I turned to my mom and said, 'I'm going to be a martial arts movie star.' She didn't believe me, and neither did my dad. They both thought I would grow out of it. That it was a phase. I decided then I was going to do it or die trying.
Copy Quote View & ShareI got a bad conduct discharge, was at home for a few months in late '99, and basically said, 'Dad, I want to give wrestling a shot. I sure as hell don't wanna go to college, and the Marine Corps wasn't for me. And I need to make some money, so let's see if I can do it.'
Copy Quote View & ShareI find it interesting where grunge originated from and then where it was taken, which was high fashion. My dad was so poor that they kept going to Goodwill to get donated ripped jeans. It wasn't a fashion decision; it was an 'I don't have any money, I have no other choice' type of decision.
Copy Quote View & ShareI've always been music-oriented. My dad was a musician, and I listened to the radio all of the time.
Copy Quote View & ShareWhen I first came up in the wrestling business, there was a movie called 'The California Dolls' about a female tag team - girls who are struggling trying to make it in the wrestling world. I started out in a tag team, and my name was Britani Knight, and my dad named us after The California Dolls. We were called The Norfolk Dolls.
Copy Quote View & ShareI used to go to Sheen High Street with my dad on a Saturday, and there was a butcher next door to the fishmonger. I hated the smell of the fishmonger, but I found the smell of the butcher's much more appealing. And I liked the big knives. I thought it looked like a decent job.
Copy Quote View & ShareWhen I was young, I was very shy and quiet, because we moved all the time. My dad was in the Navy, so we moved every two years.
Copy Quote View & ShareYou never find peace in this realm, but it's okay, because when my dad went to the other side, he looks after me now better than he did in life. He is with me all the time.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy mom always told me one of the reasons that she was really happy in her life was that, if Dad never worked again, she was confident that she could support the family.
Copy Quote View & ShareIf you love somebody, you love them. My parents had a 25-year age gap between them and my mum was the breadwinner, my dad the house husband. I'm a strong believer that a good relationship can work, whatever the situation.
Copy Quote View & ShareAs much as I transferred my mother to Elizabeth Shore of The Black Dahlia, as much as her dad mutated into an obsession with crime in general, well, I have thought about other things throughout the years.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy dad was raised Orthodox in Atlanta. He speaks Hebrew. He speaks Yiddish. He married a Jewish woman who is not Orthodox, so I was brought up by two different kinds of Jews.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy family was always playing music; I always enjoyed it. My cousin, who is a little older than me, he started playing music, so I wanted to, also. I asked my dad for a guitar, and he got me a banjo, so that was my introduction to playing. I played it like a guitar. I had a few lessons, learned out a few chords, and figured it out right away.
Copy Quote View & ShareGrowing up, I was discouraged from telling personal stories. My dad often used the phrase 'Don't tell anyone.' But not about creepy things. I don't want to lead you down the wrong path. It would be about insignificant things. Like, I wouldn't make the soccer team, and my father would say, 'Don't tell anyone.'
Copy Quote View & ShareDad was a baker, and we lived above the bakery, so I was always popping down to have an apple pie or a doughnut or a custard or gypsy tart: I had a very sweet tooth, and I think that that was what got me into doing what I do now.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy dad taught me, like, no matter what, when I go out and play against these bigger players, just to be myself. I knew that I was good enough and that I had the ability to. I never shy away from anyone, and I don't think anyone should.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy dad was a physician. As a kid, I remember driving around with him on weekends so he could do his rounds at the hospital and talk to patients. We'd spend time in the car talking about what was going on with them, their stories.
Copy Quote View & ShareMy dad was a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, and from an early age I was put off by being force-fed a belief system.
Copy Quote View & ShareBoxing is a family tradition. The last five generations down to my dad have been fighters.
Copy Quote View & Share