WWE Diva Victoria Was Never The Same After Meeting This Wrestler
The master of the Widows Peak, the real-life Lisa Marie Varon, was known in WWE as Victoria for almost a decade. She initially got her start with the company as a member of The Godfather's entourage, but she quickly evolved into a demented, villainous character who would go face-to-face with the blonde beauties coming out of the Attitude Era. After training in WWE's developmental territories, it didn't take long for Victoria to win her first championship upon her return. She wasn't initially destined for the squared circle, however, and it was a chance meeting with the "Ninth Wonder of the World" that got her wrestling career started.
Victoria was always athletic. She was chosen to cheer at the NFL Pro Bowl in 1989. The California girl initially studied biology, then moved on to study medicine with the plan of becoming at doctor. While in college, she was also working at a Crunch Fitness in Los Angeles, where she met Chyna. Victoria spoke about their chance meeting during an interview with Chris Van Vliet in 2020.
Victoria revealed that the gym charged Chyna to get in the door, but she gave her a stack of guest passes for future workouts. She explained the gym franchise "didn't care" who anyone was, they had to pay to get in. They ended up taking a hip-hop dance class together, and Victoria told Chyna she had friends in the business, Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson.
"She goes, 'Oh, are you a wrestler? You have a really good look for it'" Victoria explained. "I go, 'You know, I think I can do what Rob Van Dam does and Rey Mysterio.' Gymnastics and the flyer and that kind of stuff."
Getting in to the WWF
Victoria asked Chyna how she could immediately apply to work with the then-WWF. Chyna gave the budding star the address to WWF's corporate office in Connecticut, and Victoria sent a video she had made of herself and her talents in to the company. She explained to Van Vliet she paid $600 for the video and it showed her in fitness competitions and demonstrating exercises.
"They said, 'We see you wrestling,'" Victoria said. "So I Googled a wrestling school, and [Ultimate Pro Wrestling] came up. So I called them and said, 'WWF is wanting to meet me and I need to learn how to wrestle in 30 days.'"
She said she didn't realize how difficult it was going to be, and never thought "in a million years" that she would be wrestling for the next 20 years of her life, all thanks to one conversation at a West Hollywood Gym with Chyna.
WWE & TNA Success
Thanks to Chyna kicking off things off and helping her out, Victoria went on to have not only a successful, lengthy career in WWE, but TNA, as well. She returned to WWE after training in developmental on July 7, 2002 on an episode of "Sunday Night Heat" and immediately entered a feud against Trish Stratus, after claiming the blonde beauty had "betrayed her" when they worked together as fitness models. She won her first WWE Women's Championship from Stratus in a hardcore match at Survivor Series that year. She held the title twice during her career.
In TNA, Victoria, known as "Tara" in the ring, held the Knockouts Championship a total of five times, as well as the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship one time alongside Brooke Tessmatcher. Victoria was inducted into the Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024, but has not yet been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. In 2021, however, the company ranked her as one of the greatest women's wrestlers of all time in WWE, placing her in the top 25, ranked at No. 14. Victoria's most recent appearance cam in 2021, when she entered the Women's Royal Rumble, though she said was "treated like s***" backstage before her first match with the company since 2009.
Victoria has expressed an interest in working with AEW in a behind-the-scenes role. She said she feels like she would "accomplish a lot" for the company as a trainer and agent, sharing what she learned over two decades in the wrestling business with new talent.