Madusa’s powerful interview with JBL

Recently, the WWE Network added some new content to the delight of all the subscribers. One of the shows that I knew I had to check out was, the latest Legends with JBL show.

My hero and favorite wrestler, not favorite female wrestler, but my favorite wrestler, male or female of all time took the hot seat, to discuss her journey in wrestling.

Madusa started out in the business when she was approached by her friends boyfriend while pursuing a career in nursing. She was told that she could do something in the entertainment world, because of her natural athletic ability.

Madusa was thinking about doing stunt work in Hollywood. However, her friend wanted her to give pro wrestling a try.

She was skeptical at first, but, when once she stepped into that square circle, Madusa knew that she was hooked.

Legendary women like The Fabulous Moolah and Sensational Sherri Martel really shaped her approach and respect for the business. She wanted to make them proud, but also, Madusa wanted to create a new path, for the younger generation of women in the business. That was easier said then done.

Working in WCW, in the early 90s, proved to be difficult. No one wanted to work with her and no one wanted to follow her matches either. However, there was one, that saw what Madusa could bring to the product. That person, was the evil genius, Paul E. Dangerously. He had a good feud with her then made Madusa, the original Paul Heyman Girl in his stable, ‘The Dangerous Alliance’.

In this faction, Madusa managed legends like the late, great Rick Rude and Stunning Steve Austin, later known as Stone Cold in WWE. These were great times for her, but she also wanted to show what she could do in the ring.

When her good friend, Greg the hammer Valentine, put in a word for her, with Vince McMahon, her journey as Alundra Blayze in WWE began.

Vince wanted to build an entire division around her, because of the name and reputation that she built in Japan. Madusa had trained and competed with big name promotions like All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling and earned the respect of the Japanese fans and wrestlers alike. Which is not an easy thing to obtain, especially back then.

Training in Japan truly tested Madusa’s will power. She learned the true meaning of discipline.

To add to her already impressive resume, Madusa was invited to Thailand, to learn the art of kickboxing, because her trainers in Japan had faith in her ability to pick up the sport rather quickly.

So when Madusa got to WWE in ’93, she was more than ready to spearhead a division. Her goal was to keep the art and integrity of the past females in the business, but to add a sexy look into the mix. Alundra Blayze had vignettes that demonstrated this approach.

She was seen as a kick ass woman of the 90’s, who could ride a Harley, compete in a brawl at a local bar, wrestle any women from any country and come out victorious and quite possibly, could have integrated mixed martial arts into the women’s division, if she would’ve stayed in the promotion during the attitude era.

Alundra Blayze won over the fans and was backed up by the company. They flew in talent like Bull Nankano and Aja Kong to take on the All American baby face. They were the perfect heels to help Alundra bring relevance to the division.

Sadly, this ride didn’t last long. In 95, JJ Dillion broke the news to Madusa that her contract would not be renewed, and the only reason why she wasn’t staying with the company was because WWE needed to make cutbacks. Of course, this truly crushed her, and worried her because this job was her bread and butter.

Not too long after her release, Eric Bischoff, TV producer for WCW, contacted her and offered a job. She happily accepted, but, this job came with a stipulation. Eric wanted Madusa to come with the WWE women’s title and to throw it in the trash. She was hesitant at first, but as she says, she was trying to survive, so she agreed.

To say that she didn’t know that trashing of the title, would lead to the beginning, of the low down tactics, that both WWE and WCW took to win the Monday night wars was an understatement.

To be honest, WCW used her for that moment, and then buried her, because they truly didn’t want or care to have a real women’s division.

Which was such a waste, because they had a great crop of women to work with. They had Luna Vachon, Jacqueline, Molly Holly, Sherri Martel, Akira Hokuto, Sharmell (who was trained by Madusa and got her stamp of approval. Yet they did nothing with her, and hired models for her to train like Stacy Kiebler and Torrie Wilson gave them airtime over her.

Before Madusa retired in 2001, she held the Cruiserweight title, which should’ve been a huge accomplishment, considering she was the only women to hold the title, but the embarrassment of feuding with a non wrestler, Ed Ferrara took away from that.

Ed Ferrara was a writer and commentator, who came up with a tasteless gimmick to make fun of Jim Ross after his stroke, named Oklahoma.

Needless to say, Madusa was done with this treatment and wanted to move on and see what else life had to offer. She got a call from a friend that gave her an invitation, to join Monster Jam and she hasn’t looked back since.

WWE finally made things right and inducted Madusa/Alundra Blayze, into the 2015 Hall of Fame. As a wrestling fan, I find it so hypocritical that people like Billy Graham, Hulk Hogan and even Eric Bischoff publicly made it known, that they were going to do everything that they could to run WWE out of business, but they were forgiven after the Monday Night Wars.

They were even given jobs with the company in 2002. Not even a year after WCW folded.

Madusa was still branded as a traitor and unprofessional ex women’s champion, who made it hard for women in WWE, for years to come. This was only rectified, over the past two years, with the emergence of the Divas Revolution.

Now the female talent and Vince, wants the history of Alundra Blayze to be remembered and celebrated. And all I have to say it’s that it’s about damn time.

As much as I enjoyed the Attitude Era, divas like Lita and Trish couldn’t hold a candle to Madusa’s in ring abilities. I’m saying this, as someone, who tried to imitate everything that Lita did growing up, and I’m still a huge fan to this day.

However, when you grow up, and look outside of the WWE bubble, you see the wrestling world for what truly is, and Madusa was a true gem in the industry.

The ladder end of her career was handled poorly, because she followed the orders of her boss and was left to take the blame.

However, on a good note, she is getting proper recognition now, and I see another run in WWE for her, as a manager, trainer or dare I say, possibly as a color commentator.

With her wit, piss and vinegar personality, quick comebacks and passion for the business, I don’t see why not. The possibilities are endless.

I highly recommend everyone to watch this episode of Legends with JBL exclusively on the WWE Network.