Exclusive: Lita Talks Legends Of Wrestling, NXT, And Women’s Wrestling

This past Sunday, Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, hosted its first professional wrestling event ever, the Legends of Wrestling. Just like the name of the event indicates, the show featured several legends within professional wrestling that have left their mark on the sport.

One of those legends is former four-time Women’s champion and WWE hall of famer Amy “Lita” Dumas. Since retiring from WWE in 2006, Dumas has taken on a variety of projects, including her band the Luchagors, hosting a radio show, and more.

Yet getting chance to attend wrestling events, especially unique ones such as Legends of Wrestling, at the ballpark in Queens remains special to her.

“It’s great and it’s fun to mix the historic pastime of baseball and mixing that with wrestling fans and being here at the stadium,” said Dumas. “It’s just a really fun event, there’s a lot of energy in it and it’s something different that the fans haven’t gotten to experience before.”

However, after both Lita and Trish Stratus departed from WWE, it appeared that the company stopped prioritizing the divas on the roster. While several great athletes such as Melina, Eve Torres, and Maryse held the Divas title after Dumas’ departure, spotlighting the female portion of roster seemed like an afterthought.

Shorter matches, quicker feuds, and declining television time didn’t help matters. But now, with WWE’s developmental brand NXT putting a focus on female wrestling with the likes of Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch, Dumas’ feels that women’s wrestling is on the upswing.

“Since I left, I felt we got a bit of a downslope but the NXT girls, you know, really got what it takes to see it go in the direction that is should, so I’m definitely excited to see that,” said Dumas.

Currently, the former member of Team Extreme is working on a new project with WWE as Dumas will be working with WWE for the returning reality series Tough Enough. On the show, Dumas will be one of the trainers, alongside Booker T and Billy Gunn.

As the June 23 premier date for the show approaches, Dumas is doing her best as far as being a good trainer on the show, but also teases that her Tough Enough role may not be the last we see of her in a WWE ring.

“I mean, I’m gearing up for Tough Enough training right now, so, I wouldn’t rule anything out and I’ll say anything is possible,” said Dumas.

For audio of the interview, you can listen to it here.

[Image via WWE]