Steph De Lander discusses some of the hardest times she's been hit in the wrestling ring.
Professional wrestling isn't ballet. Ballet is a physically demanding art form in its own right, but you aren't willingly taking punches to the face or potentially being thrown through tables. While there is an art to pro wrestling, sometimes you just get hit really hard.
In a new interview with Sean Ross Sapp, Steph De Lander revealed that some of the athletes at the WWE Performance Center have hit her the hardest in the ring. She also singled out Jordynne Grace and Masha Slamovich as individuals who've hit her pretty hard as well.
"Oh, honestly, people aren't gonna like this. Probably some of the athletes at the PC. There are some stiff people in the Performance Center," she admits. "I also think when it's coming at you at like 10 a.m. on a Wednesday in a training drill, that's when you’re least expecting it. You're like, ‘Whoa, what are you doing? We’re not even on TV right now.’ Yeah, so I took some stiff shots at the PC, that's for sure. Jordynne Grace hits pretty hard as well. She was pretty stiff. Jordynne and Masha, in a good way. Like, it lands. I've taken a couple of hits from both of them, but as I said, in a good way.
"When you have that much muscle mass on you and not a shred of body fat, it's going to be tough. Her arm is just like a mountain of muscle. So when that hits you, you've got no hope," she said of Grace. "She's definitely not anywhere near almost as tall as me, even in her Patrick Star shoes."
Speaking of her own height, she says that while it is an advantage as a professional wrestler, there were times during her childhood when she wished she wasn't as tall.
"When I was like a child because being a tall girl wasn't fun. So, like when I was a kid, I wanted to be shorter. Oh, trying to buy like jumpsuits, like rompers, like a one piece anything is hard when you're like almost six feet tall as a girl. Same with jeans, like shopping, buying clothes is hard when you're tall. But honestly, like, that's kind of it. For wrestling, it's definitely good for me to be taller. So there's not really any times anymore where I wish I was shorter," she said.
Steph De Lander's first book, "What's The Best That Could Happen?: My Love Letter To Pro Wrestling," is now available for pre-order. The book will be released on April 18. Learn more about the book here.
Check out the full interview with Steph De Lander embedded at the top of this page.
