Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine
March 2003 Issue
Victoria’s No Longer A Secret “She’s A Cross Between Chyna And Sable”
By Liz Hunter

WWE HAS MADE stars out of innumerable women in its illustrious history, but only a select few have impacted the promotion in the long term. In fact, in the past 10 years, only two women — Sable (Rena Mero) and Chyna (Joanie Lauerer) — did so much for the promotion that they established htemselves as true wrestling icons. All of the rest either left WWE without fanfare or continue to wrestle for Vince McMahon today.
Luckily for us, WWE’s current women’s division is currently cresting. No less than four women are competing for icon status, and there’s a good shot that they all might achieve it by the time they retire. Stacy Keilber will never — and we mean never — amount to much in the ring, but when it comes to popularity, she could end up being WWE’s most celebrated diva ever. And Torrie Wilson is right there with her.
Lita broke new ground by providing that North American audiences will accept females as risk-taking high spot artists. And Trish Stratus makes us all remember that just because a woman is stunningly beautiful doesn’t mean she’ll be a liability in the ring.
And there’s a fourth WWE diva that’s just starting to turn heads. Her name is Victoria, and even though she’s been part of WWE’s roster for a scant few months, she’s already being touted as a diva with huge potential.
“I’ve seen a lot of young women come through these doors,” said Jim Ross, WWE’s senior vice president of talent relations, “but I haven’t seen too many like Victoria. She has what it takes to be a star in this business, and I’m not just talking about her pretty face. I’m telling you, the girl is all heart. She came to us with big dreams, and we told her what she had to do to make it in our company. And darn it if she didn’t do it. That drive to win, that determination to succeed, that’s a rare thing, but Victoria has it in spades.”
Ross should know. It was only a couple of years ago that he received a videotape of a young woman named Lisa Marie Varon in the mail. She had previously appeared in a vignette with Scott Hall on WCW and later struck up a conversation with Chyna at a gym. A few days after receiving and viewing the tape, he gave the former middleweight bodybuilding champion, magazine cover girl, and organ harvester (becoming a doctor was once her ultimate goal) a call. Not long after their conversation, “Victoria” enrolled in Rick Bassman’s UPW wrestling school in California, and Bassman, the man responsible for launching the careers of Sting and The Ultimate Warrior in the mid-1980s, worked his new student hard.
“Training under Rick was difficult, because he pushed and pushed and pushed until you wanted to quit,” Victoria said, pulling her jet-black hair behind her head and putting it into a ponytail. “I refused to break, though. Everyone was surprised to see me come back the next day. I was like, ‘I’m still welcome, right?'”
Not only was Victoria welcome, she became one of Bassman’s star pupils. She soaked up everything that she was taught and craved more. Eventually, the long days of running the ropes and taking bumps for hours at a time paid off with a short stint in WWE as one of The Godfather’s hos. But after Godfather became The Goodfather and power-bombed Victoria through a table, that angle came to a devastatingly violent close and Victoria was sent to WWE’s developmental system. Long stints in Memphis Championship Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling sharpened her skills, as she got to concentrate on wrestling rather than showmanship in matches against other developmental talents. She even got to wrestle some actual WWE divas, like Molly Holly and Lita, from time to time.
But now Victoria is back on the main roster, and this time she isn’t a ho or even a respectable valet. She’s an angry, aggressive full-time wrestler, and a darn good one at that. She combines beauty with raw power, sex appeal with brute force. In fact, with her muscular physique and long, raven-colored hair, she could almost be mistaken for Chyna. WWE officials, however, see more than a would-be Chyna when they look at Victoria. They see a woman who might eclipse Chyna on WWE’s all-time divas list.
“Look at her,” said Ross. “Look at that hair, those muscles. There’s even a facial resemblance, and that’s great, but that’s not why we hired her. We see the potential for even more promise. Sure, she’s big and powerful, but she’s also a beautiful woman. She’s sensual, but not in an overpowering way. She’s not an Amazon.”
“I was watching a match between her and Trish Stratus the other day, and it just hit me that she is the most exciting all-around female wrestler to come to WWE in a long time,” added WWE expert Thomas Pillard. “Trish Stratus is damn good now, but she had to improve on the fly after she got here. WWE made sure Victoria was pretty polished by the time she got here. They kept her a secret for a while, but now everyone knows what she has to offer. I was just talking to a guy who has trained a lot of women wrestlers, and we agree that she’s a cross between Chyna and Sable. She’s taken some of the best attributes from both and meshed them rather nicely.”
A cross between Chyna and Sable? Could be. No other female on WWE’s roster combines physicality (one of Ross’ favorite words) and beauty so comfortably. Lita is pretty and wrestles that way. Stratus is downright beautiful, but she’s a bit too cute to pull off the tough gal routine. Victoria, on the other hand, is pretty close to the total package.
Of course, Victoria has a long way to go before she’ll actually be in Chyna or Sable’s class, and such comparisons right now aren’t fair. While her looks and talent have us predicting big things, she still has a lot to learn.
Then again, if she is part Chyna and party Sable, maybe the wait won’t be that long. Chyna didn’t become Chyna, the phenomenon, until years after her WWF debut, but Sable became Sable soon after she debuted. Maybe Victoria is closer than we think to becoming Victoria. Our advice: Don’t blink. You might miss the transition.