Posted on 6/18/126 by Colin Vassallo
Former WWE Superstar Layla El sat down with Chris Van Vliet
at West Coast Creative Studio in Los Angeles, California to
discuss why she has returned to wrestling conventions after
being away for so long, why she left WWE in 2015, if she is
open to one more match, how winning the Diva Search started
her WWE journey, being paired with Michelle McCool, the
infamous Piggy James storyline, how CM Punk came up with the
name LayCool, her and Michelle both winning the Women’s
Championship, becoming a mom and more!
Your break was almost 10 years. You retired from WWE in
2015. What made you step away from everything?
“If you look back, for me, I started in 2006, so I was there
for nine years, and I’ve been traveling. I was never a part-
time talent, I was always full-time, and we worked a lot at
that time. I just was like, I’m 38, what am I gonna do? My
looks, you get to the point, your looks are not the same,
and I’m getting tired and worn out from just traveling all
the time, stuff like that. Where was there really for me to
go? I kind of did everything, and they were coming in with
the new girls, younger, fresh. So I just was like, it’s just
time to go. Then that’s what I did. I just made up my mind
one day, I went in, and I just asked, ‘Can I have my
release, please? I just want to go.’”
Had you been thinking about it for a while?
“No, I just literally [decided], honestly. Vince actually
signed me to a new contract, and I don’t know, I just woke
up and I was just like, it’s just time.”
What was the reaction when you asked to be released?
“I had to wait because I left. I didn’t even stay that day.
I was just like, guys, I’m done.”
Did you have a plan for what was next?
“No. I can’t explain it. It’s just such a hard grind, and I
think when you’re with WWE, the thing is always to keep
going, keep striving, keep asking for more, keep reaching,
keep saying, I’ve still got one more run, I can do this,
because you’re always fighting for a spot, and I was just
like, what am I fighting for? I literally felt like I was
like a hamster on the wheel, and I was just like, yeah, I’m
done, it’s fine.”
You became co-champions with Michelle McCool. How was that
pitched to you?
“It wasn’t. So the idea that I remember was it was going to
be Vickie Guerrero. She used to come out with me and
Michelle before. It was pitched that Vickie was going to win
the title, just Vickie. So they needed the title to go on
somebody else, but my gut was it was Fit Finlay that fought
for me. I think it was him, because the day of, about maybe
two hours before the show, like, Fit comes up and he’s like,
‘Congratulations, champ.’ I’m like, ‘Congratulations,
champ?’ He goes, ‘You’re going to win a title.’ He was known
for always ribbing everybody and just telling everybody,
playing jokes. I’m thinking, what the hell is he talking
about? I didn’t even listen. We went through the whole
match, stuff like that. I’m waiting this entire time for
them to be like, ‘Ha ha!’ Because he would do that, like he
would make jokes on us and stuff like that, and it never
happened. It just never happened. Went through the match,
and I won the women’s championship. What? Co-women’s
Champion? It was the biggest surprise to me. But if you even
look at the crowd, it was in Beth Phoenix’s hometown, and
there was no reaction. It was crickets. No one expected me
to win that. It was perfect.”
Did they already have the plan that they were gonna cut the
title in half, like friendship bracelet style?
“They didn’t know, because remember, they made up their mind
that day. They made up their mind a few hours before the
show. But Michelle was like, well, why don’t we do co-
champions kind of thing? Because then it’s like we can have
our friendship, blah, blah, blah. Michelle fought for that
and I fought for that, and that’s what happened, like nobody
knew what was going to happen. Then it was actually Batista
who one day we were rehearsing, and he came up and he was
like, ‘Hey, I just told Vince, you guys just split the
titles like you have with your necklaces.’ That’s how it
happened.”
How did you feel about the Piggy James storyline when this
is first presented to you?
“When we were told about the first, like, pre-tape, and then
the actual segment, I was kind of shocked, to be honest with
you. I was surprised, but at the same time, I was also like,
oh wow, at least they’re investing in a diva segment. So
they’re giving us some time, and they were giving us a
storyline. That meant a lot, regardless of what the
storyline was, they were actually giving the girls a
storyline. So I was grateful, but also kind of looking at
Mickie, is she okay with this?”
Nobody believes that Mickie James is overweight.
“No, I know that. You got to remember, I think, especially
in that time, in that era, it was like women, we were always
made fun of. Our weight was so important to us, and there
were certain things that we could get away with in that era
that you could ever get away with now. So I think it was a
very touchy story to some people, but I’m very glad that it
happened, because it was the first time ever that divas got
heat. They wanted to beat us up at live events, like literal
women wanted to beat us up, like they really believed that
we were, you know. Not only that, I think that Mickie did
amazing. That storyline, if you look at it, it was great, it
was the first time the Divas section, especially on
SmackDown, we had something.”