Written by Rob Crowther IV and Kriss Nunez
This Sunday history will be made as the first women’s wrestling match will headline Wrestlemania. It is an absolutely massive, and historic moment not just for women’s wrestling, but professional wrestling as a whole.
There is a long, storied list of women in wrestling who helped pave the way for a main event like this to happen. This includes the founding members of TNA’s Knockouts Division. Often overlooked due to the innumerable mistakes TNA made as company, The Knockouts Division produced must-see television week in, and week out. One of the centerpieces of the division was Velvet Sky. As one half of the wildly popular heel group The Beautiful People, Sky and her partner Angelina Love, captivated audiences with their “mean girl” act. Sky and Love were two of the hottest acts in TNA, and their work often outshined the men who were in the main event.
We caught up with Velvet for a few minutes at the NJ Horror Con at The Showboat in Atlantic City, New Jersey to talk about the Knockouts Division, and women’s wrestling today.
We’re beyond honored to be interviewing a former two time TNA Knockouts Champion, Knockout Tag Team Champion, and not to mention a very Beautiful Person, Miss Velvet Sky. Velvet, welcome. How are you?
Thank you, I’m great! You left out one thing. Oreo queen. I am the self-proclaimed queen of the Oreo cookies!
We had briefly mentioned The Beautiful People and wanted to ask what was your fondest memory of being part of that faction?
The brown paper bag, baby. We loved putting the bags over the girls’ heads. Especially the ugly ones — but in our eyes they were all ugly! We were The Beautiful People, they were the ugly people. The brown paper bag was our signature thing and we couldn’t bag enough girls. Let’s be honest they needed it. You’re over there laughing but you know it’s true. I’m just playing [long pause] no, I’m not.
So obviously we’re here at the NJ Horror Con in Atlantic City. Do you have any favorite horror movies or characters?
Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elmstreet. He’s the only celebrity in the entire world that I want to meet. Everyone’s so shocked when I say that. It’s crazy, when I do the cons that he’s usually at, he’s not there. When I don’t do the cons I normally do, he’s there. I keep missing him. I just want him to sign my A Nightmare on Elm Street DVD box set. That’s my dream in life, to meet Freddy Krueger and thank him for sharing the shit out of me as a kid. There’s a cosplayer over there, but it’s not the same — it’s not Robert Englund!
Who are some dream opponents that you wish you could face?
So I’m retired from in ring action but someone I always wanted to get in the ring and mix it up with was Lita. She was my inspiration for wanting to be a women’s wrestler. I was there the night when she debuted with Essa Rios on Sunday Night Heat. I remember she came out, and she wearing that hot red outfit. I knew her from ECW [as Miss Congeniality], so I knew it was her. But when I saw her, I was like wow! [I knew] that’s what I want to do; this chick is awesome. I always wanted to get in the ring with her, but it never happened. But it’s okay. She’s still my inspiration.
There’s a lot going on right now in the world of women’s wrestling. We’ll be seeing the first ever women’s main event at Wrestlemania this Sunday. What are you feelings on this?
I’m just really proud of the women. I mean they’re killing it. This used to be a mostly male dominated sport and women have stepped up and earned their roles in the business. I’m very proud and happy for the women that are main event-ing Wrestlemania. It’s huge. It’s history-making
And you were a big part of that!
I don’t like to take the credit for that. But, I will say that The Knockouts busted our butts back then. It was at a time where women’s wrestling wasn’t on the forefront like it is now. So we fought tooth and nail to make sure we were always featured on shows. We main evented back then. And Vince Russo — I know a lot of people love to hate on Vince Russo, but he’s the reason that we got to do what we did. Not just the Beautiful People, but all of the Knockouts. It got to a point where Vince saw the numbers that the Knockouts were drawing and he made it at a point to try to get two Knockout matches on the show. We only had two hours of a jam-packed show, but Vince was our number one fan. We have him to thank for that. He deserves more credit. He really does.
Velvey Sky will be appearing at WrestleCon in New York City this weekend, for more info follow her on Twitter.
Follow Velvet Sky on Twitter: @Velvelholler
