RAW Magazine
January 2003 Issue
From Ho to Eternity Victoria’s Come a Long Way, Baby
by Brian Solomon

If you had told Victoria two or three years ago that today she would be among the WWE’s elite Divas and a holder of the WWE Women’s Championship, she would have thought you were crazy. “Honestly, I never thought I’d be involved in the show,” she says. “When I watched the show back then, the girls were more T&A. We still have that element, because we realize that we can combine sex appeal with being aggressive in the ring. But where we’re at now, I think we’re bringing integrity to female wrestling. It’s about time, I think. It can be kind of frustrating to be out there with people chanting ‘HLA’ or ‘We want puppies!’ when we’re practically kicking each other’s teeth out to entertain the fans. We understand that’s part of it, and there’s a time and place for it, but we’re out there putting our hearts and souls into our matches, as well as putting our bodies on the line.” Victoria wasn’t always this high-profile. In 2000, she was first introduced to WWE fans as one of the Godfather’s ‘hos,” strutting to the ring in skimpy outfits. Later, she even became Rikishi’s dancing partner. But there was certainty no hint of what she’d later become: one of the true break-out Superstars in WWE’s developmental roster. In part, this is due to the highly entertaining persona that she has crafted. As WWE’s first “loose-cannon Diva,” she immediately grabbed viewers’ attention and moved to the forefront of the Women’s division upon starting a rivalry with Trish Stratus. “I think my character is finally taking off,” says Victoria. “The psycho-bitch thing is right up my alley, I guess. It’s pretty scary how well I play it. It’s the opposite of me, but I enjoy doing it.” Of course this begs the question: how is Victoria so good at pulling off her “psycho-bitch” ring persona? ” I remember Vince, the whole production office and all the agents were with me behind the curtain before a match. And Fit Finley was telling me ‘Intensity is the key here. We want intensity in our matches, and you have to show it.

They were pumping me up so much, and I just snapped. I guess I gave them the intensity they wanted. I went to the ring wanting to kick Trish’s butt! We’re both very intense and physical. A lot of people think we look like we’re killing each other out there-we’re pretty close to it!” In order to fulfill her dream of becoming a WWE Superstar, Victoria (a.k.a. Lisa Marie Varon) had to pay her dues in WWE’s Louisville, Kentucky, developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Her experience there was preparation for the rigors of WWE competition, but Victoria stresses that it was only an introduction. The real training comes on the job. “OVW is a great school, and I learned so much there,” she says. “Jim Cornette is the king of promos. We worked with excellent wrestlers there, and they taught us valuable ring skills. But when I got to WWE, I had to learn intensity in the ring. I had to get comfortable performing in front of so many people. It’s pretty scary to walk into an arena that’s packed. I’m used to performing in local shows in Louisville, and sometimes we’d have 20 people, but the show must go on.” Over the past year, WWE fans have come to appreciate the female training ground that OVW is. This past year witnessed an invasion of OVW talent like Batista, John Cena, 3 Minute Warning, Rico, Chris Nowinski, Randy Orton, and of course, Brock Lesnar. Arguably only Lesnar experienced more success than Victoria. It is truly an amazing accomplishment, and one for which she is both proud and grateful. “It’s so surreal,” she says. “It’s bizarre, because I’m still not used to checking into the hotel and meeting fans who know so much about me. I’m a fan, too, so I’m used to being on their end.

In fact, it may be completely beyond repair. “I usually don’t use such colloquial terminology, but this girl is batty,” opined renowned sports-entertainment psychologist Dr. Sigmund Ziff when contacted for comment. “To tell you the truth, from what I’ve seen of her, I can’t imagine anything short of intensive shock therapy making a dent in her psychosis. I’ve treated some difficult cases in my day-I was the guy who got George “The Animal” Steele to verbalize for the first time in his adult life-and even I throw up my hands. “The layman may not fully appreciate it,” Ziff continued, “but even Victoria’s most subtle words and actions scream out to the trained analytical mind. She is capable of some terrible things. The last thing anyone should want is to be perceived by her as an obstacle. Honestly, I can’t even fathom how WWE could hire someone this unstable. Their staff psychologists should have spotted this problem right from the beginning.” While that opinion is solely Dr. Ziff’s, we can’t help but ask the question: Should someone like this be allowed to ply their rade in a WWE ring? While it’s certainly true that WWE has had it’s fair share of madmen and maniacs on the roster in the past (and present), there never really has been any mad women. Frankly, we’re not sure that the Women’s Division can contain such a presence. This is not meant as a knock, but any rational viewer could admit that many of our lovely Divas are simply unprepared to cope with the out-and-out menace that Victoria represents.

I think ‘My gosh, I get to perform where Undertaker and all these legends perform.’ It just hasn’t sunk in yet.” Despite her quick success, the learning process continues. One of the reasons Victoria has been able to progress so far is that she is willing to absorb so much from working with the most experienced members on the roster. ” I’ve learned so much from working in the ring with Trish,” she says. “She’s awesome. And we have a great agent in Fit Finley. He’s taught us so much. He’s molding us, taking what’s inside us and bringing it out. He’s the best.” “When Undertaker was with the Raw crew, he used to work with me in the ring, and he would pull me aside and tell me that he saw me being really intense, but I just needed to learn how to bring it out. So, when I saw him at the pay-per-view, I asked him, ‘Have you been watching our women’s matches?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I’m very proud.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow…he’s proud!’ In the November 2001 issue of Raw Magazine, Victoria was featured in a department called “On The Farm,” which profiled WWE’s developmental athletes. Back then, she was hardly known to any but the most loyal WWE fans, and it’s astounding to see how far she’s progressed since then. WWE’s Women’s Division is stronger now than it’s ever been, which makes her achievement that more impressive. Her psychotic performance is among the weekly highlights of Raw, and she has proven that she can get the job done in the ring.

More than anything else, her intensity has been her greatest assest, molding her into what she always wanted to be, a bona fide WWE Superstar. Needless to say, this is just the beginning for this very talented competitor. Her career has only begun, and she looks forward to all that the future will bring. Her war with Trish has brought out the best in both of them. But for Victoria in particular, it has given her the chance to shine. “I was given the leeway to go over the top, and it was accepted out there in the ring,” she says. “Sometimes, I’m even told, ‘Hold it back a bit, don’t get that intense.’ So maybe later on, you might see an even more psychotic Victoria.