Interview with Lita by Phil Speer
Dec. 22, 2003 - WWE.com

WWE.com recently caught up with Lita for a special interview. The former Women’s Champion, who injured her neck while filming an episode of the since-canceled FOX series “Dark Angel,” discussed her return to the ring, her book, her animal-support organization and much more.

WWE.com: How are you feeling physically?

Lita: I’m feeling better than I thought I would as far as my neck goes. But my neck still feels a lot weaker -- I’ve bounced my head a few times on the mat -- and I’m assuming that’s just due to lack of strength built up in my neck. Other than that, the rest of my body feels pretty good.

WWE.com: Other Superstars who have returned from the surgery you had have modified their ring style. But it doesn’t seem like you have. You still seem to be the same high-flying Lita.

Lita: My initial plan was to modify it somewhat if for no other reason to freshen up my style. The trend in women’s wrestling seems to have gone toward more high-flying wrestling and more flashy type moves. So I did want to change it up just because I never want to be like anybody else. But some of the matches that I’ve been in are more high-profile – like Battle of the Sexes, for example, or the Cage Match, or my first title match since returning – and I am going to want to bust out everything in my arsenal. So that’s why I’ve been given opportunities to use my old move set.

WWE.com: But are you concerned about your long-term health? Stone Cold Steve Austin came back from the same type of surgery, and now he’s having problems again.

Lita: I feel that my case is still different than the other guys, although I still do have to be careful. But I had a one-time injury; my neck was healthy before the accident. I feel as though, for the most part, as long as it’s healed, it’s as healthy as it’s going to get, as opposed to people like Kurt Angle, Steve, Kevin Nash, Rhyno and Chris (Benoit). They have so much degenerative damage – although you can’t tell by looking at Rhyno and Chris. But if you have degenerative damage, you can fix it as best as you can, but it’s still damaged. My neck definitely doesn’t feel like it did before I was injured, but I’m happy with how it feels having been repaired.

WWE.com: Did you enjoy having the “Battle of the Sexes” matches, and would you like to see more intergender matches?

Lita: Intergender matches have always been my favorite.

Going back to Team Extreme, that’s definitely where we shined the most – being all in there together in intergender matches. I was really looking forward to having (Battle of the Sexes). There were a lot of variables in the match, and I think it ended up working out great. And I was really happy with the interaction between Christian and me because, although the match wasn’t focused around us, when we got in there, the crowd was definitely very receptive to what we did, which definitely made me happy.

WWE.com: What has it been like adjusting to getting back on the road every week?

Lita: I feel like adjusting to the schedule on the road has actually been harder than the physical aspect of being back in the ring. Sometimes in five days, we’ll have five flights, sometimes six if we work a show and then go to a town afterwards, that night. If you have something to do, you keep thinking, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” That’s how it is every day. The schedule itself, although I love being back on the road, is definitely hard to adjust to.

WWE.com: Would you say that’s always been the case – that you’ve always found travel to be more difficult than the physical aspect of the sport?

Lita: It depends on what night of the week you ask me that. If you’re really sore, when you get to the place, you find yourself having a hard time getting out of the car. In those cases, I would say no. But in a lot of cases, the actual travel can be harder because on a time that you would sleep in and nurse your body, or put ice on and go to sleep, you’ve got a long drive ahead of you or you’ve got to wake up early and cram yourself into an airplane seat. So I think it’s a combination of the two, but the travel is definitely hard.

WWE.com: One of the reasons I ask is because Nathan Jones recently walked out of the company, and a lot of people said it was because he couldn’t take the travel. What do you think about Nathan Jones quitting?

Lita: I never met him more than just “hello” in the hallways. As far as what kind of person he is, I don’t know because I never had to directly do business with him. Judging from the outside – just what I see – your heart has to be in this business because things like the travel, and a lot of other things, are really hard. I don’t fault him for leaving. If you’re not happy doing something, you shouldn’t be doing it, whether it’s wrestling or whether your job is at home. I think, for him, he did the right thing.

The way that he did it, just walking out? No, not necessarily. But if that’s how he felt – that he had to leave -- then I think that’s fine.

WWE.com: How does it feel to have a dog you can bring on the road with you – small enough to fit in your carryon bag?

Lita: After my dog Cody passed away, I swore that I would never get another dog until I was done traveling. I’ve had a roommate for the sake of just having someone be there with Cody when I was traveling because I was never home. Six weeks after Cody passed away, Mason – well, he wasn’t Mason at the time – came into the shelter. I said, “Well, I’ll foster him and see how he does.” I had an autograph session right after. I took him with me, and it was like he knew he had it good and we were meant for each other. He was great. He really, really brightens up my day. If something’s ever stressful, I can play with him for 30 seconds, and he’s just such a little break from the stress of your day sometimes.

WWE.com: He was on the cover of one of the magazines. Do a lot of fans recognize him?

Lita: Yeah, a lot of fans recognize him. If I go to take him out for a walk during the day, and fans are outside, they’ll go “Lita!” “MASON!” (Laughs). He gets recognized a lot. And he’s had some TV time as well, most notably when he’s just hanging out of my bag.

WWE.com: What’s it like being back after more than a year and having new women on the roster? And new faces on the roster?

Lita: I wasn’t sure how it was going to be, coming in with so many new faces. But as I get to see these peoples’ work up close, and really get to know some of the girls on our roster, it makes me all the more excited. Even girls that I have worked with before, like Molly, it’s still been, at minimum, 15 months since I’ve worked with them. As much as I enjoy working with Christian and (Chris) Jericho, I’m really looking to get into the title hunt again, for sure. And Victoria and I were thrown in for the one Cage Match, which was really fun, but I would love to work with her. She’s the only girl who is physically taller and bigger than me, so I’d love to play off that dynamic. And Jazz, for as long as I pushed to get her into WWE, we worked a few live events together, and then I was (injured), so I never got to have that program with Jazz that I’m dying to have.

And I was really liking the chemistry I have so far with Molly, and although we’ve somewhat kept it alive, I’m really looking forward to continuing the feud with her as well.

WWE.com: When you went away, it was right around the time that agent Fit Finlay started working with the women, and there’s been a lot of talk about the improvement of the women’s division since then. Would you say that’s true? Have you noticed an improvement in the division?

Lita: Absolutely. One thing that Fit is really good at, and he takes a big chance with it, is pushing the girls day after day, and giving them confidence by saying, “No, you can do that.” Some nights it doesn’t work out, but that’s OK because there’s the next week, and at least you went out there and tried it. But he’s right in taking that chance and pushing the girls that extra mile. I think that’s the main thing, is just to have someone who knows what they’re talking about. Without a doubt, he’s taken the girls under his wing. It’s his pet project, and when we all succeed, he feels like he’s done a good job. And he has.

WWE.com: How is ADORE?

Lita: I’ve gotten all the groundwork laid down for ADORE – Amy Dumas Operation Rescue & Education. I’ve gotten a couple of volunteers to help me out with the Web site (http://www.adoreyourpets.org/). It’s a matter of sitting down and putting down all the information. I’ve gotten quite a bit of donations from the book and interviews and the magazine article that was out. If I don’t make a donation by the end of the year, I will by the first of the year. I’ve gotten a few good applications for donations. After that, I want to set up more of a program. I’ve got a lot of ideas I want to do to generate money for different shelters around the country.

WWE.com: I really liked the book. I thought that it was very honest, which I appreciated and respected. Did you get a lot of good feedback on it?

Lita: I did. That was the general consensus – they thought it was honest. I set out for it to be that way. I said, “I’m just going to do it like I’ve done everything else, and just lay it out there, and let people think what they want, and let whatever consequences happen. I’m willing to deal with that.” I feel like you really do get a chance to know me and understand how my brain works. Stacy Keibler read the book, and I feel like I know her relatively well as somebody else in the locker room. She said that she understands me a lot better.

If a fan reads it, they’re going to feel they like know me a lot more. All the way through to people who do know me. They go, “Wow. I understand more about you from reading the book.” I’ve definitely done the job I wanted to do if people that already know me feel like they know me better.

WWE.com: The new T-shirt that came out right when you came out, I really like that too. It’s different than most T-shirts we put out. Did you have any say over the design of it?

Lita: Yeah. The phrase “This Time it Counts” came from (TV Producer) Adam Pennucci, who did my video wall and a lot of awesome video packages. He came up with the phrase to use if we were going to have vignettes prior to me coming back. When we decided that my comeback was going to be a surprise, I asked Adam if I could steal his phrase for my shirt. He was cool with that. As far as the drawing on the front, I worked with our graphic designers. They kept throwing stuff back at me because I had a vision in my head, but not being an artist, I wasn’t able to put it on paper. But I like the end result.

WWE.com: What happens when WWE approaches you and asks you to do another TV show?

Lita: I’m all for it. It’s just such a fluke thing that happened. I definitely will use a stunt double next time, or only work with another wrestler who I’m familiar with. I won’t ever trust another stunt person. There’s not an official course that stunt people go to. You can walk in that day and call yourself a stunt person. If you’re willing to be thrown through a plate glass window, you’re a stunt person. I was unaware of that at the time.

WWE.com: Are you looking forward to WrestleMania XX?

Lita: Yeah, I’m looking forward to WrestleMania XX. Last year, commentating was really hard on me, sitting down there watching the show and not being able to be a physical part of it. I’m going to love to be a part of the history of WrestleMania XX, and at the same time, going from sitting and watching WrestleMania to being back in there, that means I’ve come full circle.