The former IIconics reveal some of the struggles and anxiety they suffered through while traveling for work.
The job of the WWE Superstar, prior to the pandemic, meant being on the road for the majority of the calendar year.
Sometimes, travel can lead to Great experiences and seeing nations that others never would have the opportunity to. However, for some, the consistent grind can lead to both physical and emotional deterioration. Ronda Rousey was once quoted as saying that travel was her least favorite part of her WWE experience. Jon Moxley echoed the sentiments recently.
On their debut Off Her Chops podcast, Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee opened up about the separate issues they have that made traveling a difficult experience. For Cassie Lee, the former Peyton Royce, she would face terrible anxiety attacks knowing how difficult the time on the road would be and how short her time would be at home to have to accomplish what she needs to and her everyday life.
“I would get physically ill inside of an airport, put me on a plane getting to the next town. Remember one time we had to pull the car over on the highway? I thought I was gonna throw up. I feel like it just got worse every week,” said Cassie. “If it's for leisure, sure. The airport is great. Love flying. Give me a window seat, so I don't vomit all over myself, but I didn't know when it was. It was just different when it was for work for some reason. I knew every time I got on a plane, I wouldn't be back for five days and then when I got home, I would only have two nights at home and in that time, I would have to do all my washing, rearrange my bag, run my errands, and I would maybe have half a day to myself to spend with my then-fiance and my dogs and it was just -- it really took its toll on my mental health personally.”
For Jessica McKay, formerly known as Billie Kay, her issue is claustrophobia and her need for an aisle seat to combat her phobia. She even recalled one time when not being able to have an aisle seat for her to tears and led to her standing up for an entire flight watching the OC on a laptop.
“Cass was behind me, in the middle seat. I'm in front of her. I'm sitting down and at this stage, no one has sat down on either side of me. So I'm like, ‘Oh, probably someone's missed a flight. Sorry. You know, delay. hasn't got through security, whatever.’ A person sits down at the window. I'm like, ‘Okay, that's all right.’ The instant she sat down, I felt a little bit of anxiety and I was like, 'Okay, you're good, you can still move.’ Then someone sits down next to me. Bless his heart, older gentleman. His wife was in the opposite aisle seat. So they wanted to be together, super cute. As soon as he sat down, I was trying to close my eyes and just breathe.
"Oh, my gosh, I start crying. I called the stewardess over. I said, ‘I'm so sorry. I'm about to have an anxiety attack. I need to get an aisle seat. Is there anything you can do?’ And she said, ‘No.’ Literally said no and walked away. I look around to you and I've got tears in my eyes and I'm like, ‘Okay, that's fine.’ We get up in the air and I literally take my laptop, because I was watching a show, and stand next to the toilet for four hours. The stewardess was like, ‘You have to move,’ and I was like, ‘I'm about to go crazy on this plane. So let me stand here and watch the OC!’
“Oh, my gosh. So that's just two of the things that I guess were amplified by 1000 when you're traveling and you don't expect it. I mean, you didn't expect to have panic attacks on the way to the airport and I'd expect to have panic attacks up in the plane.”
Recently, WWE has announced a return to touring that will start on July 16. Both IIconics were released by WWE on Thursday, April 15, 2021.
Both have been teased in the recent promotional packages for IMPACT Wrestling Slammiversary and Shawn Spears, Cassie Lee’s husband recently opened up about wanting them to work with him in AEW. Learn more here.
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