Former American Ninja Warrior star and current Mae Young Classic competitor Kacy Catanzaro recently spoke to ESPN. Catanzaro talked about transitioning into a WWE career, competing in the Mae Young Classic, and Triple H suggesting she could be a heel.
The most difficult part of transitioning to WWE
Catanzaro said there are a lot of things about wrestling that are different from what the traditional athlete is taught. “Everything that you do in a wrestling match is something that your body doesn’t want to do,” she said.
She admitted that it has taken time to adapt to what it means to be a pro wrestler. Your body does not naturally want to take big falls or flat-back bumps. She said it has been ‘really cool’ to learn the style of pro wrestling, but reiterated it’s been difficult.
How she feels about competing in the Mae Young Classic?
Catanzaro said Mae Young is a huge figure in the history of pro wrestling. She was a very tough lady who didn’t care what people expected women’s’ roles to be. She never let the challenges get to her, she didn’t accept the way things were. She pushed the envelope, sacrificed and broke barriers for the women who would follow her.
“Mae Young, along with a lot of other women, they sacrificed so much and everything that they have done has made me sitting here be possible because of what they endured and what they didn’t accept and because of all of the hardships that they went through.
“They did all of that and now I get to be here when there is this amazing women’s revolution and when we do get to be part of those main events that they didn’t get to. It’s amazing to see that process and be a part of it now and know that they paved the way for us and we, being here, get to blaze the path for the future women.”
Triple H insisting that she work heel:
Before she started training at the WWE Performance Center, she assumed that she would be a babyface. She considers herself a nice person and felt that being a babyface was a natural fit. But Triple H told her, “I think I’m nice too, but I made a lot of my career by being a heel”.
She now sees the chance to work as a heel as really fun. “Honestly, for me, I feel like there’s so many times that you have those moments where that heel wants to come out of you in normal life, but you decide to be a good person so you don’t let it come out. I feel like I have those moments a lot, and I’ll know these are my two choices.”
“I could flip out on this person or I could be the bigger person and walk away. Walking away is what I usually try and choose, but I think it would be fun to be in a situation where I could choose the other one and to be a little bit “heelish.””
Head over to ESPN to check out the full interview
