Lisa Marie Varon, the artist formerly known as Victoria, has lifted the lid on WCW having the opportunity to sign her before she landed on WWE’s radar.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, the legend opened up about her relationship with Torrie Wilson who attempted to secure her a contract with World Championship Wrestling in the late nineties:
“That’s how I met Torrie, we competed in fitness together – with the same sponsor, so we had a team… Her and I were roommates and it was Miss Galaxy we were competing in, and that’s how our friendship began. Way before wrestling, and then she got into WCW and brought me backstage, and I’m like “what the hell? What is this? You’re escorting a guy to the ring and you get paid for that because you’re hot and shredded? She’s beautiful. Just stunning… She tried to get me into WCW and that was going down. They weren’t hiring anybody.”
While Torrie Wilson’s time with WCW was coming to an end in 2001, Varon’s career was just beginning and she officially signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in the summer of 2002 joining her friend on the wrestling giant’s roster.
Having been one of The Godfather’s Hos two years prior, the star was renamed Victoria and molded in the same vein as Chyna. A tough, take no prisoners warrior, Victoria immediately targeted WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus who she claimed betrayed her when the pair worked together as fitness models.
The feud spilled into the 2002 Survivor Series, where Victoria and Stratus competed in one of the toughest and well put together bouts in the history of women’s wrestling. A brutal Hardcore Match saw the newcomer crowned Women’s Champion less than four months after her debut.
Credit for the interview: Chris Van Vliet
h/t for the transcription: Fightful