Victoria Revisits Her Japanese Roots
By Ed Williams III
February 7, 2005

While WWE’s trip to Japan has been a memorable one for all of the Raw Superstars, the trip holds an even more special place in the heart of Raw Diva Victoria.

“My mom is actually from here,” said the former Women’s Champion. “She was raised here for 15 years, so this is her culture. I grew up with a lot of Japanese terminology. So being around the Japanese fans is almost like being around my mom.”

This wasn’t Victoria’s first trip to Japan, but this time she didn’t have to just settle for feeling like she was around her mother. This time her mother actually joined her!

“I told my mom I was coming here and wanted her to come, too, so she has been out here staying with her aunt and uncle,” said Victoria. “She’s spent the last two nights with me in the hotel, though. She finally gets to see me living out my dream and working for WWE. I don’t get to see her much because I’m on the road so much, so as you get older, you really appreciate your time with your parents.”

Reuniting with her mother has been a very special experience for Victoria, but she says seeing all of the Japanese fans again has been almost as memorable.

“When we first got to the hotel, everyone remembered me from the last time we came here,” she said. “They all had pictures of me and it was very special. They appreciate every moment we’re here, and you don’t realize how much you touch them.”

While that may be the case, Victoria adds that the feeling is mutual.

“Their reaction always shocks me, because I’m a fan of them too,” she says. “They keep saying ‘thank you, thank you,’ but I say ‘thank you’ right back to them because it’s the fans that made me.”

Whenever traveling to a foreign land, it is almost inevitable that you’ll have some surprising experiences. Victoria was certainly no exception to this theory.

“It’s funny because my most surprising experience actually came at The Sizzler,” laughed Victoria. “My mom is not a fish-eater, so we had to go somewhere where she could get red meat or chicken, and there was a Sizzler right downstairs in the hotel. We ended up overpaying with a credit card without knowing. They called and told us, and the hotel manager came upstairs with a bag full of candy and to give us our money back. That’s something that would never happen at home.”