Sportsology: Memories of (former) Diva Victoria

By Rick Morris

Our good pal Russ Cohen at Wrestleology took the time recently to note the departure from the WWE of one of the greatest Divas of this decade, Victoria. He had the pleasure of interviewing this dedicated performer five years ago and he shares his memories in this great column, which is accompanied by pictures of Victoria and some other WWE Divas -- how's that for an inducement to click through? For the benefit of those who want to digest Russ's prose before they view these lovely ladies, though, we reproduce it here in full thanks to our content-sharing agreement.


Victoria Was a Terrific Wrestler
By Russ Cohen

Lisa Marie Varon was better known as Victoria in the WWE and now that she's retired, the federation will take yet another hit in the already-weakened women's division. Having her lose her final match against Michelle McCool was yet another slap in her face. She was a former two-time champion and these days when you leave the WWE, its almost always with a loss -- and that's sad.

I had the chance to interview her before Wrestlemania XX and the Hair vs. Title match with Molly Holly. Before she got into character, she had noticed my last name and said, “Hello Russ, by the way I’m in the tribe." I was stunned, and really caught off guard. She told me about her Sephardic Jewish heritage, which explains her exotic good looks. She also mentioned that her father was from the Bronx and I knew she was telling the truth by the way she was pointing her finger at me - no, not that finger! She then told me about some times that she used to spend in New York, in the Bronx and in her uncle’s barber shop. Again it was a nice unexpected conversation that I had with her and that showed me how personable she really was.

That night I had the chance to interview Trish Stratus, and Torrie was there, but she was too swamped to talk to -- however, I thought Victoria was easily the best interview of the evening. Don’t get me wrong, Trish was great, but Victoria was just a bit better, maybe because she didn’t get bombarded like the other two did that night, or maybe because she felt more comfortable in New York.

She was always a hard worker and fun to watch, even when the federation was ruining her character, and make no mistake, at times they did just to have a “hot chick” try and climb the charts in the women’s division. Varon could wrestle, but many of the women in the last few years can’t. I think we all know who they are. I can’t wait to see what she does next. Who knows if she will be in the public eye or not but I will keep an eye out for her because she knows how to entertain. If nothing else, I can always get my car worked on at Black Widow Customs in Louisville, Kentucky where she is likely to be spending some time in the future.