Serena Deeb Names 'Respect Thing' All Pro Wrestlers Should Do
Serena Deeb believes that respect and work ethic is something of a forgotten art in professional wrestling today.
Deeb recently spoke to the "Under The Ring" podcast about her 17-year career in wrestling, which has ranged worldwide. She's known for her time in the all-female promotion SHIMMER Women Athletes, her WWE main roster stint as a member of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society, and her recent work for NWA and AEW, but Deeb kickstarted her career by training in the Ohio Valley Wrestling system in the mid-to-late 2000s — training that wasn't for the weak of heart.
"The training that I had was hardcore," Deeb recalled. "They embedded this respect in me and this work ethic that I think is lost a lot these days. And it's no one's fault, it's just like, a lot of that training just doesn't really exist anymore. Like, obviously we are in 2022 and the world has changed, and what's allowed and acceptable has changed. Some of the things that were said to me when I was 18, 19, 20 you know, it wouldn't be accepted these days."
Deeb would know. She joined WWE as a coach at the Performance Center in 2018 and worked with the company until 2020 when she was released due to COVID-19 cutbacks. She's widely respected for her technical ability — which is how she earned her current nickname, "The Professor" — and credits a lot of the wrestler she is today to that old-school training in OVW.
And what's the first thing the Professor would put on her syllabus?
"First and foremost, when you're getting in my ring, wipe your feet," Deeb said. "It's a respect thing, the ring crew does a lot to take care of the ring and those canvases can get ruined really quickly and it's such a pet peeve of mine when I just see people just getting in the ring with dirty shoes and all of that.
"So every time I have an entrance and I get in the ring, I always wipe my feet, because it's a respect to the ring, it's a respect to the people that put in a lot of work to care for those very expensive rings. That's number one, when you're getting in my ring, or the ring, wipe your feet."
Deeb will be in action this Sunday at AEW's Double Or Nothing PPV where she is set to go one-on-one with Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's Championship.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Under The Ring with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.