Wrestling Observer interview with Torrie Wilson
By Alex Marvez
It's fair to question whether Torrie Wilson's current pairing with Tajiri is helping her wrestling career, but there are no doubts that she is much happier in the World Wrestling Federation than she was in World Championship Wrestling. In the following interview conducted Nov. 15, the 26-year-old Wilson compares the two companies and discusses her start in wrestling and the world of fitness modeling.
Q: Obviously, you've come a long way
from McCall, Idaho. What's the best thing for you about joining
the WWF so far?
Wilson: "Oh my gosh. I've been used a lot more than with
WCW. Pretty much walking to the ring is all I did there. Here,
I've gotten in the ring a lot to wrestle. I was thrown right in
with Vince in an angle as soon as I got there. It's so exciting.
There's so much more going on here in the WWF."
Q: Is it fair to say your potential
was squandered by WCW?
Wilson: "That's very fair to say. They did not know how to
utilize me. Sometimes, they just didn't use me."
Q: Were you a wrestling fan growing
up?
Wilson: "No, to be honest, I never even watched it. I didn't
even know what it was. I didn't watch much TV growing up. I
didn't even watch any wrestling until I moved to L.A. and went to
a house show there."
Q: Did you have any idea that when you
went to that show that you would be getting into the business?
Wilson: "I had no idea. Actually, it was weird. A guy had
taken us to the show who knew a lot of the wrestlers. We got
backstage and my boyfriend was so excited to meet all the people
he had admired for so long. I thought it was really cool watching
the people. I met Eric Bischoff and Bill Goldberg and Kevin Nash
and a lot of people. Nash was actually doing the booking at the
time and he approach me about an angle where he needed a new girl
to come in for a little while. I thought it would be only for a
few months, but things went well from the beginning. They kept
calling back."
Q: Were you skeptical about joining at
first considering your success as a fitness model?
Wilson: "To me, it's almost like a natural progression from
the fitness world. I was pursuing acting for a short time in
L.A., and to be honest, it was not really my cup of tea.
Obviously, I'm into working out and things like that. My body and
personality fit into wrestling better."
Q: Why did you decide to become a
fitness model?
Wilson: "I actually had admired fitness women. I looked at
the pictures onmy wall and said, 'I've got to train to look like
this.' That's how I started wanting to compete."
Q: I understand you developed an
eating disorder when you were younger when you tried commercial
modeling. Is that true?
Wilson: "I dabbled in modeling. I came to New York and met
with an agency. It's pretty much a consensus that even though
you're so thin to begin with, you starve yourself to death
because you always want to lose more weight. Thank god I never
had to go to the hospital or anything like that. It's not the way
I wanted to live the rest of my life. I realize fitness route was
the way to go."
Q: Do you try to offer advice to
teenage girls about eating properly?
Wilson: "I really try to. I don't necessarily see myself as
the expert on that subject, but I do give some advice and I like
to tell my story. If it does help even a couple of people out
there, that's wonderful for me. I get e-mail here and there on my
web site from girls or people concerned about a friend of theirs
asking for advice. I pretty much just tell my story and give them
some off-the-record advice."
Q: Is doing more wrestling the biggest
transition for you since joining the WWF?
Wilson: "Definitely. I've done a lot more wrestling already
than I ever did in two years in WCW. It's great that people
actually will spend time with us in the ring and work with us.
The agents help us put our matches together. It's great we're
able to have those people there."
Q: How much has having Pete (Gruner a
k a Billy Kidman) as your boyfriend helped you adjust in the
business?
Wilson: "Well, I've learned through trial and error. The
first thing they told me is that you don't want to listen to your
significant other (laughs). He's given me advice in handling
certain situation and the backstage politics. That stuff he's
helped me with a lot. I'm very sensitive and take things
personally. He tries to help keep me balanced as far as that
stuff goes."
Q: What is your long-term goal in the
wrestling business and what moment are you most proud of?
Wilson: "My long-term goal is to basically learn as much as
I can and how to wrestle like a wrestler and not look like I'm
out of place in the ring. I definitely want to contribute as much
as I can to the sport and have people say, looking back on my
career, that I did contribute a lot."
"As for my favorite moment recently, I'd say it was going
through that table with the Dudley Boys. That was my proudest
moment. I can't believe I had the guts to take that."