411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Lita on Working with Chyna & Trish Stratus, Breaking Her Neck, More

411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Lita

-This dropped today, so I had to squeeze it in before tonight’s Level Up and then back to plowing through more of the Evil series. It’s getting a little busy for me as I try to find the time between my real job and helping my wife with our two boys, but again, 10 year old me would have loved having all this wrestling content, so it’s all good. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 1:28:29

-Steve Austin welcomes us to the show and gives Lita the traditional big time introduction he gives everyone.

-Show opening!

-They try to remember the last time they met and the agree it was likely WrestleMania XXX. Lita says for the most part she feels good, but has some days she can feel the bumps. Those times keep her honest in the fact that she isn’t invincible. Austin asks her if a veteran ever told her that she had so many bumps on her card. Lita says it happened every day, but her injuries were always from dumb things and not the crazy bumps.

-Austin brings up the match with Becky last month in Saudi. Lita calls it one of the best experiences as she wasn’t looking for the match and it fell in place, so it let her observe it in the moment. She could feel how special it was and she believes she missed some of that during her run. The match came about as Johnny Ace asked her as she came back from the ring at The Rumble if she wanted a match with Becky next month and she was all in.

-She had the thought of “what am I getting myself into?” She knew about The Rumble so had some time to train. She talks about the first Rumble and she was called 24 hours before the show and basically touched the ring for the first time live when she entered. She didn’t care as it was the first Rumble and she felt she needed to be there. This Rumble she got time to train, so she was better for the Becky match, though she wishes she had a few more months.

-Austin brings up the match from Saudi and Lita says she never watches her matches so this will be fun. She makes her entrance all covered up as Austin notes they were in Saudi Arabia. Lita says she was nervous, but she knew she could work nervous. She felt great after the first bump and realized she didn’t turn to dust, so she was good. As we’ve noted in the past Austin is a joy to watch as he watches and talks about wrestling matches. I want an entire DVD series of Austin watching classic matches and breaking down what he enjoys or even hates about them. Great near-fall with Lita hitting the moonsault. The crowd was way into this show compared to other Saudi shows. Becky gets the win with “The Rock Bottom” as called by Austin.

-Lita says once her music hits the nerves go away, but she had doubts and nerves heading into that match. She feels like she might have been gassed, but felt ok. She had the ref reminding her to breath which made her think she was getting gassed. She says that is the most she has ever watched one of her matches.

-They flash the photo of Lita standing in front of a billboard in Saudi with her and Becky on it. She mentions it was the first time women were ever on a billboard in the country and it was everywhere.

-Lita says she is fine with her regular life and was told Vince wanted to announce some of the surprises for the Rumble. Lita felt that would take away from the Rumble, but then realized it was better as it got her out in front of the crowd more and got the crowd behind her more which helped her confidence. She fed off the emotion of the fans and even the women on the roster, who were excited to have her back for weeks instead of just one night.

-Austin mentions that Lita was billed from North Carolina so long he just assumed it was true, but she is from Ft Lauderdale, FL. He wants to talk her background. She mentions her father was a salesman that would travel around Florida. She was into swim team and Judo which were individual sports that also had a team atmosphere at times much like wrestling.

-Rey Mysterio changed the course of Lita’s life. Lita says she didn’t grow up with wrestling, but her boyfriend at the time did and she would start getting sucked into what he was watching. She realized they were rock stars and athletes in one gig. She realized wrestlers had cool jobs and she started telling people she was going to be a wrestler. She was drawn to Rey Mysterio and believed that he could beat someone life Kevin Nash. She asked her boyfriend why no other luchadores talked besides Rey and he told her because they only spoke Spanish. Lita took that to mean she needed to head to Mexico to become a wrestler. She packed up and left for Mexico and bought a front row seat to a show and listened to a lady next to her that had seen every show and taught her about what she was seeing. She met a guy that seemed trustworthy as he had a badge and he took her to shows and eventually they realized she wasn’t going to leave them alone until she started getting trained.

-She stayed in an apartment that was billed as kind of safe. Nice! Then she got another apartment with a bunch of people that were down there to be reporters. She spent a few months down there before heading to Maryland Championship Wrestling. She took any job in the business whether it was a valet, ring crew, time keeper, etc.

-She liked the danger of the bad kids and punk life. She would take advice from people and watch their match to see if what they said worked and if it did, she would use it. She worked shows all over the Southeast. She would get her bookings by just asking the people at the shows and was happy to even just get let backstage.

-ECW: They were in North Carolina and she just showed up early and offered to put up the ring. Austin says that is bad ass! They were sleeping against the door as the truck showed up and they were more than happy to take the help. Lita got in the ring and did a springboard moonsault and Dreamer saw it. He told her to put together a 5 minute match with her friend and when they did, she was given a spot.

-Heyman came up with Miss Congeniality and Lita didn’t understand the gimmick. She mainly just escorted Danny Doring and Roadkill. The most she learned was from the training sessions before the shows when everyone was in the ring working.

-Austin wants to talk about The Funkin Conservatory as he never would believe watching Lita’s work that she came from Dory. She says Dory’s big thing was repetition as even if something was perfect he would tell her to do it again. He also knew today people didn’t work wristlocks for 15 minutes anymore, but he still made them do it. Austin appreciates Dory realized times changed, but he made sure they still had foundation and basics.

-WWE: Lita was active in ECW and Terry Taylor switched to WCW and wanted to take Lita, but she had her heart set on WWE. Jim Ross called her and offered her basically a developmental deal and she spent a bunch of time doing dark matches.

-Feb 13, 2000: Lita makes her debut on Heat with Essa Rios. Rios gets the win over Gillberg and Lita gets to hit a moonsault after the match. It got a good reaction! They flash a picture of her hitting Eddie Guerrero with the moonsault and that naturally leads to talking about him. They both love him and Lita calls working with Eddie a great and fun time. She loved the Rios/Lita vs. Eddie/Chyna feud. Austin puts over Eddie’s charisma and Lita just gushes over Eddie. Fantastic!

-She was twenty-four when she started in the WWE. Her mindset was that one day she is going to make it unless she changed her mind and found another path. She crossed paths with The Hardy Boyz on the Indys and the writers paired them together because they looked like they were in a band together.

-Austin wants to talk fashion and get into the evolution of Lita’s gear and look. They have a side by side of her with Essa vs her with The Hardy Boyz. She brings up she found the red foil outfit when she was with Essa while out shopping with Edge. Huh. Her thong was sticking out and Edge told her that was cool. Lawler once told her she had a great match, but her underwear were sticking out and Lita thanked him, but said she had that look on purpose.

-Lita says it was a blast working with Matt and Jeff and how they rose together and felt like stars. She says during that time nobody left the shows early as everyone was on fire and wanted to see what everyone else was doing.

-Intergender Matches: She believes they helped her 100% and credits the guys for going with it as they could have shot it down and vetoed it. She gives a little Easter egg as she would tap the guys on the leg as a way to tell them thanks for letting her hit them with a move and we see it when she hits Albert with a crossbody to the floor. That’s cool!

-WrestleMania X-Seven: TLC II. WOOO! Lita heads down and jerks Edge off….the ladder. Go back on commentary and JR says it exactly that way as there is a delay which is harmless at the time, but is funny in retrospect. Lita creams Spike with a chair, rips her shirt off, and then gets dropped with a 3D. That crowd is amazing and that match is still amazing! I need to watch that show again. I’m so glad I still have the original DVD before the edits and blurred out logos. I swear someone told me it is worth some money now. Sorry, got off topic there. Lita calls the match poetry and loved how each team got to have a second get involved in the match.

-Next we see Lita vs Stephanie McMahon on RAW that featured Angle, Rock, and HHH getting involved. Rocks was the ref and plants Steph with a spinebuster and Lita hits the moonsault for the win and Woman’s Title. Amazing crowd!

-Dr Tom told her they were putting the title on her and she didn’t believe it until it happened. She was in there with big players and felt like she needed to stay out of the way, so she didn’t get a chance to bask in the glory until she got to the back. She was told she didn’t get the shot of Rock raising her hand, but in her head she felt she needed to clear the ring because the big stars like Rock, Angle, and HHH were in the ring and she didn’t feel she needed to make HHH and Angle sell for long while she celebrated. Looking back she realizes she could have at least done the hand raise with Rock and then bounced.

-They talk about the pressure of working as a champion and how you had to be more steak and less sizzle. Lita mentions the fans knew her signature spots because she had been doing them to the guys, but now she had to find a way to make them make sense in actual matches in the woman’s division.

-Around that time she started dating Matt Hardy and we discuss that. It worked as they knew what each other was going through with the business and they knew it was career first and anything else second. They could lean on each other and understood what each was going through as far as problems in the business. She mentions Jeff was her best friend as the three were also sent together everywhere. She used Dr. Tom as her sound board and she lived and breath wrestling, like the rest of the boys.

-Judgment Day 2001: Lita vs. Chyna: This is their lone match and Austin mentions the last match for Chyna in WWE. They were hoping to have a trilogy. Austin mentions Chyna was legitimately strong. Austin marks out over the transition into an armbar and Lita credits her judo routes. Chyna gets the win with a powerbomb. Austin asks how close they were together and Lita says if Chyna liked you it was good and if she didn’t it wasn’t good. She respected Lita and picked her as one of the few girls that she liked so people didn’t think she hated everyone. She talks about how Chyna was booked as an equal to the guys and she seemed disappointed to be stuck in the Woman’s Division. She enjoyed the match and wishes they could have done more, but they were saving stuff for a second and third contest.

-Lita goes to work on Dark Angel and gets dropped on her head by a stunt woman. She said she was out of her element. She worked with the girl and told her they would do it in steps, but the girl buckled and Lita went right down on her head. She couldn’t move her arms or legs and this was just during rehearsal when nobody else was there. They assumed she had a stinger and told her to take five. Damn! She was on the mat and couldn’t move and everyone was talking about their weekend. Five minutes later they ask her if she could move and she wanted to be okay, so she told them to help her to a seated position. She felt she broke her collarbone and she could stand with all her back muscles supporting her. They told her they would walk through the stunts for the rest of the day. “I wanted to be fine, but I wasn’t.”

-She visited three different doctors and finally they realized she broke her neck in three places. She had floating bones and if she coughed, sneezed, tripped, she could be paralyzed. She was told surgery and all she could think was Dean Malenko and the surgery he had that ended his career. She started crying and the first person she called was Stone Cold. Nice! She credits Austin for getting her to San Antonio and even drove her down there and got her to his doctor. She had the fusion of 5-7 and ended up being two levels of fusion. It put her on the shelf for fifteen months. The hardest part was just sitting at home not feeling useful to herself or anyone else, so she started volunteering at animal shelters and treated that as a job.

-Austin asks if she watched the product and she says she couldn’t. Austin felt the same. She felt she would make a comeback and it was nearly a year and she knew she wasn’t ready yet. She asked for more time and they gave her another three months. Austin says he was also out for 15 months and had the period where he didn’t think he was coming back.

-When she came back she felt good, but started getting limits put on her as she was told not do do moonsaults on house shows and save them for TV or PPV. To her she felt that was not needed, but understood and notes the office changed her style.

-RAW 2003: Lita vs Victoria: Steel Cage Match: Lita says she had been around cage matches and did spots, but was never in a cage match. At the time she didn’t feel it was this big moment for women, but looking back it was. They were told they couldn’t do as much with the cage as the men, but enjoyed being in the match. Her mentality was to be part of the boys club and this was another step in that process.

-Lita and Trish Stratus: They were brought in a few months apart and Lita says they were opposites and played off each other so well. Each could be heel or baby and they were just fine as a team. Lita liked it best with Trish as a heel and her as a baby and that’s the roles they had in their RAW Main Event.

-RAW: Dec 2004: Lita and Trish get the honor of being in the RAW Main Event which was a huge deal back then. These two were great together and were at their peak. Trish is sporting the nose protector as Austin mentions Lita legit broke Trish’s nose and was healed now, but as a heel, Trish is milking it. They show the crazy dive to the floor where it looked like Lita broke her neck. Still nasty to watch! Lita mentions Trish started to bump before she made contact so it was like she was chasing her and she went on her neck and then over. Austin: “you got very lucky.” Lita hits the moonsault for the win and Title to pop the crowd huge. Great moment!

-Lita says there was pressure, but it was good pressure as they knew they could deliver. Austin asks how much pride she takes in being a pioneer. Lita tells the current wrestlers that it’s not about the WrestleMania moments worked on for months, but these moments that are thrown together on a whim. That match only happened because it was before a PPV that was set and they wanted to put the women somewhere so gave them the Main Event.

-New Year’s Revolution 2005: Trish vs Lita and this time Lita doesn’t get so lucky as another dive to the floor costs her with a torn ACL. The dive was just a Lou Thez Press and Lita won’t watch as she remembers how bad it felt. Evil Trish was the best and yes, I may sound like a pig, but she was a total smoke show. Lita talks about the injury and how much it sucked. The neck is just letting the bones heal, but the ACL is all work the minute you are out of surgery.

-They briefly touch on Unforgiven 2006 where Trish had her last match and went out with a win for the title over Lita. Lita calls it one of her top matches and they knew Lita was leaving two months later and they wanted one more match to let one go out on.

-Kane/Lita pairing: Lita calls it bizarre, but looking back it was pro-wrestling. Lita says the good that came out of it was that her and Glen became real close. Austin calls Kane one of the nicest guys in the business and nobody has a bad word to say. I guess Austin doesn’t read the 411 comments section.

-They go to Edge and Lita’s wedding where Kane interrupts. They show a still of Vince going through blocking of the segment. We get footage and Lita says the dress was to be the sluttiest thing ever and all the boys kept telling her it was a great dress. I mean, I can think of two reasons the boys loved the dress. Austin says he will agree with the boys that it was a killer dress. Awesome! Lita laughs at Edge mouthing the lines of the preacher. That was weird! Matt Hardy’s music plays, but it’s a fake out as Matt was still on the outs with WWE. The crowd bought it! Kane pops up through the ring as the preacher says “The Lord Jesus Christ.” Wrestling weddings are the best! Edge and Lita escape while the poor Priest eats a Tombstone. We need another wrestling wedding as again, when done right they are amazing.

-Austin brings up that Lita was placed in some of the most difficult situations and always made it through. He credits her for earning her stripes. She says that there was times she hated getting on a plane to come to work and this is all about the love triangle with Edge and Matt. Austin says that Edge and Lita had a ton of heat and they used it to their advantage. Lita mentions it took a minute for them to sink into that R Rated Couple gimmick. They made their characters so over the top and obnoxious to try to gross out each other. Lita says it was uncomfortable at first as he had to figure out to be a heel and realized she needed to do everything opposite of what she was in real life and turn it up times 10. Lita thinks she was able to work heel because she was such a strong baby for a long time.

-They go back to Lita as she was given the chance to cut a promo before leaving. Nov 20, 2006: She unloads on the fans and takes credit for inspiring a generation of women. The crowd pops when she mentions Survivor Series is her last match and she will retire as Champion. She says it was great to finally get some of that off her mind as her and Edge agreed that they would just do the work and not bring up what they were going through so as not to complain. No mention of that last match and how she was mocked and laughed at on her way out. I mean, I know her character was a heel but that was pretty mean spirited.

-Austin and Lita put over Mickie James and how she is a great worker and not just a spot machine.

-Austin asks what made Lita decided to walk away. She felt the roster was younger and at 30 she just felt old. Her contract was coming up and there were times it was becoming just a paycheck and she never wanted that. She felt she accomplished more than she ever thought she could and it was time to find a new chapter. She didn’t want to spin her wheels or backslide the other side of the pyramid.

-They discuss life as a civilian again and how it felt to get off the WWE schedule. Lita says it went in phases and when she took naps she realized how tired she had been for years. She went to Nicaragua where nobody knew of her or wrestling and just had a simple, leisure life where she could breath. Good for her!

-Hall of Fame: Lita says she wasn’t expecting it and just thought it was cool when they told her. Then she got time to reflect on her career and the entire week was fond memories as she realized she had already done the work and this was just fun. She spent the entire week with Trish and her son (Lita’s godson) and it was a blast. They flash a photo of Lita with Becky, Charlotte, and Sasha after their Mania 32 Title Match.

-They talk about where the women are now and Lita name drops Madusa, Luna, and Sherri as the women that paved a way for her and now she is that person for the current roster. Lita says it has been cool watching these women wrestle and having moments where she can pop in and work with them.

-We start to wrap up as Lita talks about how she is at peace now and can pull all the good from the business. They plug her work with animals and she has also learned that people need help to, so she is helping where she can with aide. She just wants to help those that don’t have a voice.

-Austin thanks her for visiting him and credits her for all the dues she has paid and made all the crazy story lines work. With that we are out!

-This was fun as always and flew by. Lita was wonderful here as she was engaging and had good chemistry with Austin. You could tell they were avoiding some of the riskier aspects of her character with Edge (no talk of Live Sex Celebration) and skirted around the messy situation with her, Edge and Matt, but I’m sure she is tired of talking about that. Just a fun interview as Austin is one to have as she shoots the breeze about the business with another legend. Thanks for reading!