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Dana Brooke Thinks She Earned Respect From The Women Because She Never Gave Up

May 14, 2020 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Dana Brooke WWE Photo Credit: WWE

In an interview with Fightful, Dana Brooke said that she believes she earned the respect of the women’s locker room because she never gave up no matter what. Here are highlights:

On earning respect: “I think I’ve earned a lot of respect from the women because I’ve really never given up. I see a lot of girls who get frustrated and throw in the towel. I have a lot of people, my producers, that are always telling me, “Never give up, Dana. It’s time to shine. It’s your time. Keep going, keep pushing.” I was truly blessed and honored that they re-upped my contract for another five years, that was a year ago. From that moment forward I knew I had to put my head in the dirt and push through and really step it up. It was amazing to see that Nattie [Neidhart], who I have truly, truly admired coming into the business, write in the Calgary Sun that she wanted me to win. There was a little surprise video that I had seen from a bunch of the girls in my locker room that they had chose me to win. That’s who they had picked. They wanted to see me, knowing that I’ve put in the hard work, the dedication and the drive. In 2020 I knew it was going to be my year, and I hope and pray that same happiness and health follows my path. I have big goals and goals set in the next year.”

On adjusting to having no fans: “In the fitness industry, I was so set on my routine—every morning, every day, every night. I was so set in my ways, so set in not having anything come into my path and disrupt my schedule. But, being able to adapt, I’ve learned a lot about myself and being able to make changes on the fly. Within this last, I would say, two months that things have really gone up in the air will make me appreciate it more when it returns. I won’t ever take fans for granted. I will never take a show for granted as far as when I work Friday, Saturday, and Sundays at live events. Some times I would be super tired, but now I’m hungry for it. I miss [those fans]. I miss coming out of that curtain and having thousands and thousands of people cheering my name. Doing it now in Orlando is something completely different. In twenty years from now looking back, no one’s going to be able to have experience something that I have. I can tell young wrestlers at the time, “Don’t take your fans for granted. ‘Cause I’ve been in an environment where I had to work with nobody around and it is hard. Very hard.'”

On WWE holding empty arena shows: “WWE knows exactly what they’re doing and I find it very admirable that they wanted to come out with live content for people sitting at home. So, I had to take that into my mindset and know that there might not be people in front of me or out in the arena. But, there are millions and millions and millions of viewers on the other side of that TV that are stuck inside, that may be sick, that may be going through a hard time, that this is their outlet is to watch us perform. Knowing that we possibly are getting thousands of new fans, because we are the only thing live on TV right now. So, I really praise and admire WWE for allowing us to perform and the show must go on.”

On WWE’s safety measures against COVID: “As far as the health aspect of it, they’re taking things very, very serious. People have asked me, “I can’t believe you guys are working at this time. What is WWE thinking?” They’re really doing everything that they can to keep us safe and healthy as far as every time we walk in the building. They give us tests. We have to answer questionnaire forms every single week going into work. So, they are looking into our best interests, but also the best interests for the fans all around the world. So, that’ s my mindset is knowing there’s millions of children and families on the other side of the TV that are cheering for me. Or maybe booing, who ever knows? But, we’re bringing that entertainment home at home.”

article topics :

Dana Brooke, Joseph Lee