost six years later and I am so proud I grew up playing sports and that I have an athletic body and I just hope it sends that message all over."
If she was nervous during the photo shoot:
"Well, doing a moonsault naked is totally different. But no, I completely committed to the project and told them I wanted to do it without makeup. I actually had a black eye from Asuka from WrestleMania that I do not regret. I wanted it to be shown because we shot the week after WrestleMania. I was kind of excited about it. I get to show off my battle wound. I think just the message that being who you are in any shape, any size, no makeup, completely raw, is just so important and that's what I just kept thinking about. It was almost like a weight lifted off my shoulders. This is who I am. I'm so proud of my body. I'm so proud to be an athlete. I wouldn't change anything."
Ronda Rousey's run in WWE:
"I'm blown away. How fast she has picked everything up, especially with her match against Nia Jax at Money in the Bank. I know my dad texted her and said the same thing, just Roddy Pipper would be so proud of her. She gets better every time she's out there and it doesn't look like she's going to slow down at any point. I know she will become the Raw women's champion at some point and it's an honor to have her part of our division. She's blown my mind with how fast she's picked this up."
Charlotte also discussed the Special Olympics and watching Raw with Ric Flair. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.