The following is an excerpt from Fightful's long-form feature on Nidia, doing her first interview in well over a decade. Check it out at this link, and see the full interview above! When aggregating this story, please link back to the long-form itself.
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Alas, no appearances in the cards for Nidia. That was the case for a very, very long time. Then, after over ten years, a familiar face popped up WrestleMania weekend in 2016, specifically at the company's Hall of Fame ceremony. Things came full circle, as Tough Enough season 1 trainer Jacqueline was being inducted.
Nidia next to Lita at the WWE Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/DbX37JI1j2
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 3, 2016
Here is @AmyDumas at the Hall of Fame! Sitting about mid way back on the left side. I think Nidia is beside her! pic.twitter.com/zhUreMk1xp
— AmyLitaUpdates (@AmyLitaUpdates) April 3, 2016
I cried when I saw this queens of wrestling together pic.twitter.com/9XSLY1xocd
— α∂яιáи -- (@adripgx) April 7, 2016
"Yes! Nora (Molly Holly) called me. She said, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in town. You wanna be my date for WrestleMania?’ I was like, ‘Oh, God, yes. I haven’t seen you in so long, let’s hang out.’ So, that’s how that happened. I caught up with everybody except for Cena. Last time I saw him, it was like he had a concert in Italy (over a decade ago). I happened to be there and that’s the last time I saw him. I went to his concert and then we hung out afterwards. But, yeah, that’s the only person I didn’t get caught up with. I caught up with Randy (Orton). It was fantastic. I hung out with Candice (Michelle). Shelton is a good friend of CandIce. He’d would tell me, ‘You need to meet this girl. You two are going to get along so well. I talk to her and it just reminds me of you.’ He was right. As soon as I met her we just hit it off. Like, I went with Nora and I hung out with her, too, but I spent my weekend with Candice," Nidia said, smiling.
Rekindling friendships, catching up, starting new friendships, Nidia didn't feel out of place after so long away. One reunion stood out, especially with 20/20 hindsight. That's an eyesight joke for you (remember, she was BLIND). It was Jamie Noble.
"Jamie Noble, that sonofagun. So, he walks by me and he’s like, ‘Hey, girl.’ I turned around. He was with his wife and I guess, I don’t know, if he’s not allowed to talk to girls. But, I go, ‘Hey, Jamie. It’s me, Nidia. You remember me? We used to be partners.’ He’s goes, ‘I know who you are!’ I was like, ‘What kind of greeting is that?’ So, he turned around and he made up for it," she laughed.
She enjoyed WrestleMania weekend, now removed from that spotlight that was shining on her for four years on MTV, UPN and Spike TV. If that's the last time you see Nidia's face on a screen, she seems more than happy with it. So what's she up to now?
"I’m a mom. I stay at home. I do dabble in real estate. That’s actually a hobby turned into a business type of deal. We built a house and I just fell in love with the process. It’s so interesting. It’s construction stuff. I was so enamored by it. I would walk around and look at newly built homes and ask questions. I even got offered jobs doing that because I liked it so much. Afterwards I kept looking and looking and we rehabbed some houses. That’s our retirement plan, where we have houses and then we will rent them. That’s my passion right now, and the children," she said, full of pride.
This is typically where we'd give you Nidia's social media information, but she doesn't have any. She's not a recluse, she's just adapted to a life as a mother, a wife, and a former wrestler. A personality that was magnetic enough to make her a reality star is still carried with her today. The camera presence hasn't left. Although that life was behind her before she gave birth, it's left an impression on her child, who would routinely bring up her mother's former career at school. Even today, she's amazed at the life Nidia led.
"It spread like fire. ‘Miss Nidia, were you a wrestler? [Lil’] said you were gonna beat me up.’ I was like, “[Lil’], you can’t tell people that!’ My daughter, she’s so funny about that stuff. She marks out. It’s so normal to me, I guess, that it doesn’t seem like a big deal. She’s like, ‘Wow, I just watched a video of you,’ or her friends will come up, ‘I watched this or that, or you did an interview with etc, etc.’ Today, I didn’t’ even tell her. I was like, “Hey, [Lil’], I’m going to be in the room. I’m going to do an interview. If you need anything, let me know.’ The boy I didn’t even tell, ‘cause he doesn’t care. He’s going to come in regardless. She goes, ‘You’re doing an interview?’ I was just like, ‘Yeah.’ She’s like, ‘That is so cool! What time?’ I told her, and she’s like, ‘Ah, darn it. I have school.’ ‘Cause she wanted to sit in and do the interview with me."
Wrestling is a business where so many hang on, and that's not a bad thing. For Nidia, her happiness didn't rely on a sold out stadium as much as a crowded family photo.
