Ivelisse On Past Issues With Women In WWE And If It's Changed, Angelico's Dives, Lucha Underground

I recently interviewed Lucha Underground Trios Champion Ivelisse, who suffered a heartbreaking second injury to her ankle. We spoke about Lucha Underground, the future of the company, Tough Enough, what caused her problems in WWE, and much more. You can check out the audio of the interview in the video player above, the audio player at the bottom of the page, or direct download at this link.

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Explain how this ankle injury happened.

"Well I can't really say because it's far ahead in the show. It's an accident and those happen all the time. It was tough to mentally process it even happening again. I learned so much from the first injury that this one's like nothing. My foot almost looks normal, so the healing is going Wolverine like, super fast. I've done everything I learned in favor of healing from the last time I got injured. I'm pretty optimistic right now. I might be back pretty fast."

Do you have a timetable for your return?

"I don't know 100 percent. I still have to see the specialist. I was told before that I'd have a boot for 6-8 weeks or I'd have to have a surgery, because that wasn't that doctor's specialty. I had two fractures of smaller bones in my ankle, and a grade two sprain of the ligament. It's a little more than last time, but I learned so much from the first one. I was out for so long because I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I stayed working and flying, which I shouldn't do. I had never fractured a bone before and did so many things I wasn't supposed to do including still working instead of letting the bone heal up. I kind of prolonged the healing process unknowingly. This time I am so beyond prepared that it's healing lightning fast."

Some people thought working through that injury made you more sympathetic when teaming with Son of Havoc and Angelico. How has that experience been for you?

"That was something that got locked in, especially with what happened to my ankle, but it was already gelling together with how our storylines were interlocking organically. From my perspective, being crippled was a very big mental monster for me, especially having to do it in front of the whole world, being the private person I am. The loyalty that was shown to me by Lucha Underground inspired me to push through all that. It worked out. I did my part, they did their part and we pushed through it together. In the end, we came back for season 2 and could be ourselves again. We have a unique dynamic there."

What goes through your mind when you see the psychotic dives your partner Angelico pulls off?

"I don't know, he's crazy. It's pretty much all I can think of. He's holds probably the craziest moments a single person does in Lucha Underground."

Have you been told anything about a season 4 of Lucha Underground?

"Even if I was told, I don't know if I could discuss that (laughs). I can assure everyone it's going in an extremely promising direction."

What are your feelings on intergender matches? You've really thrived in them.

"I love intergender matches. When I first started wrestling, that's what I'd do the most. Before I signed with WWE, I'd wrestle guys all the time. It's something I really enjoy. To a certain degree I prefer it, but I didn't have to start learning that female-to-female dynamic until WWE. Then I went to SHINE, where it's all women, and I had the longest SHINE title reign. That's where I learned to do that dynamic even more. I love learning, I still love to wrestle everybody. Any character is a puzzle to learn, an art. I love trying to figure out what would be the best possible story to bring out. How would this character react to my character? What story could that provide? Whether female or male, it's that puzzle I like to crack."

You, Son of Havoc and Marty the Moth were all on Tough Enough. LU made three starts out of that show, and that's more than WWE. Is that surprising to you that more of you weren't given a shot on the main roster?

"From Tough Enough, I was technically the only one who got signed that wasn't already signed. Me, Martin and Son of Havoc were the ones utilized from Tough Enough that WWE dropped the ball on. It sucked back then, and once I went to WWE I went into some issues from the political aspect. In the end , we have a great opportunity here, so nothing goes in vain."

You've spoken about those politics in WWE before. What were your feelings on them bringing back the Women's title? That's something I know you were very vocal about during your FCW run.

"Yeah. I was very blunt with my intentions in WWE from the first moment I stepped in there. I was constantly told 'don't wrestle like a guy,' and I said 'that's pretty much what I do,' (laughs). They'd say it's a good thing they had to pull me back, but to do a little less. I didn't really listen because that wasn't really my intention there. I did enough to get by. The demeanor where I'm having a meeting at the FCW school that's supposed to be an educational meeting, and we're asking questions after learning from this person and I start talking and the first thing the refer to about the women is that they're a bathroom break. I said 'What? I completely disagree with you.' I don't remember exactly what I said, but people were looking at me like 'Holy crap, what are you doing?' I don't care. I was very outspoken about what I believed in. I wasn't being disrespectful, I just knew we deserved respect like the guys. That's what I wanted to bring to the table. Even with my Latin heritage, I was trying to bring that to the table as well. That wasn't very well received either. I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time. It just didn't work out. Maybe my strong character rubbed off the wrong way because they weren't used to that, I don't know. I always tried to respectfully state my case. If it's not received in a respectful way, then obviously they're going to take whatever I'm saying as something negative because it's not what they want to hear. Like 'you want me to be a bathroom break? Okay, I'll go show my assets with a smile on my face, yes yes.' If it's not what they want to hear, it's a bad attitude."

Do you think that mentality has truly changed there?

"Based on what I've seen I'm pretty sure it has. I hope. Sometimes on the surface it's one thing, but it's not really what it looks like. They booked them to go at it. From how I saw the match, they would have never before even allowed them to attempt such spots. There's been change. It's not instant. Not because of me, but because of people like me with the same mentality like Ric Flair's daughter Charlotte. I remember right before I was leaving she had come in and she's another one who had a lot of fire and determination and I'm glad she's done her part to help that mentality of trying to change the women's aspect for the better. From a political standpoint, I'm nothing. I have no pull, nothing, I'm nobody. I feel like with her incredible determination from day one that I saw and her ability, she has a gymnast background as well, and had a better political understanding as well. I had no idea how things worked. I think all that combined helped her move along well. Look, WrestleMania. That's awesome. I'm very happy for her and all of the other girls that have worked, too. I'm happy they were able to do something a lot of people have been dying to see."

You were scheduled for an MMA fight a few years ago, and the MMA style really plays into your character. Is MMA something you'd like to do in the future?

"I was scheduled twice to fight. All of my wrestling stuff would get in the way, so I decided there was no way I could do all of this at the same time. When you're in MMA, the training completely takes up all your time. It's every day. You have no time to do signings or do a match on the weekend. I tried that years ago and I ended up with severe dehydration. Four water I.V's were put into me. Usually they don't do that unless somebody is ready to die. I had to let go of MMA for the full time degree, continue with pro wrestling and train here and there for the knowledge because I love MMA. It's another beautiful fighting art form that I love. It's been a while, since the injury last year.

"It's something I'd like to delve into full time eventually, but I need to not get so injured from professional wrestling. I don't want to be all broken by the time I'm trying MMA. CM Punk took the turn a little too late. You're so broken from years of wrestling that after that point if you try to go into something like MMA that is physically demanding as well, there they're not going to hold back to make sure I can finish the match. It's completely backwards. There they're going to finish you."

I've seen videos of you singing, and I know you do some acting. Any plans for those in the future?

"Singing, no. Acting is something I'd like to delve into some more. It's something Lucha Underground has facilitated with these vignettes and it's fun. It's something I'm excited for and excited to evolve with that. Hopefully I can start doing acting classes. I want to do better and better. If I get good feedback, it's awesome. I want to get better."

We've heard rumors that Prince Puma may be leaving Lucha Underground.

"I have no idea about what is being rumored about Prince Puma. If he is, that's his decision. No one can really say anything about his decision."

Also tell the people where they can follow you online.

"On Twitter @RealIvelisse, and on Instagram @IvelisseVelez.

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