Here's a Minnesota Wrestler With No Political Plans
By Richard Chin

The following was posted on TwinCities.com Pioneer Press April 22. 2004

She's from Minnesota. She has a shaved head. She's a professional wrestler. Could we be talking about gubernatorial timber?

That's what we wanted to know when we got a chance to talk to Twin Cities native Nora Greenwald, also known as professional wrestler Molly Holly. She will appear Friday at World Wrestling Entertainment WrestleMania Re-venge at Xcel Energy Center.

Greenwald, 26, was a competitive weightlifter as a teenager and the captain of her Forest Lake High School gymnastics team. Before she started wrestling full time in 1999, she was living in Florida, working as a telemarketer, and, well, we'll let her tell it.

Q: How did you get into wrestling?

A: Well, after high school, I moved to Florida. And while I was down there, I met someone who was attending a pro wrestling school. And they invited me to go to the school. They said, "You look athletic. We only have one girl training at the school. Why don't you come down and check it out?" I didn't know that women wrestled. And I really hadn't even watched pro wrestling since I was kid. So I just went down to the school pretty much out of curiosity. And it looked like fun. You had grown people throwing each other around, having a good time. So I started attending the school and wrestling, not as a future career choice, but just as a hobby, because I missed gymnastics. It was close, except instead of landing on your feet, you land on your back.

Q: What's your story line?

A: I've played a variety of characters and had a lot of diverse story lines since I've been with the WWE. My most recent thing is that I was pursuing the women's championship. I had a match against Victoria at WrestleMania. I bet my hair that I could win, and I lost. And I got my head shaved at WrestleMania.

Q: What's your hair status now?

A: It's about a half-inch long. It's looking pretty boyish.

Q: Fans would chant egghead when you enter the arena. What are the rudest things fans have said when you wrestle?

A: Well, it's usually not too bad. As far as the bald head thing, I have heard the egghead. And when we wrestled in Mexico, the fans were chanting something, and I didn't know what it was because my Spanish is very limited. And it turns out all the fans in Mexico were chanting "chinstrap," because I had to wear a chinstrap to hold my wig on when I was wrestling.

Q: Speaking of that, do you ever have any costume malfunctions when you wrestle? Is that a big issue?

A: I take a lot of precautions to make sure there are no malfunctions. Sometimes, I will sew my outfit on to me. Like, if it has hooks that might come unhooked, I will sew a particular outfit of clothes. I also use double-sided tape and fabric glue. You name it, I try everything in my power to make sure that I don't have to worry about my outfit while I'm trying to worry about winning.

Q: Where has wrestling taken you?

A: I've been to Germany and Scotland; a few different cities in Japan; all over Canada; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Seoul, Korea …

Q: How are the audiences different?

A: When we go to Europe, the fans in England, whether it's Sheffield or London, they're probably the most excited crowd. I mean, there will be hundreds and hundreds of fans waiting for us at the airport, at the hotel, and when we're at the arena, every match from the first to the last event, they're booing and cheering, yelling, screaming, standing, jumping up and down, and it's really fun to work for fans that are so excited. And I think part of it comes from that we only go over there once or twice a year, so it's really a special thing for them to see us in person. The fans in Japan are a little more reserved. As far as physically, they don't necessarily jump or scream and things, but they are very respectful. They applaud, whether it's a good guy or a bad guy.

Q: Your gymnastics experience, has that come in handy in wrestling?

A: Yeah, actually, it has. In gymnastics, you develop what is called a kinesthetic sense, so you know where your body is at, whether you're twisting or flipping or things like that. It really helped me, especially when I was first learning to make sure I didn't land on my head or land in a dangerous way.

Q: What's the hardest thing about being a female wrestler?

A: I'd say the hardest thing is hauling my own luggage. I'm strong for a girl, but still, when we're on really long trips, I have a lot of really heavy bags. It's really hard. Like, not every place has automatic doors, and loading things in and out of the trunk. That's what I'd say is the toughest thing about my job.

Q: Is there a lot of gear? Are there a lot of costumes?

A: Every day, I wear three outfits. There's my regular clothes, like jeans and a blouse or whatever. I also wear workout gear when I go to the gym. It's like a sweat suit or T-shirts and shorts or something. And then I have my performing gear, which people would see on television.

Q: Your finishing move is called the Molly-Go-Round, and a trademark move is a Northern Lights Suplex. Can you tell me what those are?

A: A Northern Lights Suplex is a variation of a basic suplex, where I actually end up in a bridge, where my opponent would be on their back, and the only thing touching the mat from me would be my head and my toes. And my finishing move, the Molly-Go-Round, is where I start standing on the top rope. I jump, do a front flip, and I land on my opponent, crushing them.

Q: You have a shaved head. You're from Minnesota. You're a professional wrestler. Do you think you could be governor?

A: I don't really follow politics. But I did get to meet Jesse Ventura at WrestleMania. I was really excited. I had my picture taken with him, and I thought he was really cool. But I don't think I'll be entering any political races.

Q: I'm sure you've heard about this job outsourcing issue. Do you think your job could be outsourced?

A: I actually haven't heard about that one. The reason why is I don't follow politics and stuff. I don't watch television or read the newspaper or anything like that. Partly because I'm on the road, which is probably why I don't know a lot of mainstream information, but the other thing is I kind of choose not to. I don't really like negative things, like I don't watch R-rated movies, and I really don't want to hear news unless it's good news. So that's why I probably haven't heard of it. But no, that doesn't concern me.

Q: You seem so nice and wholesome. Is that contradictory for someone like that to be in professional wrestling?

A: The thing that I love best about our show is when I do comedy. I've played a few funny characters, and that' s my favorite. I don't really care for the violence. At all. But I do like competition. I like athletics. There are aspects of wrestling that are not only entertaining but I actually appreciate physically. But yeah, I'm not a big fan of violence.