EPICENTER INTERVIEWS ANGEL ORSINI
- 03/18/2006 (6:40:53 pm)
- James Walsh
She talks about breaking her legs, being in ECW and more…..
Show: 3 Count Wrestling courtesy of www.WrestlingEpicenter.comGuest: "Full Breasted Italian" Angel Orsini
Date: March 18, 2006
Your Hosts: Brian Luquette, Chris Furguson, & James Walsh
She's known as the "Full Breasted Italian." She's been known as "Riptide." And, she's one of the fastest rising female stars in the business. But, she, in my opinion, might be the toughest chick I've ever seen in my life... And, I think that's very cool!
If you don't cringe listening to Angel describe her injury at the Dangerous Women of Wrestling show where she shattered her legs, you don't have a heart!
Also, catch WWE Superstar Viscera, Chris Cruise from WCW, and Francine from www.MissyHyattandFrancineTV.com on Wednesday night at www.WrestlingEpicenter.com.
To listen to the Angel Orsini interview and the 3 Count Wrestling show, check out http://www.WrestlingEpicenter.com.
"THE FULL BREASTED ITALIAN" ANGEL ORSINI INTERVIEW -
Interview conducted by James Walsh and Chris Furguson (each sold separately)
After the introductions, Angel goes into detail about her latest injury, at the DWOW "Rev-Ho-Lution" Pay-Per-View, which needs to be heard to be believed! If it doesn't make you cringe, you don't have a heart. She will be out of action for 3-4 months instead of the usual 5-6 months, more because she's athletic and has a tolerance for pain. Despite her injuries, Angel actually finished her match, which stuns the hosts!
Angel's accent is close to Francine's, but Angel considers herself a Florida girl, although she's currently living in New Jersey.
How tall is Angel? She's really 5'4", although some websites have erroneously put her as high as 5'8".
The next topic is Angel's tattoo on her left shoulder. It's a cross of flames and it signifies Angel's faith in God. She was in an auto accident, and "wanted to show her gratitude to God."
Angel got her injuries at the "Rev-Ho-lution" PPV. What does Angel think of the constant use of the word "Ho" in the company? "Well, I hate it, personally. But I'm not in charge of anything. I'm just talent on the show, that's given a spot, a character to do, and matches to wrestle. All I care about is getting opportunites to wrestle, because I love what I do. I've dedicated my life to it for the past 10 years."
Has Angel heard of SHIMMER, a new women's wrestling group. Angel has heard of it, but was asked by the companies she currently works for to not work for them. She does so out of loyalty, plus having regular work compared to SHIMMER's DVD taping schedule.
From Angel's website, www.ecwprodigette.com, she explains how she began body building training and Martial Arts. Angel explains that she was attacked at a young age and wanted to protect herself. She studied Tae Kwon Do, and became an amateur champion and could have gone into the Olympics. However, Angel decided to train for the MMA world with Bart Vale.
Angel's first MMA match was against Yumiko Hotta, a pretty stiff wrestler from Japan. Angel explains that the match was pretty much rigged against her and goes into how the referee was even telling Hotta how to escape from Orsini's submission holds!
That fight was Angel's only MMA fight, as the rest of her fights were amateur. She didn't keep track of her record!
Angel then goes into how she met Reggie Bennett, who helped influence her into the world of Japanese style women's wrestling. "I was really wowed by their performances and I've never seen women get the opportunity to wrestle like they wrestle." Orsini later goes on to how Reggie Bennett suggested that she find a trainer who had been to Japan, lest she get stuck wrestling the "GLOW" style!
Chris brings up Dusty Rhodes, who trained Angel during and after her days in ECW. Dusty taught psychology to Angel, as well as learning to run a company from being around him. Angel also learned about wrestling for TV from Dusty. Then, with a pretty good impression of Dusty, Angel mentions his reply to her question of "When can a wrestler say they're not green anymore." Dusty's answer: "Sugah, we all green, we just different shades! See me, I'm turquoise!"
Liz Chase trained Angel over an entire summer before Angel's first match at "Biketoberfest" against Joanie Lee Laurer ("Chyna"). Angel then goes on to explain that Joanie went to train with Liz for 6 weeks before that match, then puts over Chyna as an incredible athlete. "She was like an idol to me and I was like 'I'm going to grow up to be just like her!'"
What was it like getting in the ring for the first time in a wrestling match? "Well, I gotta say it so incredible and I tried to savor every moment of it. I was on a show with Luna Vachon and Malia Hosaka and these women were so many years into the business and I was so grateful to be on a show with them."
Angel's gimmick, at the time, was "Riptide" which she had before becoming the "ECW Prodigette." She now wrestles as "Angel Orsini" because "That's really because I was doing the PPVs as 'The FBI [Full Breasted Italian] Angel Orsini.' And also, because, when I went to the WWE shows and had my tryouts, I introduced myself as Angel Orsini. So, I just figure everybody can keep track of me better if I kinda stick with one name, plus I wasn't really sure if I was allowed to be 'The Prodigette' because I would have really, really liked to continue doing that."
According to Angel, the "Full Breasted Italian" name was a rip on the "Full Blooded Italians" gimmick in ECW, but WEW's promoters had give it their own spin, to avoid lawsuits.
The "auditions" for the pWo (pussy World order) is the next topic. "I don't watch them, to be honest with you," Angel says through her laughter. "I don't watch it. The only things I watch are girlfriends that ask me to watch their matches, because, to be honest with you, I'm usually either main or semi-main event and I really don't watch what goes on before me because I'm concentrating so much on what I want to do in my match and some of the things that the promoter has asked we make sure we include in our match. So, I can't really watch until after the fact, and then, after the fact, I really only watch the matches that are my girlfriend's. Because, I don't care for any of the other stuff, to be honest with you. I totally don't like it, but I understand it has it's place in the business."
Does Angel have hopes for working under the wWE banner? Angel doesn't think she'd be happy there, as she doesn't think she would be allowed to be herself. She then mentions that her dream job really was in ECW, where she would have eventually wrestled as a "female Taz."
After bringing up the ECW locker room, and the backstage wars involving the women. After James bringing up Francine, Angel strongly puts Francine over has a complete professional, a dear friend of hers and someone she looks to for advice.
Chris messes up the next question, which Angel quickly corrects, and they discuss Angel's time in Peru wrestling with Amy Dumas (Lita) as well as what Lita has become in the WWE. "Well, I like her character, that she's doing now. I think that's well-suited for her, because she's done all the other things. It's time to do something different, by being a heel and I think it's good, because they like that 'as real-to-life' story as they can get from you. I think it's all good."
The next topic is the tryouts Angel had for ECW, the second time which netted her the role of "The Prodigette." Chris brings up a rumor that the first tryout was for "Miss Congeniality," but Angel says it's not true as Amy had her role by the time of the second tryout. The first tryout was for a different role, but Angel's not sure. The first tryout, according to Angel, was with Jason Knight.
When Angel finally made it to ECW, it was as the aforementioned "Prodigette," where she was the valet for Simon Diamond's "Sideshow Freaks" [Muskateer, Jason Prodigy, Billvis Wesley]. "Well, I was so happy to be there. Oh my God, I was like a little puppy. I was so happy."
Angel explains that the gimmick was the "annoying little sister" of Tom Marquez, or "Jason Prodigy." According to Angel, the idea for the gimmick was Tommy Dreamer's, and they were supposed to become a tag-team of their own, which they did in a match against Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger.
Does Angel like "intergender" matches? "Yeah, very much. I wrestled for a company in Atlanta that was run by Teddy Long and Rocky Bull Ware, and I loved working for them. That was in 1998-1999, and that was the first time that a company let me hold a title belt, I was the hardcore champion, and I got to wrestle the guys and all my matches were against men and I loved it! I didn't have to worry so much about stiff punches and kicks, cause, with a guy, I know they can take it. So, I just got to really throw caution to the wind and I really got to experience what I had wanted in the beginning of my career, which was to wrestle like a Japanese woman gets to wrestle."
Did anyone in ECW ever try to hit on Angel? After a little laughter, Angel says that "Guys are guys." However, Angel explains that she didn't act interested in the wrestlers and made sure that the guys knew she wanted to be a wrestler, not to be a wrestler's girlfriend.
With the demise of ECW, are groups like DWOW and WEW good enough to be a wrestler and live off of? According to Angel, it doesn't. WEW takes care of Angel, since she's a "foundational member," and her loyalty to them affords her a lot of liberties with the company. Angel later puts over WEW has a company that is starting to grow as a women's wrestling organization.
Did Paul Heyman owe Angel any money when ECW shut down? "No. Absolutely not, and, actually, everything Paul ever said to me, he has fulfilled the obligation to me and I can't say one word about him."
Angel later says she wants to go back to Japan, back to the beginning where it all started. Angel will also retire when she can't wrestle to a certain level, but says she hopes it's at least another 5-10 years.
Another mistake from Chris (damn Internet), as Angel did not lose her grandmother in 2003, but took a year off of wrestling to take care of her. Her grandmother has Parkinson's Disease, and was deemed incompentent to live alone. In 2004, her grandmother was placed in a nursing home, where she lives to this day, and she's currently unable to speak, but Angel visits as often as she can.
After Chris apologizes for trusting the internet on the above question, Angel says "That's okay, they've had a lot of stuff wrong about me on the Internet: My age, where I was born, where I live, all kinds of things. But, you know, they're doing the best they can, so I don't get offended. I'm glad that people are interested in my career."
James then asks Angel for her take on the internet, and if it makes the business too open. Angel thinks it good, as it keeps it on everybody's mind. However, Angel doesn't get into the gossipy part of the business. "I didn't like it in High School. I thought it was stupid then."
Angel spent a year in Europe, learning how to box as well as wrestling. Angel wanted to be the first female wrestler, shootfighter and boxer, but her hands were really small and the damage done to her wrists was too much. Eventually, she hooked up with a couple of companies in Europe and couldn't follow up with the MMA stuff.
The next topic is the WWE's policy of making wrestlers out of models instead of making models out of wrestlers. "I think it's dangerous, as that girl [Ashley Massaro] broke her leg just doing a simple fall out of the ring. And, I don't think it's good for the business because these girls don't have to be dedicated, or... why should you admire them as an athlete? You're probably more of an athlete than they are."
James then brings up Candace Michelle, who doesn't look physically imposing. Angel answers with "I know. It's ridiculous. I think it's a joke, what it means to be the woman's champion of the WWE. I mean, look, the first women's champion was Leilani Kai, and then you go down to, like, that? Ugh. You know, I'm sorry, but that's like, doesn't mean anything. Why would I want to work for them? And, what, do you think I'm going to let those girls beat me? I'm sorry, but they can't pay me enough for that. They're not interested in women's wrestling to pay me enough to do that."
After bringing up winning the lottery and starting her own promotion, Angel goes into a bit about how the problem with women's wrestling promotions is that they're run by men and some of the girls will flirt to take advantage of that or, as Brian Luquette would say, "Go down to get up." Angel the goes into how some girls get into the business for a short while before leaving because of a boyfriend or something, and how a veteran has to put the short termer over as champion.
Chris brings up the Ivory interview with James, whom Angel credits as "awesome," which leads to the a statement about how women need to write for women's wrestling because the men can't do it. Angel agrees, because women would treat women how the guys treat the men. Angel also goes into how you don't need to center a woman's promotion around innuendo, as the guys are already doing it in their heads while they're watching!
James brings up a Torrie Wilson/Dawn Marie angle where they played lesbians. Angel believes that the two had become better wrestlers, especially compared to Terri Runnels and the Kat, but when they did the angle, it just killed their momentum.
Chris' final question is about the potential success of an American women's wrestling company that focused on in-ring work and not on the "mature" stuff. It would succeed, according to Angel. "Absolutely. Absolutely. It just takes money to do it the right way. It would take some backing and it would take a substantial amount of money to market it. But, there are so many things you can do with it that you can't do with men. I'm thinking, like, getting sponsors for different [kinds of] make-up and hair products and stuff. But, it would really have to be, it couldn't be with the sexual connotations, then, because it would be too trashy to try to market it in a real Hollywood business type of way. But, if you could keep it where it was really sport-like, like women's volleyball. Like, they really wear those skimpy little that they don't have to point that out, over and over and over again and they don't have to be kissing each other or making out with each other. It just sells itself, because guys want to go see girls in tiny little outfits jumping around! And they would do the same for wrestling."
Word Associations -
Liz Chase: "I miss her so much. I think about her all the time."
Fabulous Moolah: "Wow, what an icon! And I can't believe she's still kicking it! She's awesome!"
Joanie Laurer: "I wish I had ever gotten to see her again and stay in touch with her."
Amy Dumas: "Good for her. You go girl! Make that money!"
After bringing up the name of Malia Hosaka, who also trained her, the next name on the list is...
Molly Holly [Nora Greenwald]: "Actually, she [Malia Hosaka] did train her. I was Nora's first trainer, and I when I went to the WWE, she introduced me to everyone as her first trainer."
Malia Hosaka: "Yeah, I really respect her for her time in, but she does tend to cause a little trouble here and there."
Next up is Angel's favorite wrestler of all time...
Owen Hart: "Oh my god, and what a shame to be taken away from us, because I understand through many people who knew him personally that he was just an awesome person and one of the good guys in the business."
Tommy Dreamer: "I love Tommy Dreamer. He is an awesome, awesome person."
"The Queen of Extreme" Francine: "Oh, I love her. She is one of my best friends."
Paul Heyman: "Yeah. What a brilliant mind for the business. I really wish he would start his own company."
The interview ends with a discussion about TNA, whom Angel hopes becomes competition and a place where she would love to wrestle should they start a women's division.
Angel gives 3CW a plug, as well as a plug for he website, www.ecwprodigette.com.
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