The WNS Podcast, official podcast of WrestlingNewsSource.com, recently interviewed former WWE Diva Victoria, TNA knockout Tara whose real name is Lisa Marie Varon. You can read some highlights below and you can check out the full interview in the video above.
On a possible return to the ring or working as a trainer at the Performance Centre:
I have heard that rumour. Everybody that’s been coming in every night goes “I read on the internet that you’re going back”. My phone hasn’t rang so I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have a lot to give, a lot of knowledge to share. I think I can help a lot of the girls. Whenever I watch some of the wrestling I text someone in the office and say “please give her to me for a month and I’ll work with her”. I don’t hear back, I think they think I’m joking but I never said I was retired. I think as a wrestler you don’t say retired because you aren’t always going to show up either back in WWE or the indy circuit so I don’t let myself get out of shape where I’m not ready to go in the ring. I think it’s an ego and a pride thing for me. And you think when you’re out that you can kind of let yourself go. It’s actually the opposite. When you’re “retired” and you go backstage people are checking you out going I wonder if she let herself go. It’s almost a little bit more pressure to stay in the same shape as when you left. God forbid you age or your metabolism slows down and you start enjoying the pizzas and the burgers every single day. I think maybe for a woman it’s a little different. We still have to take care of our face, our physique, ournails. You still have to present yourself as that girl that you left because people will start feeling sorry for you.
Thoughts on her match with Trish Stratus at Survivor Series 2002:
It was an adrenaline rush I’ll tell you that. Her and I beat the crap out of each other. You have your best matches with your friends because you have a lot of trust. You put your body in their hands. And, her and I, the rule’s “don’t say sorry”, “thank you for the match right now. I’m sorry if I’m going to hurt you”, “Let’s give the fans a good show”. In that match, the mirror was supposed to be the finish. I was supposed to smash the mirror up on her head and in the match she stepped on it on a move and I didn’t realize it until I went to grab it and I was like “oh my god, oh my god”. And I also broke my nose in that match from that trash can and chipped a tooth. But that wasn’t the part I was upset about. It was the mirror, I was talking to myself and the mirror was talking back to me. But that was me, Crazy Victoria and everybody thought Trish was better and that symbolism of the mirror smashing on her head was ruined and we had to improvise. I grabbed the wrong fire extinguisher. It had the pin it and I took the pin out and sprayed her and ended it with a suplex. I would have rather had it with the mirror. That’s what my disappointment was. When I do watch it, my heart rate races again and I feel like I’m at Madison Square Garden and all my customers here are watching it. Because they all request to watch that match here so I play it once a night and I still get nervous watching it.
Comparing the backstage atmosphere in WWE to that of TNA:
It’s completely different. I’m going to be honest with you, there was a lot of freedom at TNA. I remember coming there and asking “Hey what do you want out of this match”. “Oh, you just do what you do”. And I’m like “What?” because I’m not used to that. I was always used to a little bit more structure. There’s nothing like a production like WWE. No one is going to be WWE, ever. Also, there were times I found out I was pay per view through twitter and I called the office saying “Hey am I on pay per view and never got travel and it’s been two days I don’t know what’s going on”. WWE is organized. I’m used to organization and someone handling the PR department. Someone handling a photo shoot. So there is a department for every single thing you do in WWE. And if you’re lost, don’t know what’s going on, they have a department to help you out. But I did have a good Career in TNA. I had some good matches. I want to go to TNA and face ODB and Kong so that was one of my dreams and I got to do it. And Mickie James nd I had a cage match. I had a good run there. At the end, not so much. I didn’t feel the passion anymore. That’s the difference.
