The words of former WWE Diva, Terri Runnels are lingering in my head right now, “I just cannot stand having an actual wrestling match.” Though these comments can be misconstrued when taken out of context, that line – whatever the context – pisses me off. In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Terri discussed how she would love another opportunity in WWE or in TNA:
“I would love to do something again, but my only thing is that I don’t want to wrestle,” she said. “It would have to be in a hosting/managing/valet/interview capacity. I have no problems a bump. When I would get to TV and Vince [McMahon] would say, ‘OK, Big Show is going to goozle you and throw you and you’re going to land on someone in the second row,’ I’d be like, ‘Awesome.’
“But if he would tell me, ‘Hey Terri, you’ve got a bikini paddle on the pole match with another girl,’ nothing against the other girls, because I so respect them and what they’ve trained to do, but I just cannot stand having an actual wrestling match. It’s just not for me. I love the big bump. I was the first female to be slammed through a table by The Dudleys — loved that, was stoked. Granted, it didn’t feel well the day after or the day after that or the day after that, but I was still very excited to do that bump.”
To me, these are the words of a washed up has-been trying to be relevant again. I was never really a fan of Terri’s nor did I dislike her, she was simply there. Between trying to stifle fans out of $1m and that line, Terri’s been on quite a roll over the past couple of months. That line leaves a really bad taste in my mouth and makes me wonder how the fuck did she last so long in the industry? Terri, please do us all a favour and fade gracefully into obscurity. You are not a “Diva legend” that deserves to be remembered, so stop trying to be relevant again.
18 Comments
at 5:25 pm
I guess some people have a harder time dealing with life AFTER the spotlight is gone. She comes off as really desperate. It seems like the women hold on longer than the men do. Look at Sunny, who thinks she still matters, or Missy Hyatt. I wish they would just age gracefully and move on.
at 6:24 pm
I can’t stand Terri, she’s bugged me ever since she was Marlena but these comments don’t really bother me. I think you can love the business without enjoying the physical aspect so much. Same with Stacy Keibler – she didn’t enjoy having matches.
I’d rather some of the girls admit they don’t like it than have them lie, say they love it and are training and then clearly don’t because they either stall or in some cases get worse.
at 6:33 pm
Oh and I agree about people like Sunny. I was a huge fan of her as a kid, I absolutly idolised her but I’m really annoyed with her acting as though she has more to offer than the girls in the business now just because she was the first ‘Diva’.
It’s almost as annoying as people who think that just because she lost some weight she deserves another run and act like Vince is an idiot for not rehiring her. Just because she now avoids Burger King doesn’t change the fact that she’s a 35 yr old, drug addled basket case with an inflated sense of her own legacy.
Also, Sunny, if you want to be rehired by Vince, don’t slag off Triple H so much.
at 6:37 pm
Sunny was only ever good for 2 things, tbh. Promos, and pleasuring 2 guys at once.
at 6:54 pm
I dont know who she is; but she really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I cant stand her saying this. This makes her come of as desperate to get back in the bussiness but not to wrestle.
at 7:00 pm
How is she trying to be relevant again? Because she did an interview and showed interest in returning? Terri was never a wrestler and she obviously doesn’t want to be one. She wants to manage and be a personality. So freaking what? I’m so sick of this attitude among women wrestling fans that every single freaking women in the business has to wrestle. Managers are part of wrestling, and Sensational Sherri, for example, is much more remembered for her managing skills than her wrestling. Legends such as Paul Bearer and Bobby Heenan were always managers, and it’s disrespectful so simply pass them by because they were never wrestlers.
at 7:09 pm
She’s beeing saying that stuff about not liking being put in wrestling matches for years.
i don’t blame her since she’s not a trained wrestler
at 7:25 pm
The difference with Sherri and the other managers/valets is that this isn’t the 1980′s. People don’t want to see women just standing around looking pretty anymore. Especially if they’re gonna get pushed ahead of actual wrestlers. If you only want to be a one-trick pony and just “manage” you won’t last very long. Period. If she doesn’t want to wrestle, don’t try to be apart of a wrestling promotion.
at 7:54 pm
How do you know people don’t want managers? No one is even trying it right now.
at 7:58 pm
I 100% agree with Al on this. For example: SoCal Val does wrestle but she is mostly a manager and will choose to manage over wrestling any day. That really works for her and she is very successful at managing. I don’t see anybody complaining about her or Crystal and Laurn just interviewing over on TNA, what’s the big deal?
at 8:22 pm
I dont get the hating on Terri. Regardless if people want to see women wrestle or not, she doesnt want to. Why is that bad? There are so many managers out there who dont wrestle. Terri said she is more than happy to take a bump, so its not like she doesnt want to be involved in the ring at all.
Would we be angry if Torrie said she didnt like wrestling? Or even a male manager? WWE doesnt have to hire her if they dont want to. She is just stating what she likes and doesnt like, now what WWE SHOULD do for her.
at 8:25 pm
PLUS: Terri was loyal to WWE until the day she retired. It is widely known that she was offered bigger pay to switch to both ECW and WCW and she turned them down out of loyalty to Vince.
at 8:37 pm
I can see why people get annoyed when others say they dont like wrestling. Why get into the wrestling business if you dont like wrestling matches.
at 9:17 pm
Everyone, of course, has their own opinions and are free to air them. But Eric, I do not appreciate you alluding to my fandom for Torrie in your comments, it’s insulting. It’s a very precarious tactic that not only insults my intelligence, but yours too. If you cannot make your point without trying to personally affront someone, then in future please don’t bother.
at 9:56 pm
I think in this day and age, it’s absurd to get into wrestling and not expect to wrestle. Granted, Terri’s time was quite a while ago, but it’s still strange to hear her be so averse to wrestling. For someone who invested numerous years of her life to the sport, it just seems weird to me that she wouldn’t have *any* interest in wrestling. I know the physicality probably turns her off, but I would at least be a little more curious..
I don’t feel she’s this *legendary* Diva either. Just because she was there for a long time and managed several men doesn’t make her groundbreaking or particularly legendary. It’s a fantastic feat to be one of the first “real” WWE Divas, but almost any other woman could have stepped into her shoes at the right time and accomplished the same, if not more.
at 10:24 pm
I’m just under the impression that in the industry of “wrestling”, “sports-entertainment” or whatever, you should expect to get in the ring. I’m sure there’s a reason almost every WWE Diva has been in the ring at some point. You have to be the total package now. It doesn’t matter, she probably won’t get rehired, anyway.
at 11:15 pm
well i can see why she said that she sucks in thee ring and didn’t win a single match (i think)
at 2:58 am
Managers just stand around a look pretty? Really? Is the art of managing so lost that people think that’s the only thing they do? Sherri didn’t just stand around and look pretty for Shawn Michaels, she was the reason to why his heel turn worked; Sherri only managed the big guys back then, and Shawn gained instant creditibility for simply being associated with her. Yeah, Sherri just stood around and looked pretty. Booby Heenan was Hulk Hogan’s main nemesis during Hogan’s prime, it wasn’t those Hogan wrestled; it was Heenan and whoever he managed. Managing is much more important than people think at this day and age, and just because it this “isn’t the 1980’s” doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used. As a matter of fact, it should be used because it would give those wrestlers who can’t talk but can wrestle a chance to get over. Plus, if girls like Maria managed, instead of being thrown in the ring where they clearly don’t belong because they suck and have no hope, they would have serve some use. This mind set that every woman should wrestle, even though they clearly don’t get it, is wrong and only lead to A) the discreditability of women wrestling, B) some horrible matches, and C) plenty of injuries.