On the latest episode of Arm Drag Takedown with Pollo Del Mar, LuFisto went into detail about a shocking incident that ultimately shaped the wrestler she is today. LuFisto is one of the most well-known and best hardcore wrestlers ever but it wasn’t always a given that she would portray a character like that.
LuFisto says she witnessed an incident after an event when she was only 18 years old and says finding a fellow wrestler after she had been raped changed the direction of her career forever.
“In 1998…I found one of my [female] opponents naked in a bathtub after she was raped by five guys at a show,” LuFisto revealed. “I know for sure now, looking back with perspective, that’s why I never went out, chilled or mingled [after shows]. I was like ‘This is not going to happen to me.’”
LuFisto says she tried to block the incident out of her mind but ultimately confronted those thoughts when she began writing her autobiography. She said she wasn’t ready to talk about the horrible incident but can now see that the incident is a major reason why she didn’t socialize and go out after events.
“For the longest time, I said you put it in a drawer in the back of your head, so you try not to think about it but it’s always there. I remember back then because it was five wrestlers, and [they said] ‘you can’t say anything, she was just too drunk and nothing happened.’ Although I was just 18, I knew.”
Del Mar was left speechless by the revelation but cautiously asked the wrestler to give more details and asked if witnessing that incident influenced LuFisto’s decision to focus more on the more violent and bloody matches she’s known for. LuFisto explained how she found the woman after she woke up in their room after their match, noting she broke her wrist that night, and that the woman wasn’t in bed. She says she found the woman in the bathroom and helped her back into bed, adding that’s she not even sure if the woman is fully aware of what happened to her.
“A woman that has just been put through light tubes, who’s just been beaten with barbed wire bat, she’s covered with scars,” says Del Mar, “She not your first choice to be a victim.”
“Definitely not. She’s a warrior — and she’s going to stand up for herself,” LuFisto responds confidently. “That’s what I wanted people to see; that’s what I wanted to represent. That’s the image I wanted to give to that little girl in the front row.”
Also on the podcast, LuFisto spoke about the recent issues with Combat Zone Wrestling rebranding women’s wrestling events with sexually suggestive titles. LuFisto spoke out about the initial incident but says there’s not really been any updates about it, adding that her main focus was to just get CZW to stop unfairly exploiting their talent.
“Since they’ve been called out, and there are lot of girls who went forward with stories of even sexual harassment from CZW management, everything has been extremely quiet. With the #SpeakingOut movement, I think everybody is so careful with what they’re saying, what they’re doing. Yes, there could have been people talking about lawsuits, but the main focus of this was to just not do this. We’re professional athletes, just present us as such.”
Read More: LuFisto Expands On Recent Issues With CZW Over Rebranding Women’s Events With Suggestive Names
Additionally, LuFisto spoke about Lance Storm’s recent remarks about intergender wrestling, saying it should be the performer’s choice if they want to perform in those types of matches and that Storm’s remarks came from the right place.
“Lance Storm said inter-gender should not be a thing because of what it represents, and I think he got way too much heat for what he was trying to explain. Nobody in the wrestling ring, whether it’s hardcore or inter-gender wrestling, should be forced to do it. I think he comes from a good place, where he’s probably seen it, and I’m sure he did — and I was part of it — where some guys were forced to wrestle me and I got beat up. It’s not going to happen today. Today everybody’s going to get called out, and I think people are not able to look at the bigger picture, where years ago in inter-gender wrestling, guys were against it and you had to fight for it.”
LuFisto talks about these subjects and much more, including her dream opponents, more details about her upcoming autobiography and how a 2019 match with Impact Wrestling Star “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander saved her career. Listen to “Arm Drag Takedown with Pollo Del Mar” below:
