When I was younger, I didn't want to come to WWE because I didn't fit into the mold. I couldn't identify myself with the term 'diva.' The divas brand was meant to put a spotlight on the women, but the term, to me, felt more glamorous than me.
I remember I did a boxing class. I remember sparring one time, and the guy smacked me right in the nose, and I was just like, 'What is this? No. No. None of that.
I think when you've got a passion for something, it comes out of you, and people can feel it. Then your mind is so geared towards that and how you can improve on it, and you're so excited about performing that it comes together.
With women empowerment and women coming together, it's not about being better than the guys or whatever. It's just about collaboration; it's about being equal people and having more of a highlight on women's athletics and just women being equal in every aspect.
Everybody that's employed by 'WWE' - the biggest wrestling company in the world - should be good wrestlers able to tell good stories.
It's so important just to be true to yourself and to own your own character and take responsibility for it, and speak up and say, This isn't right; this isn't me.' It's a great lesson, not just in wrestling but in life. If you're not feeling something that's true to your heart... everybody's gotta be true.
I think we have the best women's division on Smackdown Live. But, I miss Charlotte like a son of a gun. She's my favorite person to be in the ring with. She's the most incredible talent, and she keeps improving. When you've got a talent like that who's always stepping up their game, it always keeps you stepping up your game.
Everybody has that thing about them that makes them special, and sometimes we try to dull it down or we don't always want to expose it, and maybe we've been taught that way or whatever. It's just a matter of letting it out and letting it go and letting people in on it.
Ronda Rousey changing the game for MMA, you know? Dana White said he'd never have a girl in the Octagon. Ronda Rousey comes along, and she's the main event any time she's on. The women, I feel, in the UFC are stealing the show.
My brother was going to go to England to wrestle, but then we found out they were opening a wrestling school in Bray, County Wicklow. I thought, 'I'll go along and try that.'
Ember Moon is extremely talented, and Daria, from Tough Enough, she's very unique and cool. The fans are going to get behind her. As for Asuka, she is phenomenal.
I want to make 'Smackdown' the brand to watch, but beyond that main-eventing, 'WrestleMania' is the next step.
When I was drafted to Smackdown, I was like, 'Hell yes, I'm going to captain this ship.' Then I was like, 'Oh, wait, you're losing your best friend and travel partner and the person you enjoy having matches with the absolute most.' That's Charlotte. We travel together, and she is my best friend.
My life changed completely. It's crazy now. It's kind of gone from striving and wondering and being confused and being lost to just feeling like the most blessed person in the world - just happy to wake up every day, happy to get on a plane every time. Just couldn't be happier with life, really.
Sometimes the storyline is as simple as, 'We're just going to be the best, and we're going for the championships.
When things are scary, or there's a struggle, I always think, 'How is this going to sound in my biography?' Sometimes I would just be living on protein shakes or the cheapest food that I could afford because I didn't have a lot of money.