Gabrielle: Hey there, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the pilot edition of Wild Talk, where I, Gabrielle Crimson, will be talking to your favorite Superstars from FFW, so we can know more about their personal lives, their careers and everything else you wanna know about them! And tonight's edition I get to interview one of my personal friends and one of the hardest workers I know that are in the backstage… former Television Champion, former Evolution Champion and everything else in between... Leona Vega!
Leona: Hi there, everyone!
Gabrielle: You have no idea how excited I am to have you on the pilot episode of Wild Talk. Seriously, I believe the right now you are one of the greatest inspirational stories of the current roster, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people dying to know you more in-depth.
Leona: Aw, c’mon, I’m not all that. I’m just a hard worker who got lucky.
Gabrielle: We're going to talk about all that in due time, we have nothing to worry about. But I really wanted to divide this interview into two parts, the first part being about your personal life your family and stuff, and the second part be more focus on wrestling… But the more I think about it, it's actually impossible to dissociate the two of them, isn't it?!
Leona: Ha! I guess so.
Gabrielle: I mean, you were born pretty much inserted into the industry. Your father was a wrestling legend by the time you were born, wasn't he?
Leona: Yes! My father has always been a thing in Mexican wrestling, as far as I can remember. People already looked up to the Warrior Lion when I was, like, three years old or something. He was never, y’know, a big champion or anything, but he certainly made quite a splash with the time God gave him on Earth. And I’m glad to have learned so much from him, both about ring tricks and abilities, down to the ethics and the honor in the sport… And life in general. I consider myself blessed to have had a father who cared so much, who gave so much for me, for his family, and there’s not a single day that goes that I don’t pray for him and hope that he’s looking after me wherever he is right now.
Gabrielle: So… Leona Cristina Fernández de la Vega…
Leona: … Labbett.
Gabrielle: Labbett! You’re Mrs. Labbett, that’s right, we can’t forget that. Don’t wanna get on Sebastian’s bad side.
Leona: He’s a cool dude, you know him!... But yeah, Spanish names can get pretty hectic. See, this is something I’ve always found interesting about, y’know, English names, or even French names like yours. They’re straight to the point. Mexican names can have, like, three given names, then the entire row of family names from both father and mother--
Gabrielle: Your name could’ve been even bigger?!
Leona: If my mother had her way? Leona Marcella Cristina Vidal Fernández de la Vega. Try to picture THAT on your driver’s license.
Gabrielle: Good lord! I’ll keep my shorter name, thanks. But yeah, how’s the married life been for you? I mean, it’s not like you’ve changed a lot, you’ve still been going out, I know for a fact you love the ocean… Which is great, because you basically live in a beach house in Fort Lauderdale, which is where we are right now!
Leona: Ah, geez, married life is exactly like single life, except there’s someone I say “I love you” to a lot. Sebastian is… Sebastian is a great guy, so attentive and everything. We’ve had some fallouts before, there was the public one that attracted more eyes than it should, but at the end of the day, he’s my boy, I’m his girl. There’s no separating that.
Gabrielle: And how do you all keep the relationship stable? I mean, he has a work here in Lauderdale, he’s a barista. And you’re always all over the place with wrestling, so…
Leona: He knows the traveling life. He used to be a model himself, he understands. But at the end of the day, it’s all about knowing that we’ll have one another when we get back home from whatever trip we make, right? I know he’ll always be here for me-- There’ll be times when he’s at work when I arrive, but when he comes home I know he’ll be there for me, and I wouldn’t trade that for nothing in the world.
Gabrielle: And on the off moments when Sebastian isn’t around and you’re just here?
Leona: … sheesh, can we skip this part? It’s not interesting at all. I do the laundry, I clean stuff, I watch movies… There’s always that part of the day when we’re watching wrestling, either to strategize or to improve--
Gabrielle: It’s amazing how just everything ties in with wrestling with you, girl. You live for the business.
Leona: I guess so, yeah. But I try not to let it consume my hours entirely. There’s the time when I just want to watch Netflix, y’know? Or just be a lump and spend the day sleeping. And there’s most often than not a couple of hours for me to go to church, because, as you know, I’m Catholic…
Gabrielle: Here’s something that always intrigued me. I was raised in a Catholic orphanage, you know. And - follow me on this - isn’t competitive sports, especially wrestling, considered a sin? I mean, when brother competes with brother…
Leona: I’ve always seen wrestling as a sport. It’s a way to keep my body fit and my mind sane. Success and achievements are a consequence. That’s why I keep my feet on the ground even after all that I have achieved, you know? Sometimes people need to be reminded of the four-four-seven…
Gabrielle: Ahhhh, the 447 days you were a TV and Evo Champion.
Leona: But personally, to me, that number isn’t important. It’s the fact I’ve been able to do it all without losing sight of who I am and how I got here. This is the most important. I’ll never go out of my way to achieve something, and I’ll never tarnish the name of my family and my own to achieve something. I’ve had my dark days, but now that I know the best way to go about it, I don’t want to lose sight of it.
Gabrielle: And it shows. You really put your name in FFW’s history, and I’m sure your family is proud of it.
Leona: My mother doesn’t care much about wrestling, to be honest. It was more like a business to her, and she’s always found it far too dangerous to follow. I don’t think she was too thrilled when I decided to follow on my father’s footsteps.
Gabrielle: She lives in Mexico still, doesn’t she?
Leona: She moved temporarily to Los Angeles, but she came back to Monterrey a couple of months ago, yeah. I don’t think she has an interest in coming to America to stay; and who are we to judge anyway?
Gabrielle: Fair enough. Did you get your stubbornness from your father as well?
Leona: What do you mean, stubbornness?!
Gabrielle: Like, how you’re always… I mean, your never-say-die attitude, the way you’re always fighting no matter how the odds are stacked… Like I said, you’re an inspiration for a lot of people.
Leona: Eh, maybe it was my father. But there’s definitely some resolve in me-- I know I want to be a world-class athlete. And I have this… thing in the back of my head that, if I want to be a world-class athlete, I need to be able to out-wrestle the current world-class athletes. That’s why I keep gunning for the big dogs, and even if I’m taken down, I’ll get back up, and I’ll harden myself and better myself so I can go into a second round or a third round and always make sure I give them a run for their money, until I get my win. The bar is never below me, always above.
Gabrielle: Which means you gotta leap higher.
Leona: Which means I gotta leap higher, exactly.
Gabrielle: Can I ask you something, though? How do you spin SO MUCH and you NEVER get dizzy?!
[Both women laugh] I’ve seen you do those-- what do you call them again? The Orbit DDT? You spin like crazy, like, it’s a full minute of going whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-- and then you get up to your feet like it’s nothing!
Leona: I don’t know, it’s something I kinda perfected, that… Whenever I know I’m going to do it, and I have a chance? I close my eyes and I kind of shut down my spatial awareness. I don’t know if I’m going up or down or sideways anymore; all I know is, I gotta keep spinning. I feel the wind on my face and I know I’m going circles and circles around my opponent, but my head is, like, empty. When I land and I know it’s over, I open my eyes and it’s like I never moved.
Gabrielle: This is crazy.
Leona: Right?! It’s the kind of thing I wouldn’t be able to teach you even if I knew the words, because it’s SO complicated. It’s like trying to teach a chimp how to whistle.
Gabrielle: That’s an unique metaphor, I’ve never heard you say that.
Leona: I just came up with it!
Gabrielle: Well, fair enough! Now… The elephant in the room. We have to talk about it, because I’m sure it’s what most people are here for. Unstoppable 8 and Nevaeh Summers.
[Leona sighs] You laid the challenge to Nevaeh, and now she’s the one challenging you, seeing as she was the one who put you in this situation. Now… I know you, and quite honestly, I’m worried. What are you thinking of doing about it?
[Leona never answers. Her gaze turns away from the Wildcat as she growls ever so softly. Gabrielle brings herself to the edge of her seat.]Gabrielle: Leona, you’re on a wheelchair. Your knee can’t so much BEND. That was an unnecessary, brutal attack, and she’s trying to goad you into choosing between your health and your pride. Do you REALLY want to--
Leona: Look. Like I told you… My career has been guided by how fixed into the ground my feet are. We’ve already established that. And I’m going to be realistic with you, Gabs: there’s absolutely nothing I can do with my knee the way it is. I can’t do absolutely anything with my knee banged to the point I can’t bend it. I’ve had Sebastian and Dani, my personal assistant, take care of me while I can’t put my feet down.
Gabrielle: Thank goodness for caring friends. I’m pretty sure showering with Sebastian has lost it’s allure though…
Leona: GABY!
Gabrielle: Hah, just trying to break the ice here. But, seriously: I’m worried about you. Don’t do anything reckless, Leona. Please.
Leona: I promise you this, Gabrielle, and the FFW audience: there’s no way I’m going to put my body on the line if I can’t touch the floor with my right foot. Mens sana in corporis sano. Healthy mind, healthy body.
Gabrielle: Makes sense. I’m glad you’re in this mindset. We’d hate to see you cause some permanent damage to yourself. Now… Eheheh-- time for my favorite part: the Wild Card questions!
[Gabrielle picks up her cellphone] I have an app here that will give me a random card with a random word or a random question. And you can speak your mind about this word; you can give me a rapid fire answer or you can just talk till you’re satisfied, just… speak your mind. You good?
Leona: Bring it!
Gabrielle: Okay, let’s start with… Favorite word?
Leona: “Love.” Has a lot of meanings, not all of them obvious. And, at the end of the day, you said it yourself: we’re all being made of love, aren’t we?
Gabrielle: I said that? Damn, I was so deep back then. A’ight-- oh, this one’s funny. Bacon or Nutella?
Leona: Nutella! All the way! Give me all of your chocolate!
Gabrielle: Morning or night?
Leona: Morning. It’s the time I get to spend with Sebastian, because both he and I work at nights.
Gabrielle: If you were not a wrestler…?
Leona: … geez, no idea. Really, no idea. My life’s been all about wrestling, I just can’t see myself doing anything else. Is this a cop-out answer?
Gabrielle: Eh, I think you can be forgiven. Let’s get some names into this mix… Oooooh, this one’s gonna get crazy. Emma Macnamara?
Leona: [sighs] My husband’s boss, I guess. She… I don’t know, sometimes I feel like she has something against me, mostly because she’s Mika Demidov’s friend, and we all know about my relationship with Demidov. But there are times I guess she just doesn’t care about me at all, and I’m pretty sure if you ask her, that’s exactly what she’ll say. So… Yeah. She’s my husband’s boss. Oh-- and a great wrestler too, otherwise she wouldn’t be a champion. This kind of ability has to be respected.
Gabrielle: An annoyance?
Leona: When people go out of their way to be ignorant or offensive. You KNOW exactly what I’m talking about.
Gabrielle: Psh, do I ever. But do you have any pet peeve outside of that?
Leona: … I know this is a silly one, but you know when someone’s walking in front of you, and you’re already walking at a slower pace not to bump into them, and then they suddenly stop?
Gabrielle: Oh goodness gracious, I hate that.
Leona: Me too. Absolutely hate it.
Gabrielle: Okay, last three cards. Favorite emoji?
Leona: The lion. What can I say? I’m biased!
Gabrielle: Christian Kincaid?
Leona: Oooh! An amazing friend and an amazing manager. So patient. He’s been a solid part of my path of discovery, you know. I mean, when I was discovering myself after breaking away from Team Kyle. I have nothing but eternal gratitude to him.
Gabrielle: Final card: favorite quote?
Leona: Mark Twain. “They did not know it was impossible, so they did it.” Hi, Jake!
Gabrielle: That’s a great one. Anything on your mind you want people to know that we haven’t covered?
Leona: I… honestly don’t know. You said more than once here that I’m an inspiration, so to the people looking for something to be inspired for, what I can say is… Looking into your dreams, and stay motivated. Do it for the people that believe in you, and do it for the power you know you have within yourself. At the end of the day, we’re only as good as what our minds limit us to be. I remember I said it way back when that “the sky was not the limit, it was just the beginning;” and that rings truer now than ever before. don’t let an imaginary limit stop you. Strive to go beyond it, and then beyond still. And for all the people that have been following me throughout the years… Many thanks. I’m still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact I actually made it big in the industry, so I’m thankful, so very thankful to all the fans and supporters. And, even if you don’t believe in God, know that there’s a plan for you. So… Never be discouraged.
[Gabrielle gets up from her seat and hugs Leona.]Gabrielle: Always so great talking to you, love.
Leona: I’m so glad you came over for this.
Gabrielle: Least I could do, baby. And for all the FFW Faithful, in two weeks’ time, another interview! This was Wild Talk, I’m Gabrielle Crimson, this is Leona Vega… And thanks for watching!
