Interview with Ashley

Mr. Kennedy

I was at IGN and saw that IGN Sports did an interview with her:

August 19, 2005 - Ashley Massaro comes from a wrestling family. "The name Massaro is pretty well known for amateur wrestling in our town," she says with a laugh, "and now everyone in my family is bugging out because I'm in the WWE. My dad is so incredibly proud and he's calling everyone he knows telling them I won. It's so funny how it worked out."

From eating hot dogs to giving out her phone number to actually talk to her fans (you know you tried to call), Ashley took home a cool $250,000 for winning the Diva Search and is already to take her first bumps in the ring.

IGN Sports sat down with the newest "it" girl in wrestling to ask her about everything Diva.

IGN Sports: How did you find out about the WWE Diva Search?

Ashley: I was in a pageant in Vegas and there was a casting director there. When I found out she was from WWE, I just flipped. She took a 30 second clip and told me to do whatever I wanted, so I just went wild trying to impress her. I wanted to do anything I could so she would take me with her, and she did. She took me to L.A. and that was it, I was chosen to be one of the eight girls to compete on the show. Even to get picked to be in the eight girls I was freaking out. [laughs]

IGN Sports: Weren't you afraid there might be steel chairs involved?

Ashley: Yeah, [laughs] that's right. I'm ready. I'm training out in New York right now. I've only recently started, and now that I've won, I'm definitely continuing. Every day I learn more, but it's a slow and steady process.

IGN Sports: Have you taken your first bump?

Ashley: Oh hell yeah. I was so sore, I was like damn! My back was aching. It definitely gives you a greater appreciation for what the WWE superstars go through on a nightly basis.

IGN Sports: On every reality show, from American Idol to what they did on the Diva Search, there's that moment, that long pause before they announce the winner. What was it like to sit there and wait for your name to be called?

Ashley: Those few minutes seem like hours. It sounds so cliché to say that, but that's the truth. I couldn't take the suspense, so much so that I was twitching, I was freaking out. My hand was slapping against my leg, I was in tears…I was crying already before they even said who won. Win or lose I was going to cry.

IGN Sports: But let me get this right, before the finals, you gave out your phone number to the public?

Ashley: That's right. [laughs]

IGN Sports: How many marriage proposals did you receive?

Ashley: A lot of people asked me to be their girlfriend. I was like sure, you can tell everyone I'm your girlfriend, I don't mind. The phone actually never stopped ringing…it was one call after another.

IGN Sports: And it was you who actually answered the phone?

Ashley: Oh yeah, definitely. It was actually a lot easier for me to answer my phone than to respond to all of the e-mails I was getting. I was getting massive amounts of e-mails and writing back to every single person is really hard, so I just figured what better way to stay in contact with my fans than to actually talk to them on the phone. I figured they would all like it more, and it's a lot more personal. I'm sure they would rather talk to me than get an e-mail, so I thought it worked out for everybody. Unfortunately it didn't work out very well for people who have numbers similar to mine so they freaked out and filed lawsuits and stuff. [laughs] People would call and tell me their cell phone bill was through the roof because people were looking for me. One day this guy called me up and he was like: "Are you Ashley from the Raw Diva Search? My name is Adam and I hate you!" It turns out his phone number is one digit off from mine and I was like "Sorry about that bro." I felt sorry for him. Eventually they made me shut off my phone. That sucks, but hey, back to the e-mails.

IGN Sports: Do you think giving out your phone number played a part in why you won the competition?

Ashley: I definitely stay in touch with my fans, and I'll always be the last one out there signing out of the contestants, not that they didn't stay out there too, but I enjoy meeting my fans and talking to them, and I think they can tell that I enjoy talking to them. So I think you can relate it to that.

IGN Sports: Do you have a favorite wrestler to watch?

Ashley: I'm a big fan of Shawn Michaels, I've always been.

IGN Sports: Was he one of the guys who gave you a call? Does he have your number?

Ashley: [laughs] He didn't call me, unfortunately. He wasn't one of the people who called me, but that would've been pretty cool.

IGN Sports: They put you through all of those competitions. Did you have a favorite one you participated in?

Ashley: My favorite one was probably the jousting. Elisabeth ended up knocking me off at the end, which just sucked because I totally should have had that one, but she caught me off guard for one second, and that's all it takes. I definitely kicked Leyla's ass and that's all that matters. It was fun, I really enjoyed it. Bikini Boot Camp was fun too, but I wore the combat boots and they were like cement blocks as I tried to run through that obstacle course. I should've had sneakers on like everybody else, plus I went first and that's always the hardest position to be in.

IGN Sports: Did you have a least favorite event?

Ashley: Oh hell yeah, the hot dog eating contest. That was my least favorite for sure. I had like two bites. [laughs] The funny part is, I talked so much smack before that competition. I told everyone to watch out because I was going to kill it. I was joking around with the girls, telling them how many hot dogs I could eat, then I went out there and I had such a dry mouth and I was so nervous that when I took the first bite, and I was thinking at this point I'm going to house four hot dogs at least, but the hot dog bun was so dry it felt like I was chewing it for an hour. I just couldn't swallow it. Leyla and Summer, the two girls who did really well, they were dipping their hot dogs in water before eating them…they were cheating. [laughs] Apparently that's like some trick from the state fair that I wasn't aware of. They actually had people researching how to eat hot dogs.


IGN Sports: This Sunday is Summerslam. How are you participating in the event?

Ashley: It's my first diva experience. I'm stoked. You're just going to have to stay tuned and find out what I'll do. You're just going to have to watch.

IGN Sports: You can always run down and help your man HBK against Hulk.

Ashley: Yeah, that would be cool. [laughs] That's definitely the match I'm looking forward to watching. I'm looking forward to Cena and Jericho too, but Shawn versus Hulk is a dream match.

IGN Sports: Any predictions for the match?

Ashley: I'm hoping it's my man, but we'll just have to wait and see.

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Chewy

Demetrius: How you ever screw my brains out?

Ashley: Sure but you have to be gentle [laughs] im a little bit tight