Interview with Michelle McCool on leaving WWE

Speaking to former WWE Divas Lilian Garcia and Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool took part in her first interview since leaving WWE Monday night on the AfterBuzz TV AfterShow for Tough Enough. The multi-time champion says her peers' animosity towards her behind the scenes played a huge factor in her decision to part ways with the organization.

Below is a transcript of her appearance on the program, courtesy of MichelleMcCool.net.

Lilian Garcia: Why did you leave on top?

Michelle McCool: You know, it’s nothing that has culminated overnight. That’s for sure. I mean, I’m going on six years, and you know- I mean, Lilian, Torrie, you know- six years is really a long time for one of the girls. I do a lot, and I’m thankful for that. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and in a man’s world, too. It’s just a fight, every single week, this job. I was in it to win it. I did fight, stand my ground. Add to that, these past couple of years has definitely been the most fun I’ve had in my career. But again, it's not something that has culminated overnight. It’s something that I’ve actually been thinking about for a while. Something that I even thought about doing earlier than Extreme Rules, but I wanted to go out in the right way, and I wanted to do what was right for Layla. We’ve worked together as a team these past few years, and she’s done so much for me, for each other, that I wanted to go out doing the right thing. Working a program with Layla, while short, it was fun. I also kind of wanted [my exit] to be unexpected to the fans, and actually to some of the Superstars. I wanted to give them something unexpected. I wanted them to expect the unexpected, and hopefully we did that.

Torrie Wilson: Do you feel like the more you went up the ladder, getting the belts and being on television and had all these great things happening, do you feel like you had to work harder to prove yourself to the women? Did you see a lot of clawing and backstabbing, or was it… helpful?

Michelle McCool: Oh, gosh. No. You know the answer to that question! (laughs) The higher you climb the ladder, everyone is going to have a reason as to why you’re there, why you’re on TV, and they don’t want to believe the fact you’re in the working hard, fighting for storylines. Instead of complaining about only have two or three minutes on TV, you want to make those two or three minutes mean something, so that you can go somewhere the next week, and the next month, and then the next three months. And that’s what Layla and I did. And, yeah. A lot of people just didn’t want to believe that; I just think that’s the easy route. I think that they did, in their hearts, know that. The backstabbing, the clawing, it’s always there. It definitely comes up more when you’re on TV a little more often. And I can laugh. A prime example, Layla and I. We pitched an idea when we were going back and forth between RAW and SmackDown. We did a pre-tape on RAW when we got kicked off: so, we show up at RAW and get kicked out of the building. Two weeks later, they call us up to be on RAW again. It’s like, dang! Of course, all of the girls are complaining. We’re just like, ‘hey, we tried to get kicked off the show. It’s not our fault. Sorry we’re here.’ But you know, it’s like. Somebody else step it up! And I know that sounds horrible, but that’s what it is.

Torrie Wilson: Do you feel like that contributed to you wanting to step away or not? Because it was getting to be… too much?

Michelle McCool: Yeah. Yeah. You know, that’s hard. Torrie, you know. You’re the same way. I think we have a lot in common, as far as our hearts go. It’s just hard when you’re not that kind of person. When you don’t want to be miserable, when you don’t want to have that drama and… the drama just follows you. All due to the situation or the position that you’re in. It wears on you, as much as you’d like to say ‘I don’t care what the girls think!’ or ‘I don’t care what they’re saying!’ – I just want to go out there and do my job! It got harder each and every single week, just because it hurt me as a person. The kind of person that I am. You don’t want to feel that way.

Torrie Wilson: For someone that personally saw you, and how hard you would work, even before you were on TV-and I traveled with you-just how hard you worked, how many storylines you came up with to me, and with me, to work with me! It’s just actually frustrating to think that people would think you’re not working hard.

Michelle McCool: Well, thank you for saying that. That means a lot.

Lilian Garcia: And let me tell you something. Not only did you work hard in the ring, but also on your outfits! That meant a lot to you. Talk about being creative: I saw you being creative in your moves, in your entrance, but also in your outfits. I remember [you] coming out with the most amazing gear, and just going, WOW! You’re going to get noticed just based on that – and your body! Holy cow, girl!

Michelle McCool: Oh, please! (laughs) I think the whole Flawless thing backfired in my face. I’m just like, ‘oh, man! We’re out here calling ourselves Flawless, and being the most obnoxious characters, that even I wanted to slap myself sometimes!’ Even I would get sick of watching myself on TV! But let me tell you about the first night. And I just thought that it would only happen on the first night that I left WWE. I had almost an entire large pizza-you know me and stuffed crust! I had me a whole cake with frosting, and the problem is, I’ve done it almost every night since! The whole ‘Flawless’ thing is kind of out the window! (laughs)

Lilian Garcia: Um, Michelle. I have some bad news for you. Since I’ve left WWE a year and a half ago… I can’t… stop… eating! I can’t stop cheating!

Lilian Garcia: Do you have anything that you regret that you didn’t get to do?

Michelle McCool: Well… you know what? Somebody asked me that question in passing, not long ago. It’s crazy. I’ve really done a lot. You know, when you’re out there, and all of the drama is going on every single week, and you’re fighting every single week, you know. It just gets harder. And then you forget. Which is horrible! But you forget about all of the wonderful things that you’ve done. I was the Women’s champ, the Divas Champ, the unified Champ, Layla and I were co-Champs. I was in the first [Diva's] table match. You think of all of these things, and it’s like, wow. I like to think of myself as a humble person, and I hate talking about myself, but… that’s kind of a lot stuff, you know. That’s pretty cool. I can’t think of anything where I can look back and wish that there was something that I could have done. Even with all of these opportunities.

Torrie Wilson: Yeah, well… you could have won the Golden Thong Award!

Torrie Wilson: Well, at this point are you thinking that you’ll never, ever, ever, ever return back to WWE or what?

Michelle McCool: Well, that’s not my intention at all. Right now I’m just trying to breath for a little while. And, you know… enjoy life and see where it takes me. So hopefully, I can just take that attitude and let it carry me from today to the next day to the next day…

Lilian Garcia: Speaking of Tough Enough, you came through a similar competition. How do you feel about a show like that?

Michelle McCool: Well, you know. A lot of people don’t know, and it’s funny, that I actually filled out all of the paper work for the original Tough Enough and that I was going to apply. I still have all of the paperwork, but I just began my teaching career instead. Obviously, I love the show. And yes, I went through the Divas Search. And it’s funny, you know? Because everyone puts this ‘staple’ on you that you’re just a ‘Diva Search Reject,’ which there were several of us at the time, which is fine. But I often wonder that if I had gone through Though Enough and became a ‘Tough Enough Reject’ would so many people hate on me the way they do as a ‘Diva Search Reject.’ I’ve always wondered that. So that’s funny. And I actually do love the show. I’ve trained with Bill DeMott, down in Deep South. And even watching the drills tonight, I’ve been through them all. I know exactly what the contestants are going through. In the end, it’s a mental game, and they’re going through some tough times. Believe me. Again, I love the show, I love the concept.” … “Times have changed, you know? Times have definitely changed. Some of the girls backstage are just… yeah. From the time that I came in, back with Dawn Marie, and everybody else. Today? It’s just a whole different ball game these days.

Lilian Garcia: Do you stay in touch with anybody, after you’ve left?

Michelle McCool: Well, I stay in touch with Layla and Vickie. And, um… Nattie, every once in a while. She text me yesterday, actually. And Kelly. But…. sadly, that’s about it. Kelly, Layla, Vickie and Nattie on occasion. …Yeah.

Lilian Garcia: Well, I’m curious now. Since we all know that feeling, what’s next?

Michelle McCool: That’s kind of scary…

Lilian Garcia: It is, right? It’s scary, but exciting.

Torrie Wilson: And then it’s scary to think about going back! To the traveling, at least.

Michelle McCool: Well, I certainly don’t want to be near any airplanes or airports anytime soon, that’s for sure. But it is, it’s really scary. But it is also exciting! Like this week, for example. I spent the weekend with my parents. I can’t even tell you the last time I spent an entire weekend with my parents, or my godson, for that matter. I’m just enjoying life. But, I have also kept my teaching license active.

Lilian Garcia: So is that what you’re thinking? Or is there something else brewing in your head?

Michelle McCool: Nope. There’s nothing brewing. Though, I wouldn’t mind it, I think I would be a darn good Tough Enough trainer! Nobody has mentioned that to me, I swear to you, but I am throwing it out there. I think I’d have fun and I’d do a good job. It’s just that I’m such a big fan of the show, and I’ve worked under Bill. I know his personality, what his drills are like, I just… I don’t know. Why not throw another personality on that show? Sort of right up my alley.

In my opinion McCool was awful with a voice to match. Pruely and simply got to the top because of who she sleeps with. While it's no secret she worked hard and improved still below average for me.

I used to think the same but she ended up being this gens Trish Stratus in my opinion. You could see she was someone that actually listened to instruction and took it onboard to improve herself.

Yea I can see that just not as pretty as trish

Would she have got there not marrying a person in power it's debatable

I think its ignorant in the extreme to simply pass her achievements off simply because she got into it with Taker, I first saw her around mid 07 and wasn't impressed but by the end of 08 she had improved ten fold and her partnership with Layla was excellent, of course she sounded annoying, she was trying to, she could talk, was hot and could work

That's your opinion and because you don't agree with mine doesn't automatically make it ignorant, that's my perspective on how I rate her.

To me Layla was/is the more talented of the duo with natural charisma altho her acting is a little off and arkward but that's the norm though-out these days.

Its my opinion that its ignorant just to pass off someones acheivements without any reasonable justification, I also disagree with you completely about Layla, she might look good but shes nowhere near as talented in the ring or on the mic as McCool, thats only an opinion but its an opinion based on what appeared to be the obvious played out week in week out.

Obvious to you as that's your view, not obvious to me because i don't agree, we're just have to agree to disagree

Maccs classed her as this generations Trish Stratus and you agreed with him yet you don't get how flawed it is to then say Layla is the better of the two

I thought that by the time that she left that she was a very solid in ring competitor and while the WWE doesn't really care about that I think it was commendable that she didn't go down the T 'n' A route that many of the divas go for in order to get attention.

I don't think that her relations with Undertaker had too much to do with things. After all, are there any industries that don't have politics? Are there many in the WWE locker room who don't use "politics" and "friendships" to get ahead?...

I can see why she is compared to Trish, multi champ, the woman figure head of the wwe, so to that degree i agree but I never stated or agreed that she was compared because she has talent.

Hero wrote:I used to think the same but she ended up being this gens Trish Stratus in my opinion. You could see she was someone that actually listened to instruction and took it onboard to improve herself.

Spot on Hero decent summary.... Nice informative article

Of couse thats what Maccs meant, if you didn't agree it was through talent i'm sure you would have said as much at the time, you're arguing your point for the sake of it now despite changing you stance depending on who your replying to! Layla on a par with Trish

nah gaffer thats not the case, had Hero and I got into more of a convo then I would of explained more like I did with you

Come on Bret!! I rate Layla but McCool carried the team even Stevie Wonder can see that

Sure you would have Bret, with the way you've contradicted yourself all over the thread I struggle to believe you and render any future conversation pointless

Honestly guys I just cant see it, McCool to me was a whiny talentless hack (maybe a tad harsh but you get the idea) I rate woman like nattie and Beth who I see more as wrestlers then divas,

Yet you agree with someone who compared her to Trish, why do that then

Im sorry to hear that gaffer won't lose any sleep over it but still sorry to hear it. Just because i dont rate some one but except other people's pov that she could be compared to Trish.

I don't care who you rate or don't rate, it just annoys me when people change their stance on a subject depending on who they are talking to and you mastered it on this thread

All i said was i could see why he and others would think that, If you promote people/things enough like wwe did with McCool and they do with Cena and so on, then its only a matter of before people compare then with their past counterparts.

the-gaffer wrote:I don't care who you rate or don't rate, it just annoys me when people change their stance on a subject depending on who they are talking to and you mastered it on this thread

ha
I can assure you im jack of all master of none

You basically agreed, you didn't take issue with it and considering you don't rate McCool at all then that makes a mockery of agreeing with it, in your logic Cena is up there with Bret because they where both successful

There's a difference between actually agreeing and seeing their pov on why they would think it, and your right Im only guilty of not voicing that because at that particular moment didn't fancy getting into it and just being civil, it was only when I/my opinion was called ignorant that I took exception too it and now we're here.

It was an ignorant opinion because it was an opinion without justification, you think she was pushed solely because of her realationship yet offer nothing to support that belief, if you bothered justifying your post as much as you have defended it then it might come across as possible but you didn't and haven't since

But I have because in my OPINION I just don't like her and more importantly doesn't have the talent on merit to get to the top.

Fellas leave the back and to, cheers.

Its just a debate Maccs, its not getting out of hand and where not abusing anyone or carrying it to another thread, no malace mate.

Bret just because you don't like her isn't justification to claim she pumped her way to her spot, you can always say shes not good enough but then you agreed she is this gens Trish, like I say its impossible to get you when you change your stance depending on who you reply to

I agreed that I can see why people think that and compere them, I didnt agree and change my opinion back and forth, they were both successful.

Do you really think basic onscreen success is what Hero was talking about? It was obvious he wasn't being so black and white about it

FWIW I don't agree with bret that she is talentless and simply got where she is because she's married to Taker. But I get where he is coming from on the whole Trish thing. It's like saying Cena is this generations Rock, in that he's the face of the company the same way Trish was the figurehead of the diva division and McCool was until she left. That doesn't mean, for example that CM Punk isn't more talented than Cena just because you agree that Cena is this generations Rock. Geddit?

John-Original Name King wrote:FWIW I don't agree with bret that she is talentless and simply got where she is because she's married to Taker. But I get where he is coming from on the whole Trish thing. It's like saying Cena is this generations Rock, in that he's the face of the company the same way Trish was the figurehead of the diva division and McCool was until she left. That doesn't mean, for example that CM Punk isn't more talented than Cena just because you agree that Cena is this generations Rock. Geddit?

You've missed understood what was meant by the comparision with Trish. Trish was basically a valet when she was introduced. McCool if I remember rightly was part of the 1st divas search.... Both had no wrestling experience & couldn't work a match. However through years of hard work both learnt there craft & improved massively to become credible workers & more than respectable divas/womans champs. That's the comparision

When I returned to watching WWE a year or so back, one of my favourite things on the show was Laycool.

As characters they were brilliant and as such McCool and Layla deserved to be as high up as they were. It had nothing to do with The Undertaker.

If she was married to The Undertaker and rubbish on the mic, and rubbish at wrestling do you really think WWE would push her? You can see how hard Stephanie and Shane had to work on their skills, and even Vince himself, before he allowed them/himself screen time, so why the hell would he do it for someone else's family?

I never said once it was totally down to being married to undertaker, I just believe she wouldn't have got as high on the card as she did or much much more screen time then any of the other divas that she got without the aid of taker.

I always felt she was forced fed to us, Tell me did Beth or Nat have nearly as much air time as she has had over the years and they are way more talented then her.

bretmeharty wrote:I never said once it was totally down to being married to undertaker, I just believe she wouldn't have got as high on the card as she did or much much more screen time then any of the other divas that she got without the aid of taker.

I always felt she was forced fed to us, Tell me did Beth or Nat have nearly as much air time as she has had over the years and they are way more talented then her.

No. They're more talented at wrestling

But McCool and Layla have personality and charisma whereas Natalya and Phoenix don't. Which arguably (not saying rightly) is more important in Diva wrestling.

Were McCool and Layla allowed to show more of their personalities then the other two because of taker, but that would be pushing it right!

I've seen Natalya given numerous opportunities on commentary to show that she has personality. But every time, whenever Michael Cole put her down she had no response.

Beth Phoenix was getting far more TV time than McCool in 08 and 09 and was nowhere near as entertaining as her, The WWE wanted their own version of The Beautiful People and with McCool having a nice face, great body, good in the ring and charasmatic and also being one of the most experianced girls it was a no-brainer she was pushed the way she was.

Spot on by the way ER

Brady12 wrote:

John-Original Name King wrote:FWIW I don't agree with bret that she is talentless and simply got where she is because she's married to Taker. But I get where he is coming from on the whole Trish thing. It's like saying Cena is this generations Rock, in that he's the face of the company the same way Trish was the figurehead of the diva division and McCool was until she left. That doesn't mean, for example that CM Punk isn't more talented than Cena just because you agree that Cena is this generations Rock. Geddit?

You've missed understood what was meant by the comparision with Trish. Trish was basically a valet when she was introduced. McCool if I remember rightly was part of the 1st divas search.... Both had no wrestling experience & couldn't work a match. However through years of hard work both learnt there craft & improved massively to become credible workers & more than respectable divas/womans champs. That's the comparision

I said I didn't agree with bret but I could understand his point and felt that gaffer was being harsh by saying he'd done an about turn on his opinion depending on who he was talking to. I haven't 'missed understood (sic)' what the original comparison was just explaining how brets line of argument was consistent.

I wasn't being harsh at all, he was as he admitted chosing to disagree with me and not others simply because I had no problem saying his unfounded accusation was ignorant, no more no less