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Mike Johnson: Given all the experiences that you had in WWE and all these ups and downs, what's your advice now that you're on the other end of it and you've exited the company to those who are dealing with the tumultuous nature of being part of that world now or maybe just in general to people who are dealing with adversity in their life? What's your advice to someone who's trapped in that same vortex that you were in, where you didn't know what was up and what was down and whether you were going to get called to TV or not for such a long time? What's your advice to someone who's dealing with they're in some sort of holding pattern and they don't know which way to go?
Danielle Kamela: That's tough because everyone's situation is different. But I guess advice I could give, even looking back on the five years I spent there, is just not to take things and to not take yourself too seriously. I feel like a lot of times there's just nights I wouldn't get any sleep because I was just thinking so much about, "Oh, my gosh. My last match, what did I do wrong? What did I do, right?" Or thinking about character ideas or thinking about, "Well, what if I did this or that?" I think I caused myself a lot of extra stress just taking everything to heart and taking everything so seriously. So, I guess, if I could go back and give advice to anyone else, it's just like, "Breathe and have fun with the journey. There are so many things that you cannot control and that you'll never be able to control. If you could just stay at peace and level-headed, it will help you out a great deal. It will make everything more enjoyable." So, I guess, that's one piece of advice I could give.
Mike Johnson: What would you like the fans who are either reading this or listening to this know about Danielle that they may not already know, given that they have preconceived notions of who you are based on Vanessa Borne? There's always that weird Jekyll and Hyde thing with professional wrestling where the onscreen character fuses into what people believe the performer truly is. So, what would you like the audience to know about Danielle Kamela versus Vanessa Borne?
Danielle Kamela: Well, Vanessa Borne was always a heel. I've never been a baby face. So, of course, it's funny. When I created Vanessa Borne, I wanted her to be a little bit more opposite of myself. I wanted her to be super mean, super bitchy, super rude, snap back at people. Also, I wanted to have a character that took me out of my comfort zone a little bit. So, when I started, I made her this over the top sexy character. In real life, yes, I can be sexy; but I'm a little bit more conservative. So, I guess that I'm not this bitch online that people might think I am. I guess that's really the only thing. Now that I'm no longer Vanessa Borne on social or anything like that, I am completely going to be myself; so fans will get to know the real me until I debut my next character.
Mike Johnson: So, as we sit here, the door is wide open for you. When you think about the fact that right now you get to control your destiny as opposed to whatever forces were controlling it before... And I'm not pointing fingers at anybody in a negative way when I say that. But you don't have any responsibilities. You don't have any contractual ties right now. What do you want to do? Just with pro wrestling and beyond, let's say the world gets back to normal like they say it's going to. We hope, knock, knock on wood; and you have your chance to call your own shot and do what you want to do, what does Danielle want to do? What does Danielle want her next opportunity to be?
Danielle Kamela: Outside of wrestling, my passions are acting. My passions are on air hosting television. That's what my background is. So, now that I do not have any contractual obligations... Well, pretty soon here. I'm going to start pursuing that again as well. That's so much fun for me. That's always been fun for me, anything with storytelling. So, definitely get back into acting. I had an opportunity last year to do something that would have been really cool and it would have paid a good amount of money, but I wasn't able to do it with my contract. So, things like that come along, and it sucks. You kind of feel like, "Oh, man. I wish I would be able to do that." And now I have that opportunity to do anything that comes my way. So the potential of that is very exciting to me. It's very exhilarating. And I feel like because I've been under this contract for so long but also not working, I've been very unfulfilled creatively. So, now that I'm not with the company, although I'm sad about it and it's unfortunate, it also feels like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulder and all of these doors are open. So, I'm just definitely excited to see what else is out there and what else I can do and actually use the skills and talent I have. I like working. I love working, and I'm lucky that I was able to sit back and collect a check. That's great, but that's not fulfilling for me. So, I want to get back in, too.
Mike Johnson: It's also a situation where you're collecting the check, but you want to be able to know that you've earned your money. I don't think most people are just like, "Yeah, I'll sit back and just sit here and take the money", because at some point it's going to end unless they see something in you. I feel like the fact that you felt so creatively unfulfilled and that you wanted to do more just shows how deeply you want to do this. Anybody can have a job where they're just going through the day to make their money, but if you're getting paid to do nothing except work out and be prepared and hurry up and wait and you're not happy, it shows how much you really want to do this. For a lot of talents who get let go, the immediate reaction is, "I have to find my way back there." Sometimes that works out for them, as we've seen with Drew McIntyre; and sometimes it doesn't. When you look at goals, is getting back there on the goal list; or is it, "Let's see what's out here in this wide world beyond where I was contractually and what the opportunities are that I can take"? I think a lot of people don't understand when you sign that WWE deal, and I'm not knocking it. But when you sign it, it's like you're married and you're in the military. So, there's no opportunities outside of that bubble. You're betrothed to the company. Do you look at getting back there as one of the goals on the checklist, or do you kind of going to go, "I'm going to go this way. They're that way, and I'm going see what this with this direction takes me"?
Danielle Kamela: I guess for me, I want to see what else is out there at the moment. So, I did just get released, but my immediate thought isn't like, "Okay, I need to do whatever I can to get back there." My thought is, "I need to do what I can do to use my talents and to be fulfilled. That is what I need to do for me." I don't think having the immediate mindset of, "Okay, I need to figure out exactly what I can do to get right back to WWE," I don't think that would be healthy for me at this time. So, I want to explore, and I want to be able to take on other projects if I have the opportunity and if I want to. It's nice to actually be able to have full control of what I do at this point forward. So, I guess that's where I am with that. I don't have any bad feelings or negativity towards WWE at all. I had a great time there, so everything is all Gucci. But that's where I'm at with moving forward.
Mike Johnson: So, there's lots of other promotions out there. The National Wrestling Alliance run by Billy Corgan just announced they're going to do their first all-women's pay-per-view in August. Mickie James is going to be basically executive producing that. Obviously, All Elite Wrestling has taken a good portion of the imagination of wrestling fans worldwide and captured it. Serena Deep, who you know very well, is there. Impact Wrestling is there. There's lots of different promotions that are running at different levels. Has there been a lot of studying and watching other companies? Is there anything outside of WWE that you've watched that's caught your eye and you're like, "I would like to go there. That would be fun."
Danielle Kamela: I've watched a little bit of everything else; and, I mean, there's a lot of talent out there that are just phenomenal that I watch and I like. They come from all different organizations. So, there's not one organization where I'm like, "Okay, this is the only one I would consider going to." I would like to consider all my options and find the best fit for me and find the best organization that I like as a whole when it comes to the culture and it comes to how you treat your talent, all of that. So, those are all things I definitely would take into consideration, but what I can say is there's a lot of good things about a lot of other organizations. I think that's why a lot of talent today don't see getting released from WWE as the end of the world, because there is so much other great wrestling out there. That's encouraging, especially if I do want to consider or if I am considering continuing my wrestling career.
Mike Johnson So, the majority of your in-ring wrestling career, you performed through NXT. Obviously, that's Paul Levesque's baby, Triple H's baby. Thoughts on him, how he manages the brand, how he treats the talent, how he mentors. What were your interactions and your experiences with Paul and thoughts on how he oversees NXT?
Danielle Kamela: All of my interactions with him have been positive, and every interaction I've seen him have or have even overheard him have, are all great. So, I've never seen a negative side to him, and I think the way he treats everyone at NXT is with respect. That's what you ultimately want from your boss is someone who respects you, no matter what level you're at and no matter where you fall in the company. So, I mean, I don't have anything but good words to speak on him. He was always kind to me and was always respectful.
Interview concludes on Page 7!
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