Bruce Prichard Discusses Seeing WWE Hall Of Famer Lita On The Indie Circuit

Before boasting a Hall of Fame-worthy career in WWE, Lita was a young hopeful looking to find her footing in the independent wrestling scene. As such, Lita spent many months training in Mexico under the likes of El Dandy and Ricky Santana, as well as Dory Funk Jr's Funkin' Conservatory in the United States. During a recent episode of "Something To Wrestle," long-time executive Bruce Prichard reflected on the path that eventually led Lita to ink a contract with WWE in 1999. 

"She was somebody that I had seen on the independents," Prichard said. "She also had gone to the Funkin' Dojo and then she went to ECW. I think she was Miss Congeniality, used to clip her toenails and eat them as part of the gimmick on ECW. I asked Paul [Heyman] 'How is she?' He says 'She's great. She's a star waiting to be made,' and we brought her in [to WWE]. She was trained in Mexico. I think she started training the Carolinas, went to Mexico to fine-tune her training in the ring. [She] was just a tremendous athlete and tremendous personality. There was something about her that you couldn't look away. She has an instant charisma just walking. She walks with such confidence and she's got a strut about her that it's like 'Alright, there's somebody special.'"

After making runs in promotions such as ECW and MCW, Lita officially began her WWE tenure alongside former WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Essa Rios in February 2000. Once her partnership with Rios ended in a betrayal, Lita transitioned into a storyline with Matt and Jeff Hardy (The Hardy Boyz), with whom she formed Team Xtreme. Over the next six years, Lita moved out of the tag team picture, and into the singles spotlight, establishing herself as one of the most legendary women in WWE history.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Something To Wrestle" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.