Ivory on Hall of Fame, Today’s Era of Women Wrestling, Vince McMahon

ESPN held a recent interview with Ivory discussing WWE’s Hall of Fame, today’s era of women’s wrestling, Vince McMahon, and more.

On the topic of being inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame, Ivory stated she considers it to be a great achievement of her career and for women’s wrestling in general.

“[This Hall of Fame recognition] means that it’s a full circle in your career, in your wrestling chapter. It’s great bragging rights for your family that have seen you go through the eras and I also feel like it’s an awesome tribute to the women in wrestling as a whole.”

On the topic of being excited for the upcoming ceremony, Ivory stated it will be like a wedding day in terms of personal importance. She also mentioned at being excited to have the opportunity to publicly thank everyone who helped her during her career.

“I liken it to almost getting married, it’s my wedding day, which I’ve never had one, so, this is probably as close to a wedding production as I’ll ever get,” Ivory said. “Hair and makeup, I will be speaking my vows — with regards to my wrestling career — to all these people I adore and love and we want it to all happen without a hitch.”

On the topic of being on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in 1999 with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ivory stated she felt very honored to be chosen for the special occasion.

“I don’t think either one of us at the time knew what an honor that was — to be having her (photographer Mary Ellen Mark) take our photograph,” Ivory said. “That was a highlight for me — it’s small because it’s not taking bumps or a big pay per view event or a big championship, but that was one of those amazing sidebar things that I got to do.”

On the topic of today’s era of women’s wrestling, Ivory stated she is grateful at today’s era being more than just eye candy and the work being done to expand the appeal of women’s wrestling to more audiences.

“Women who decide to wrestle are a special type of women. We are tomboys, we are women that can hang in a locker room. I am just grateful that there are outlets for that,” she said. “It’s not about having a certain body type and looking picture perfect beautiful. It’s about having the drive and some kind of wacky attraction you have to the physicality, the test of learning how to wrestle and being to do it believably. It’s not easy theater to do. You can watch plenty of wrestling matches where the performers are not buying it. And it makes it boring for you to watch. There is a huge testament to the talent of the people who are engaging the fan or viewer.”

During the interview, the topic of WWE’s Performance Center was discussed with Ivory stating she loves the idea of the Center and its training process for younger talent.

“I am a perfect example of somebody who’d have benefited from much more training before I got to be on TV. I have always been lousy at my craft and a lot of people are watching all over the world,”

Later in the interview, Ivory was asked for her thoughts about Vince McMahon. She praised him for all the opportunities given to her in the WWE and for being embraced by his family.

“I always felt embraced by the family. I didn’t chat with Vince McMahon all the time, but he always gave me great opportunities. I always felt like I had his seal of approval like, ‘Yeah, give it to Ivory, she will do it right,'” she concluded.