Angelina Love On Fans Criticizing Her Weight, How Women's Wrestling Has Evolved

Ring Of Honor's Angelina Love recently caught up with AfterBuzz TV to talk about her impressive career that has spanned nearly two decades. Love also has a message for the fans that decide to criticize her weight or the way that she looks despite Ring Of Honor being focused on the in-ring action.

"You know, I've been hearing stuff about my weight since like 2010 so it's not like this was some shocking thing that I haven't heard before. I felt the need to call the guys out – A, because it was coming from men, and B, you know Ring of Honor and Women of Honor has always been known for the wrestling," Love said. "It's not supposed to matter how you look, or what you wear, or what your body looks like. It's supposed to be your ability to wrestle. So the fact that we were getting so much hate because we were coming in being as we are, it's like, I'm also proving myself! Not that I need to; I've been wrestling for 19 years? But proving myself to a new crowd of fans that I can wrestle, won the Women's championship, and then they're still caught up on how I look.

"I'm like, doesn't that make you hypocrites? Just wondering," Angelina said. "So I felt the need to say something because it happened at our Sept 27 and 28th shows in Vegas and then it happened again October 12 in New Orleans and I was like, two shows in row? I've got dudes screaming at me from the crowd about how much I weigh and I'm like, 'Oh I thought that wasn't supposed to matter, you don't care about how I look. It's supposed to be how I wrestle.' But then you know the same people that are preaching about it's all about wrestling are the ones that are freaking out about how we look too, so I was just kind of like, I'm just going to call you out."

Angelina is proud of the shift that women's wrestling has made in the past decade. She remembers a time in the early 2000's when the majority of female performers in the locker room were strippers or the male performers' girlfriends that could do a spot on the show.

"When I started on the Ontario indies back in the 2000's, I was a manager. And honestly, not only some girls but the majority of the girls who were on the indies at that time or were in the locker room were guys girlfriends or strippers used for some random spot on the show? So, there wasn't a lot of girls at that time that were actually working indies or coming in trying to establish or accomplish something in the business," Angelina explained. "From the start of the Knockouts Division in '07 and the Women's Revolution – that kind of stuff. Women's wrestling has just shot through the roof in the last two decades, which is so crazy to say."

Angelina hopes that the women keep pushing the envelope so that their matches on the card don't resort back to being "potty breaks" for viewers.

"We've just got to keep pushing forward," Angelina stated. "This has always been a male-dominated business and there's always more to be done. I wouldn't know what to say specifically needs to be done, but you know, it's a constant evolution. So we just need to keep evolving and keep the legitimacy of the business too? A long time ago, women's matches were potty breaks and we don't ever want to be that again."

Angelina hopes that she's remembered as one of the better female competitors to come out of the squared circle, and one that overcame any criticism of her looks to excel at pro wrestling. She also is grateful for Velvet Sky and the faction of "The Beautiful People" that they have branded together.

"[I want to be remembered as] being the best or being one of the best, because I'm not going to cut down anyone else who thinks that they're the best and has accomplished a lot too? I'm so thankful for what Velvet and I were able to do with the Beautiful People because that was historical and no one can take that away from us," Angelina said. "We're so proud of that and I just want to be remembered as one of the best...I have a very judgeable look, I've always known that and I think it's great because I love to be able to get in the ring and be like, 'Yes, I look this way, and you probably think I suck just because of how I look. But let me blow you away when I get in the ring.' I've always been all about that."