Ivy Nile On Her New Look, El Grande Americano, Chad Gable, American Made, Insane Workouts
Ivy Nile (@ivnile_wwe) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in New Jersey to discuss how competing on The Rock's Titan Games led to her being signed by WWE, how she was paired with The Creed Brothers and Chad Gable, her insane workout videos with Julius Creed and Jordynne Grace, her match with Rhea Ripley shortly after her main roster call-up, who El Grande Americano could be and more!
Quote I'm thinking about: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” ―Vincent Van Gogh
On working out from a young age:
“So it started when I was homeschooled my whole life. So my whole life, never went to school at all. I did martial arts my whole life, I think when I started I was six or seven, so I started Taekwondo, and I was super young, and then when I got into my teenage years I was getting my head knocked off. And I was like, How can I get better at this sport? I just learned how to be faster, learn how to be stronger. So I was like, I need to get myself in the gym and learn how to put some muscle on me. Because at the time, I was tiny. I had muscle, but I was tiny. I didn’t know anything. So I just got myself in the gym. I learned from everywhere, from a meathead to a girl that learned how to eat healthy. I learned from all walks of life, and then I kind of figured out what was best for me.”
On becoming a part of Titan Games:
“For a little bit after I got out of Taekwondo, I got involved in Jiu Jitsu, and I fell in love with it. It’s awesome to fight these big dudes, because if anything, if anyone’s ever going to attack me, it’s going to be a big dude, not like a small whatever. So loved rolling around with bigger guys. Got into MMA for a little bit, boxing, all that stuff. I got my hands on everything because I just wanted to be someone who was well-rounded. So when I did my first MMA fight, and I lost. At the time, I was a massage therapist, and I was like this is a crazy life, because I was massaging during the day, and MMA at night, totally different world. I’d show up to my massage job with busted lips and people thought I got lip injections or something. I was like, No, I got punched in the face. This is nuts. Anyway, so after that first MMA fight, it was rough. Fight camps are rough. Cutting weight is rough; it was a rough time. So shortly after that, I was watching Jimmy Fallon or something, and my sister and I were watching it, and The Rock was on there talking about his new competitive show, the Titan Games. That was like, six, seven years ago. That’s crazy to think it was that long ago. My sister was like ‘You should try out for it.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean? Just fill out a form or whatever?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, do it.’ I was like, ‘No, that’s ridiculous, that’s absolutely ridiculous.’ So at the time, I filled out the form online, and then I just put it down, I didn’t finish it, this is never gonna happen. This is silly. So a couple of days later she asked me, ‘Did you fill it out?’ [I said] ‘No, this is crazy, they already are picking people or whatever.’ So a couple of days later, I finished filling out the form, and not even a day later, LA called me, and I half assed it. I sent in pictures and videos I already had on my phone, it wasn’t anything crazy. And they called me and said they loved my story. They loved the stuff that I sent, and I thought it was a prank. I really thought someone just got my number from the website, and they were just pranking me, like this is mean, whatever. They said, let’s set up a Skype call. So went to my gym, I did a Skype call, and I still thought it was a prank. I was like, whoever this is, this is so mean, but I’m going with it.”
“So then the interview was weird, because the lady was outside. It looked like she was on a roof or something. I was like, this is a prank, this is silly. Next thing you know, I was getting legit emails from the Titan Games. And I was like, Oh, this is actually [happening], someone living in a tiny town in Tennessee, you’re going to pick me? This is crazy! So they had a big combine thing, sent me out to California. Never been to California. I was like a Beverly hillbilly walking up to California. I was like cool, no one knows my story. No one knows me. No one knows I’ve barely been on a plane, barely been to California. I don’t think I’ve ever been to California at this point, and I was there competing on a show with Dwayne Johnson. I was like, what is happening right now? I went out there, there’s over 100 people, and I made it through to the actual show. Then once I was on the show, I did really well. I didn’t win the whole thing, but I was crowned one of Dwayne Johnson’s Titans. Went on the show, and it was the best life-changing experience I ever had. I think people just forget to be grateful about opportunities, because there’s a lot of people there that were just like, Oh, it’s just another thing I’m doing, and I was like, someone who’s come from nothing to California for the first time and competing on a show with The Rock. It’s like, wake up, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I was just so over the moon happy about it. Even though I didn’t win, I didn’t care. Dany Garcia, who’s the lady that ran the show, she changed my life. Every time I see her, I tell her, you changed my life because she picked the people who she wanted on the show and stuff. And I remember how kind she was to me. I tell her every time, she changed my life, because it led me to here, and I’ll get to that in a second. But yeah, The Rock and Dany Garcia absolutely changed my life, if anything, I want them to know that forever, because they changed my life. So when I did the show, it was all great. I came back to Tennessee with the biggest head. I thought I was it. And I couldn’t tell anybody, because we filmed it, but it didn’t air for another six months or something, and we couldn’t say anything about it. So I had this big attitude of I’m finally getting out of here, you all suck. But nothing happened, duh, because the show didn’t air. So I had like this weird attitude, I regret all those attitudes, because it didn’t really help me at all. Then when I came back, I didn’t have my job, so I didn’t have my massage job, because I had to leave for so many months and come back. And this is the cool part. So having that attitude, I still needed a job. I couldn’t just do nothing, it’s not how you pay your bills. So the only job I had at the time was cleaning offices, cleaning toilets, mopping the floors, cleaning up after people at night, like all hours of the night. So I remember, this is crazy. I was cleaning the cafeteria area, mopping up the floor. How did I get here? I was just a big shot in California shooting this show. Now I’m here, mopping the floor or whatever. Then I realized what night it was, one of the episodes was airing on the TV, and turned it on. I was watching myself on TV as I was mopping the floor.”
On getting on WWE’s radar:
“Got noticed on the Titan games. And because the other blessing was I was the first athlete [listed], my name popped up there as the first. So I think that helped me a lot. Debut episode that I was the first one. I think that because [there were] more eyes on the show. So I think I got more noticed for that.”
On whether she got to interact with The Rock on Titan Games:
“A little bit, actually. Yeah, it was crazy because I’m trying to draw a picture of how timid I was. Like I said, never been to California, barely have done anything in my life. So I was about to do my first event. It was like a tug of war with a pole, with the girl on the other side, but you can’t see the girl on the other side. And as soon as we were ready for the 3, 2, 1, go, and The Rock comes out, and then comes over, shakes my hand and says, Good luck. And I’m like [laughs] of course he did it right now. But yeah, it was nuts. And he was so nice. After I lost in the semifinals, he made sure that he talked to me, and he had so many words of wisdom for me, because he just let me know that just because you lost doesn’t mean like this is [the end], this is just the beginning for you. I think he also, since that was on to bigger better things, I’m not really sure, but he just made sure, made sure to tell me that, you know, just because it didn’t work out for you in the show, like there’s, there’s a lot more meant for you.”
On not believing in cheat meals:
“So I mean, I see the benefit and I understand them. So when I did the whole bodybuilding thing, I did that whole diet, and of course, I did the cheat meal stuff, and I always felt like crap after the cheat meals. I didn’t look forward to them, I actually didn’t want to do them, because I felt like crap. And then once I realized and I dialed in on the weekends, I cut out the cheat meals. If I needed extra calories, I just ate more of the good stuff. It’s just annoying because, I don’t know. Of course, me and my husband, we feed off each other really well. I’ll have a bite of something and be fine.”
On being paired with The Creed Brothers:
“Well, in NXT we first started off as Diamond Mine. I was just starting my career, and I think they were starting theirs too. So they’re just putting a faction together, and they wanted to add a girl to it. And at the time in NXT, there wasn’t that many girls there. I can’t really remember who I was there, but I just fit the mold. It was like a fighting style, wrestling style type faction coming together. So it makes sense. I mean, there was a bunch of other people in that group at the time, but me and The Creeds have been together ever since. People have come and gone like crazy, and me and the boys have definitely been through a lot in the past couple of years. It’s a blessing that we got moved up together as well, because sometimes that doesn’t happen.”
On Jordynne Grace:
“She’s awesome. She wanted to come work out with me, and next thing you know, we did a workout, and then we just started doing a bunch of strong lifts. It’s just nuts. We did everything. She’s insanely strong.”
On learning from Chad Gable:
“Chad has been in this business for so, so long. When I first started with the company, I kind of started unlike anyone else. I started three months before COVID hit, and then I was in the COVID era as one of those people in the audience behind the hockey windows, or whatever. So I was one of those people always there cheering and whatever. And at the time, you know, he was Shorty G at the time. It was crazy to see his growth from there, because I’ve always admired him since then, because it’s crazy no matter what you give him, he kills it. So I think once you get to that level of whatever they throw at you, they know that you can kill it and run with it. It’s such an amazing skill to have that. I aspire to be that.”
On what’s next for her in WWE:
“You know, like I said, I had a really, kind of a rough start with NXT. Started and then three months in, everything shut down. The world shut down. Basically had to start over, because we couldn’t really train as much, because we kept getting shut down, or whatever. And so it was hard to kind of get my feet running because I couldn’t consistently train at the time. It was a horrible time to start.”
On her match with Rhea Ripley:
“We got moved up, and my first match on Raw was Rhea. Because sometimes when you get to main roster, it’s like, Who are you? Can you hang? It’s a whole different playing field. The crowds are bigger, the stars are bigger. So on main roster, it’s almost like, can you hang? I kind of felt like I was treading water a little bit. But once I got that Rhea match. I was like, I deserve to be here.”
On future dream matches:
“Absolutely Asuka, she’s incredible. Haven’t had Bianca one on one, Tennessee girl from Knoxville. I’ve had Rhea. I love Liv, I would love to have the singles with her. Stephanie was amazing. Loved working with Stephanie. Lash Legend and I have had amazing matches in NXT. She’s one of my favorite people to work with ever so Lash is definitely one of my I would love to work with her on main roster.”
What is Ivy Nile grateful for?
“My husband, my job and my health.”
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