Rebel Recalls Advice From Paul Orndorff About Being A Heel

On a recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone sat down with Rebel. Rebel is best known in AEW as the manager to AEW Women's Champion Dr. Britt Baker DMD. She revealed how their pairing came to be.

"I had previously wrestled for Impact Wrestling, and before Impact Wrestling, I had done make up and hair," Rebel noted. "I had my license I did make up and hair in Los Angeles, CA. It's kind of how I got into Impact Wrestling because I was trying to do make up for them. It's funny how both times it has happened this way.

"I've been in the entertainment business almost all my life, and I really thought it's time to get behind the camera and pursue my other passions other than performing, and I had reached out to Christy Hemme and said, 'I would like to do the make up and hair for your show.' And she said, 'Oh my gosh, I have this perfect role for you,' and I was like, 'No no, no, that would be on camera.' And she said, 'Well I don't think you can get in the make up department without this.' They liked me, and they said, 'Hey, if you want to stick around, go learn how to wrestle.' And I had played full-contact tackle football. I have some wrestling background, always wrestling around with the guys, Roman Greco Olympic style wrestling.

"So day one at OVW in Louisville, KY, I fell in love with wrestling. I've never looked back. At one point, I did do make up and wrestle at the same time, and that was very stressful. By the time I got out, I was done with Impact, and I was reaching out to AEW. And I was thinking I wanted to get behind the camera again., and I started doing make up and hair and loved it. They wanted someone to interact with Britt, spend some time with her. We were friends, outside of AEW. It's the 'rules of being a role model,' and they loved our job. Tony Khan loved our dynamic on screen. They're like, 'We want to do more with you guys.' There it was. I just transitioned back again in front of the camera. I'm not mad at it."

Baker often calls Rebel "Reba" on TV. She discussed her response when other people call her "Reba".

"She's the only one that I'm okay with," Rebel said. "Anybody who thinks that they can call me 'Reba', I always correct them and say, 'It's definitely Rebel.' They're like, 'Hey, what's up Reba!' I'm like, 'It's definitely Rebel. It's definitely Rebel.' She's the reason why I'm having so much fun right now, and she can call me 'Reba', but I'll be sure to correct every time."

Rebel recently posted a tribute post on Instagram after "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff passed away. She recalled her interactions with Orndorff and what he taught her.

"I have one experience with him, and it is one of the most memorable experiences that I will never forget it and I'll never forget him," Rebel expressed. "We had an appearance together. We were signing, and he was so helpful, and so knowledgeable and just raw with his insight and his advice.

"I have a really bad memory but the gist of it is we were in the car, and he was just telling me what it really meant to be a heel. Back in the day, you weren't politically correct. You did whatever you had to do to the point where it was a compliment if you had people throwing sh*t at you. 'Face of an angel, mouth of a truck.' Throwing sh*t at him, waiting for him after the show, you needed security. He just really laid it out there how important it was to be fully committed to your character."

During some backstage interview segments or on "The Waiting Room", Rebel can be seen overexaggerate her laugh in response to Baker's quips. Rebel discussed how that trend started.

"It was mentioned to me that when she does her jokes that I should laugh at all her jokes, and in the moment, I just was like [Rebel does her laugh]. And I don't know why," Rebel admitted. "It just was organic. That's what felt authentic and genuine. Well, not genuine but authentic and organic. I hate doing it. I think it's really ugly. I didn't realize that people were gonna love that, and so now it's like, 'Do the laugh,' but I've been told to tone it down a little bit. Save it for 'The Waiting Room', but for other things, maybe tone it down a little bit with the laugh."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.