I love celebrating Mother’s Day because there’s nobody I love like my mom. It’s one extra reason to dedicate a day to her for all that she’s done for myself and my sisters. This Mother’s Day, I wanted to make it even more special. I was talking to her over coffee and said: “I’d love to do something for underprivileged women this Mother’s Day.” My mom, Ellie, suggested I call WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil and run some ideas by him, as Titus is the king of giving back and no one does more for our community than him. He makes everyone around him want to give back more and his gift of giving is contagious. After speaking to Titus, he said “we should do a Mother’s Day dinner at ‘Forbici’s’ (an Italian restaurant in Tampa) for women who are underprivileged single moms, as my mom was a single mother. It will give these women something really special to look forward to during such a difficult time in the world.”

I loved Titus’ idea to honour single moms during Mother’s Day. When I think of single moms, I feel inspired by their strength. Being a mom is such a hard job and doing it on your own makes it that much harder. My dad – Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart – was a WWE Superstar who worked on the road nearly 300 days a year when I was a kid growing up. My mom raised us pretty much alone and worked incredibly hard, sacrificing so much to be there for her three daughters. There was never a moment she wasn’t there for us, playing the role of two parents. We never felt deprived of love because of her. My mom always put herself last to give us the most. I’m forever grateful to her for that.

I asked Titus why this Mother’s Day was extra important to him. He said, “Growing up with just my mother was tough. Not only because we were living in poverty, but also because of my mother being such a young single mom. She and I had issues dealing with adversity with one another and it put a huge strain on our relationship. Once I got help at the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch and my mom was able to benefit from their services, our relationship grew stronger. Because people gave back to us, we were able to build a much deeper, stronger bond than in my childhood. If it wasn’t for others that saw enough in my mother to help her, life as we know and live it today would be much different and not in a good way. I’m the beneficiary as well as my family of people investing in my family when they had nothing to gain in return.

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Source – Calgary Sun

We are less than two weeks away from Money In The Bank.  With WrestleMania having broken records this past year for being the most social event in WWE history, Money In The Bank is set to deliver in ways that we’ve never seen before.  In these unprecedented times, WWE is showing that not only are we going to entertain you, but we’re going to continue to be extremely creative.

Having competed in four Money In The Bank ladder matches myself, I know all about how hard these matches are because it’s not every single day that we have these kinds of matches. It’s extremely hard work and there’s a whole lot of action going on and this year will be no exception.

The goal in the “Money In The Bank” match is to climb to the top of the ladder, unhook the briefcase and win a contract that will guarantee one woman and man an opportunity to have a championship match any time of their choosing.  Statistics show that nearly 80% of Money In the Bank contract winners were successful at becoming WWE champions. The stakes are indeed high, but winning this match is one of the coolest things a WWE Superstar can achieve.

This year’s Money in the Bank is different than any other one in WWE history because the matches will take place at WWE HQ, where anything and everything can happen. You just never know who’s going to end up in Mr. McMahon’s office or the cafeteria! The competitors will have to fight throughout the building to reach the roof and grab the coveted briefcase with the Money In The Bank contract inside. This has total mayhem written all over it!

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Source – Calgary Sun

This week I felt compelled to write about a close friend of mine that sadly passed away last week, Howard Finkel. A WWE Hall of Famer and perhaps the greatest ring announcer of all time, Howard was the very first employee of WWE. His influence in WWE reached far beyond the ring, where he announced some of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. Howard was everyone’s friend outside of the ring and an important part of our WWE family.

One of WWE’s most iconic superstars of all time, Stone Cold Steve Austin, has wonderful memories of Howard: “I always told Howard I knew I had ‘arrived’ in the Big League when he announced my name as I made my way to the ring in Madison Square Garden. I had been a fan of his for many years prior to my arrival in WWE. Howard had a class and dignity about him when he was doing his job. His booming voice and credibility helped myself and countless others find an identity in each of our own journeys. I was caught off guard when I saw him for the last time at Madison Square Garden. As we passed by each other on our way out, I told him I loved him. Everybody loved Howard. And that’s the bottom line.”

My first encounter with Howard was when I was in WWE developmental and I was being brought up to the main roster. Howard called me with that unmistakable, distinct voice of his and said that I was needed for SmackDown. I jumped up and down, as I was so excited that I was going to the main roster! In that phone call, I felt like I had “made it,” too. Howard talked to me about how much he enjoyed working with my family and he said “congratulations” to me. That was such a happy moment for me and to this day, I am so grateful that he was involved in that call. Years after, whenever Howard was at a WWE event or backstage, he would always make it a point to come find me and talk to me. He was the kind of person who always wanted to give you his time, which I feel is one of the most valuable gifts a person can give.

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Source – Calgary Sun

I was looking back on some amazing memories from different shows that I’ve done around the world through the years and there are so many moments captured of me with our WWE Universe that are absolutely priceless to me.

I’ve been so privileged to perform in many wonderful places around the world. It’s one of the things that I’m missing most right now. It’s really hard to pinpoint which countries are my favourite to go as I love them all. For instance, I love Japan and its food and there’s nothing like Shabu Shabu in Tokyo. I love Australia and the unique animals I’ve seen there that have stolen my heart like the time I held a koala and admired its beauty.

I love England and the old buildings and incredible history of that country like Buckingham Palace and remember the first time I visited Penny Lane in England, feeling so lucky to stand in the same spot that the Beatles once stood. I love performing in Canada, the country where I was born and whenever I land in Calgary, the smell of the air brings me back to my childhood. I will never forget performing in China and taking part in a traditional Chinese Lion Dance in Shenzhen.

I also love competing in South Africa and the first time I was there it was with Bret Hart and we went on a tour of Capetown together. I remember my first tour of New Zealand opened my eyes to a part of the world I never knew existed, as the landscape was like something out of a movie. I’ve never seen water so blue and grass so green.

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Source – Calgary Sun

With Easter Sunday approaching this weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m grateful for, especially during the incredibly challenging time. First off, I’m incredibly grateful to all of the doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals who are working so hard on the frontlines of hospitals to keep us all safe. You’re all heroes and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I am also grateful to my WWE family. WrestleMania has come and gone and it was a success. WrestleMania broke records as it was the most social event in WWE history and WWE set WrestleMania Week viewership records with more than 967 million video views across the company’s digital and social platforms. I am truly so proud of everyone in WWE, from the Superstars, referees, camera crew, production team and all of our staff behind the scenes for helping pull it all together. It takes an army, even if it’s an army of people working from home, helping put it all together.

Even though we didn’t have our WWE Universe in attendance, we still tried to put on a special show that could give our audience watching at home something to escape to and smile about during this challenging time. Part of me as a performer misses our audience so much and I asked myself, “How can we do a show without our fans? Our fans are everything!” But then I also realized that even in an empty Performance Center, we could still tell stories that could entertain the world.

My favourite match on the show was Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in the Boneyard Match. It was a match that truly had a cinematic quality where you felt like you were watching them fight in a movie. It was like nothing like I’ve ever seen before in WWE. My husband TJ and I were glued to our seats watching as Undertaker and AJ Styles told such an incredible story. It made me want to see more matches like this in the future.

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Source – Calgary Sun

In my last column, I wrote about the favourite WrestleMania matches of various WWE Superstars. I interviewed Edge, Beth Phoenix, Mick Foley and my husband, Tyson Kidd, all people whom I consider to be “WWE experts.” They each shared their favorite WrestleMania moments with me and I started to notice a trend in all of their answers in that every one of them had a Bret Hart match from WrestleMania that they considered to be “their favourite.”

With that in mind, I decided that I had to interview the “Hitman” and ask him about his favourite WrestleMania matches that he was involved in because so many people, myself included have been inspired by them.

Bret jumped at the opportunity to speak of his epic WrestleMania history. He said, “My three all-time favourite WrestleMania matches are the ones where I gave the absolute most both physically and emotionally.  My WrestleMania 13 match in Chicago with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin will stand as my greatest match. It was such a fun story, the psychology was unequaled and the concept had never been attempted before. This match would shake up most fan expectations when the company’s primary babyface would switch places with the company’s primary heel in a 30 minute brawl that had the same vibe as a UFC fight.  A real classic.”

The Hitman continued, “My second favorite match would be the one-hour-long WrestleMania 12 Ironman Match with Shawn Michaels in Anaheim, California. Again, it was one of the most physically demanding matches of my career. Whatever differences Shawn Michaels and I ever had, this match was a testament of the skills and athleticism of us both. It was more a case of two of the best Superstars of their era, both giving their all for one full hour trying to best one another. Two pros working full blast trying to outdo each other. We both shined and always will for what we delivered that amazing night.”

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Source – Calgary Sun