WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix knows that it’s important to have a character that stands out in the modern wrestling world.
As “The Glamazon,” Phoenix enjoyed a remarkable run in WWE’s women’s division, as she was a four-time champion. Throughout her career, the 2008 Slammy Award Winner for Diva of the Year was featured as a prominent character on WWE TV and changed the game for the generations to come.
During a recent appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Phoenix explained her reasoning for the origin of the “Glamazon” gimmick. She emphasized how she knew she needed to stand out, and this persona gave her a way to make a lasting impression on the viewer. By making people remember her, Phoenix became a breakout player in the women’s division, which needed to build new stars when she arrived.
“At the time, you know, women, we weren’t, other than like [Chyna], ‘The Ninth Wonder of the World’, the women really weren’t branded with a moniker, like The Rock, you know,” said Phoenix. “And I just felt like I was kind of in a transitional period in the women’s division, like that era that I was in, we had lost a lot of the golden era so to speak, Trish [Stratus], Jazz, you know, Lita, all those characters. And we were rebuilding, we were rebuilding the division. And during that landscape, there wasn’t girls with that moniker, it was more using their names. And I felt like I was just trying to do everything I could to stand out.
“And so I was like, I’m just gonna brand myself ‘The Glamazon’ and wear a tiara, so if I only get 30 seconds on TV, you might not remember my name, but you’ll be like, ‘That’s the girl with the tiara, that’s the tiara girl.’ Or I was hoping ‘Glamazon’ would be a good hook, so a name like Beth might be a common name, but you might remember, ‘Ooh, Glamazon, that’s kinda neat. Huh, she’s like a big Amazonian type of woman’, and I was just trying to connect with the audience to give them something memorable so that in the women’s division, I would be one that would stand out.”
Using her own experience as an example, Phoenix stressed the need for young wrestlers today to find a character that they connect with; once they do, they’ll have an easier time reaching the audience. The WWE Hall of Famer then pointed to Sasha Banks’ persona as “The Boss” as current model of her philosophy about the effectiveness of personas that are “definable.”
“100%, I mean, if any young talent in NXT comes and talks to me, that’s what I tell them — characters, characters, get over,” said Phoenix. “Connect, and know who you are so that no matter what the circumstances are in front of you or what other person you’re wrestling that night, if you know who you are, you will always be able to convey that to the audience. But if you’re kinda not sure, it shows. It shows that you don’t know who you are, and you’re not quite sure, and you’re kinda throwing spaghetti against the wall.
“Our audience, I feel like really connects with characters that are real definable and that know themselves. You know, Sasha Banks is ‘The Boss’, and she comes out and oh, I get it. I get Sasha Banks, you know, like she’s a real tight package. And in our fast-moving business, you wanna be a tight, tight package that is branded really well.”
In recent years, Phoenix has transitioned into a non-wrestling role, as she’s currently part of the commentary team for WWE NXT 2.0
