Ashley
Massaro comes from a wrestling family. "The name
Massaro is pretty well known for amateur wrestling in our
town," she says with a laugh, "and now everyone
in my family is bugging out because I'm in the WWE. My
dad is so incredibly proud and he's calling everyone he
knows telling them I won. It's so funny how it worked out."
From eating hot dogs to giving out her phone number to
actually talk to her fans (you know you tried to call),
Ashley took home a cool $250,000 for winning the Diva
Search and is already to take her first bumps in the ring.
IGN Sports sat down with the newest "it" girl
in wrestling to ask her about everything Diva.
IGN Sports: How did you find out about the WWE Diva
Search?
Ashley: I was in a pageant in Vegas and there was
a casting director there. When I found out she was from
WWE, I just flipped. She took a 30 second clip and told
me to do whatever I wanted, so I just went wild trying to
impress her. I wanted to do anything I could so she would
take me with her, and she did. She took me to L.A. and
that was it, I was chosen to be one of the eight girls to
compete on the show. Even to get picked to be in the
eight girls I was freaking out. [laughs]
IGN Sports: Weren't you afraid there might be steel
chairs involved?
Ashley: Yeah, [laughs] that's right. I'm ready. I'm
training out in New York right now. I've only recently
started, and now that I've won, I'm definitely continuing.
Every day I learn more, but it's a slow and steady
process.
IGN Sports: Have you taken your first bump?
Ashley: Oh hell yeah. I was so sore, I was like
damn! My back was aching. It definitely gives you a
greater appreciation for what the WWE superstars go
through on a nightly basis.
IGN Sports: On every reality show, from American Idol
to what they did on the Diva Search, there's that moment,
that long pause before they announce the winner. What was
it like to sit there and wait for your name to be called?
Ashley: Those few minutes seem like hours. It
sounds so cliché to say that, but that's the truth. I
couldn't take the suspense, so much so that I was
twitching, I was freaking out. My hand was slapping
against my leg, I was in tears…I was crying already
before they even said who won. Win or lose I was going to
cry.
IGN Sports: But let me get this right, before the
finals, you gave out your phone number to the public?
Ashley: That's right. [laughs]
IGN Sports: How many marriage proposals did you
receive?
Ashley: A lot of people asked me to be their
girlfriend. I was like sure, you can tell everyone I'm
your girlfriend, I don't mind. The phone actually never
stopped ringing…it was one call after another.IGN Sports: And it was you who actually
answered the phone?
Ashley: Oh yeah, definitely. It was actually a lot
easier for me to answer my phone than to respond to all
of the e-mails I was getting. I was getting massive
amounts of e-mails and writing back to every single
person is really hard, so I just figured what better way
to stay in contact with my fans than to actually talk to
them on the phone. I figured they would all like it more,
and it's a lot more personal. I'm sure they would rather
talk to me than get an e-mail, so I thought it worked out
for everybody. Unfortunately it didn't work out very well
for people who have numbers similar to mine so they
freaked out and filed lawsuits and stuff. [laughs] People
would call and tell me their cell phone bill was through
the roof because people were looking for me. One day this
guy called me up and he was like: "Are you Ashley
from the Raw Diva Search? My name is Adam and I hate you!"
It turns out his phone number is one digit off from mine
and I was like "Sorry about that bro." I felt
sorry for him. Eventually they made me shut off my phone.
That sucks, but hey, back to the e-mails.
IGN Sports: Do
you think giving out your phone number played a part in
why you won the competition?
Ashley: I definitely stay in touch with my fans,
and I'll always be the last one out there signing out of
the contestants, not that they didn't stay out there too,
but I enjoy meeting my fans and talking to them, and I
think they can tell that I enjoy talking to them. So I
think you can relate it to that.
IGN Sports: Do you have a favorite wrestler to
watch?
Ashley: I'm a big fan of Shawn Michaels, I've
always been.
IGN Sports: Was he one of the guys who gave you a call?
Does he have your number?
Ashley: [laughs] He didn't call me, unfortunately.
He wasn't one of the people who called me, but that would've
been pretty cool.
IGN Sports: They put you through all of those
competitions. Did you have a favorite one you
participated in?
Ashley: My favorite one was probably the jousting.
Elisabeth ended up knocking me off at the end, which just
sucked because I totally should have had that one, but
she caught me off guard for one second, and that's all it
takes. I definitely kicked Leyla's ass and that's all
that matters. It was fun, I really enjoyed it. Bikini
Boot Camp was fun too, but I wore the combat boots and
they were like cement blocks as I tried to run through
that obstacle course. I should've had sneakers on like
everybody else, plus I went first and that's always the
hardest position to be in.
IGN Sports: Did you have a least favorite event?
Ashley: Oh hell yeah, the hot dog eating contest.
That was my least favorite for sure. I had like two bites.
[laughs] The funny part is, I talked so much smack before
that competition. I told everyone to watch out because I
was going to kill it. I was joking around with the girls,
telling them how many hot dogs I could eat, then I went
out there and I had such a dry mouth and I was so nervous
that when I took the first bite, and I was thinking at
this point I'm going to house four hot dogs at least, but
the hot dog bun was so dry it felt like I was chewing it
for an hour. I just couldn't swallow it. Leyla and Summer,
the two girls who did really well, they were dipping
their hot dogs in water before eating them…they were
cheating. [laughs] Apparently that's like some trick from
the state fair that I wasn't aware of. They actually had
people researching how to eat hot dogs.
IGN Sports: This Sunday is Summerslam. How are you
participating in the event?
Ashley: It's my first diva experience. I'm stoked.
You're just going to have to stay tuned and find out what
I'll do. You're just going to have to watch.
IGN Sports: You can always run down and help your man
HBK against Hulk.
Ashley: Yeah, that would be cool. [laughs] That's
definitely the match I'm looking forward to watching. I'm
looking forward to Cena and Jericho too, but Shawn versus
Hulk is a dream match.
IGN Sports: Any predictions for the match?
Ashley: I'm hoping it's my man, but we'll just
have to wait and see.
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