Rosa Mendes On How Hurt She Was By Online Criticism of Her Wrestling, Says She’s Paid Her Dues

In an interview with 411’s Gerald Strauss and the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast (which you can listen to below), former WWE star Rosa Mendes was asked if she had any regrets about not getting more of an opportunity in the ring in WWE and not factoring much into the women’s title picture. She said that not getting more of a chance to wrestle remains one of the biggest regrets in her life.

“Oh my gosh, ya know, I’m going to be honest here, that was, it’s one of the biggest regrets in my life,” Rosa said. “But, the thing is, I had an 11 year career in the WWE and not a lot of people can say that. So I was part of a business that I loved more than anything, but, ya know, I never got a title run, I was never in the ring as much as I wanted to be, and, ya know, it’s one of those things, that’s why I was planning to come back. I wanted to come back and have one more run for one more year and have a title run and be very active in the women’s division as a wrestler. And it’s one of those things that I, ya know, I look back and just, ya know, I feel like my focus was to be on TV and to work constantly and it was so hard to, um, to have a spot on TV wrestling. I mean the competition was a lot, I mean, it was a huge competition to get on TV. And so, if you’re not going to be on TV as a wrestler, you’re going to try to get on TV somehow, so I was valeting, and I loved valeting, I loved it. I loved being a manager, but ya know, why I started with WWE and why I became, ya know, a Diva at the time was because I wanted to wrestle. And because I loved the business so much.”

She also talked about how hurt she was by the online criticism from some fans who felt she wasn’t a good performer in the ring and hadn’t paid her dues.

“I feel that a lot of the fans, not a lot of them, some of them, they criticized me because I wasn’t in the ring, ya know, and when I was in the ring, I wasn’t the best performer because I didn’t have a lot of ring time. So, ya know, I got a lot of havoc from that and, ya know, it was, I’m human, and I’m gonna be honest here, I was very hurt by it. Ya know, I was very hurt by the comments from some of the people saying that I didn’t care about the business, I mean, and some of the lies that were on some of the dirt sheets that I’ve read, oh my god, it was, that was the hardest part for me, is, ya know, being part of a business that I love so much, traveling, and ya know, I was in developmental for like three and a half years and people saying that I didn’t pay my dues, and I’m like, ‘wow, like I put up rings in the rain and snow in OVW, you’re saying I didn’t pay my dues?’ Like it was, that was really hard, so yes, I do have a lot of regrets about that. I do regret it.”

In the full interview, Rosa talks about her time in WWE, online criticism of her wrestling, her crush on Paige story on Total Divas, her first meeting with Vince McMahon, who she was closest with backstage in WWE, whether she will retire, how she would fit into the current WWE women’s division, and more.

Be sure to check out Rosa’s Totally Fit Mama protein bars and check out more of Gerry’s interviews featuring everyone from WWE Superstar Lana to Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD‘s Ming-Na Wen at Celebrity Stage Stories! Subscribe now and be among the first to hear ANOTHER no-holds-barred conversation with Rosa Mendes coming soon!

If using any news or quotes from our interview, please credit 411mania.com and please embed the podcast audio player or YouTube video of the full interview in your post.

On if she wanted to be more of a wrestler and more in the title picture in WWE (1:15)
On how she’d fit into the modern WWE women’s division (5:00)
On she was closest with in WWE (7:15)
On Total Divas cementing bonds between women in WWE (9:45)
On being single and meeting someone when you work all the time (12:00)
On what made her uncomfortable on Total Divas (13:20)
On the crush on Paige story from Total Divas (15:20)
On her first meeting with Vince McMahon (17:50)
On where the Adam Rose storyline was supposed to go before she got pregnant (19:30)
On the character she wanted to do in WWE after pregnancy (21:30)
On WWE’s Saudi Arabia deal (23:50)
On if she’s proud of any of her WWE matches, her regrets, and her tough recovery impacting her daughter, and if she will retire (27:00)

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast via
the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play