What is it about women? Some of the greatest dramas involve beautiful but troublesome ones. The Old Testament had Delilah. JFK's Camelot had Marilyn Monroe. And the same is true for pro wrestling--the mother of all modern mythology. Consider Torrie Wilson of World Wrestling Entertainment. There she is, flaunting her drop-dead beauty, setting up feuds between hapless wrestlers. So how does a girl become a smackdown siren?
"I grew up in a small town in Idaho," Torrie tells us, "a little ski town like Sun Valley but not as ritzy." In high school, she tried cheerleading but quickly switched to track and cross-country running. "They were loner sports. I liked them better. No pressure." In college in Boise, Torrie studied nutrition and developed a fitness lifestyle. "I started reading bodybuilding and fitness magazines. Some of the girls in those magazines--the ones who kept their feminine side while looking muscular--really caught my attention. I would cut out their pictures and hang them on my refrigerator for inspiration. Competing was a way to set a goal for myself." That determination culminated in her winning the Ms. Galaxy contest. She relocated near Venice Beach, and six months later went to her first professional wrestling match--and was hooked. Soon Torrie met a wrestler who had followed her fitness career. He was also booking for World Champion Wrestling and asked whether she would like to try a stint. "I had no idea what I was getting into, but it sounded like fun," Torrie says. "It was a chance to mix fitness with acting and performing. With the WCW, I would do small things in the ring. Then when the WWE hired me, they immediately started putting me in matches, which I really wasn't prepared for. It was more fun in a way--I would use tricks I learned during the day in a wrestling match that night. I still do." The trick that impresses us most is escaping a corny female wrestler name, something like Minx or Tyland. "I like having my own name. But more and more, the real me is becoming closer to my ring character. The other day I got into a big fight--not a punching fight--with a woman because I wouldn't take her crap. We had a screaming match in the middle of a parking lot. Later I thought, I cannot believe I just did that. Normally I would walk away."
Torrie spends most of her time on the road. When not working, she calls Tampa home. "I love the tropical look," she says. "I have a huge palm tree in my living room. The bedroom is Tuscan style--with a four-poster bed." From what she tells us, it's pretty well guarded--by Torrie herself. "I'm not one to give it up right away. And I bring out real surprises after a while. I'm not into whips and chains--but I do like being dominant sometimes. That's probably increased since I started wrestling." Perhaps the four-poster helps. "From that bed I could execute a swinging leg-drop to keep him down."
