IMPACT superstar and former Knockouts champion Taya Valkyrie recently spoke with Chris Van Vilet to talk all things pro-wrestling, including how the late Shad Gaspard put Valkyrie in contact with WWE, and how she nearly portrayed the Kobra Moon character in Lucha Underground, a part that was eventually portrayed by Thunder Rosa. Highlights are below.
On Shad Gaspard putting Valkyrie in contact with WWE:
I had met — and I haven’t talked about this a lot, and I’m not gonna get emotional. I had met Shad Gaspard actually, three weeks before the Nationals that happened where I actually won, because WWE was in town and I was bartending at this bar and I was dressed as a female John Cena. I know, don’t hold it against me, and they were in the bar and I was just serving them drinks and stuff and he’s like, ‘You should be a wrestler’ and I was like, ‘I’m trying to be a wrestler and I don’t know how to be a wrestler.’ He’s like yeah, so he actually put WWE in contact with me the first time. So, yeah. So, tough story to talk about… but yeah, if it wasn’t for that, I don’t think that a lot of things would have happened the way that they did so…
Says she nearly played Kobra Moon in Lucha Underground
Well I went to Lucha Underground. Originally, I was actually told that I was gonna be Kobra Moon, so I had taken all the measurements for my costumes and everything so when I went to The Temple, I was greeted by Chavo Guerrero. He showed me around and then I was told that I was not gonna be Kobra Moon, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m glad I brought my gear,’ and they said, ‘You are going to be with Johnny Mundo and PJ Black’ and I don’t even know if they had at that time decided if it was PJ and Jack [Evans], that we were gonna be this faction but I was told right away I was gonna be with Johnny Mundo.
Full interview can be found below. (H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling
)