Lita Book Excerpts
Credit for the following goes to Stratusfied Lita at Divaboard.com, Laura at Divas Online Forum, and Anne Marie.On her surgery - My mom and Matt walked alongside me as far as they would allow.
About the draft - Ric Flair came over to me and said, "I got you on my list, baby!" "Can you put my boyfriend on that list too?" Obviously there was nothing he could do about it, but Bruce Prichard was standing there and he heard the stress in my voice. "I'm not making any promises" he whispered, pulling me aside, "but I believe Matt is going to be on Raw with you." I wasn't one hundred percent relieved, but at least I was able to calm down enough to go out to the ring.
On Fear Factor - After we were done shooting for the day, the WWE people walked over to me and said, "Since you're off the show, we have to fly you home." "I said I was told I was going to be out here for three days and so I'm staying out here for three days." "Okay, but Fear Factor isn't going to pay for your hotel room anymore." "That's fine. I'll just stay with Matt." God only knows why, but I could tell that they weren't thrilled with the idea of my sticking around. I stood there, chatting to Jeff about doing some shopping on Melrose, watching out of the corner of my eye as they whispered back and forth conspiratorially. After a minute of two, they came back over to me and said, "Sorry, Lita, but Fear Factor doesn't want anybody hanging around the set after they've been eliminated from the show." "Well, according to the thirty-page release I had to sign, guests are welcome as long as production knows they're coming," I replied. "I'll just be Matt's guest." The office people were so nervous, "Oh, we're not sure. We'll have to find out." Two seconds later, one of the Fear FActor production team came by, a guy named Mike but known to everyone as The Chimp. "Hey Chimp," I said "do you mind if I come with Matt as his guest for the rest of the shoot?" "Of course not," he said. We all got in the limo to head back to the hotel and the WWE reps said, "Sorry Amy, we never actually got to speak to anyone about you hanging around the set, so I guess you won't be able to go with Matt." "I took care of it," I said. "The chimp said it wasn't a problem." "Oh. Okay. Fine." I really don't know what the big deal was, but they genuinely unhappy with the idea. All I cared about was staying with Matt and that was that.
After doing her FF stunt - I was so psyched about finishing the stunt that when they let me off the helicopter, I ran over and jumped into Matt's arms. It wasn't that I was trying to say "Screw You" to the office--I just felt a sense of accomplishment.
Other FF stuff - I was walking next to Matt, but then Joe Rogan, the host of the show, got word through his earpiece that we needed to do a second take. "They want you two guys to switch places," he said to Matt and Test. I didn't think too much of it. I thought it was about getting a cool visual and organizing us by height. The next thing we filmed was the six of us gathered around Joe as he explained the stunt to us. I was standing with Matt and Jeff on either side of me, and as we're filiming, Joe stopped to listen to a producer on his earpiece. "They're telling me to have you stand over by your brother," he said to Matt. Matt stepped in between me and Jeff, so that they both standing to my left. Joe started telling us the object of the stunt, when, once again, they told him to stop. "Matt, they want you on the other side of your brother." I realized what was going on--they were trying to keep Matt and I apart on camera. "Who's telling you this?" I asked Joe. "I don't know," he said apologetically. "I'm just getting a message from my producer." "Well, you tell your producer that I think this is bull shit," I said knowing full well that they could hear every word I was saying. Matt moved to where they wanted him, but I was really angry about it. There we were, working on our day off, and they were doing everything possible to step on any good time we might be having. Unlike the Weakest Link, theres a great deal of realism on FF. They try to keep you in as much suspense as possible to make sure that your actions and reactions are completely natural. The more freaked-out or amped-up you are, the better the segment.
Drunk Amy - I've worked sick four or five times, either from flue or a little bit of food poisoning. One of the worst times was from a good old-fashioned hanover-it was the day after we all partied in Las Vegas and I pushed Stacy Keibler down to the floor. After I had my little fight with Stacy, I kept knocking back the drinks-I did a few more tequila shots followed by a coupld or Red Bull-and-vodkas. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I felt my stomach coming up. I ran towards the bar, my hand over my mouth in the universal sign of "I'm gonna puke!" and without hesitation, the guys from behind the bar handed me a big glass bowl. As I hurled my guts out, I remember thinking, 'Wow, the bartenders are pretty thoughtful to have a big puke bowl behind the par.' Matt and Tommy Dreamer came over and carried me out of the club. The poured me into the backseat of our car and Matt, who was pretty drunk himself, got in front. He turned on the air conditioning and promptly passed out.
Her & Matt being a tag team - They kept dancing around the breakup angle, to the point where we were like, "Just do it already!" Matt and I were hoping that the disinegration of TE would lead to our becoming of a tag team, but nobody like that idea except the two of us.
Tractor, animal or idiot? I remember when Matt first told me that Jeff bought a Bobcat. Now, Jeff is a big animal lover, he has all kinds of pets, including a boxer, a prairie dog, and a Soth American raccoon, but a bobat seemed pretty excessing. "He did?" I replied. "Where is he going to keep it?" "Probably just over at his house." "What about when he goes out of town?" "My dad likes it, so he'll probably keep an eye on it." "Does he have to keep it locked up?" "No, he'll just probably keep it out back in the shed." "But won't it run away?" "What?" "The bobcat, won't it run away?" Matt looked at me like I was nuts. "A bobcat is tractor, not an animal!"
Romantic Matt - Matt has definitely begun to show signs of a romantic side--he got me a very pretty bracelet for my birthday last year and it made me so happy. I was so proud to show it off--I showed it to Debra and she was so sweet. "You see, honey," she said. "We've started to convert him."
Credit: Stratusfied Lita at divaboard.com
9/11
Matt and I were sound asleep when the phone rang--I rolled over and picked it up. It was Shane Helms calling. "A plane just flew into a building," he said. "We could be under attack." "What," I said groggily, "here, in Houston?" "No, New York." "Then we're still safe," I said hanging up the phone. I was still in that weird place halfway between being sleep and being awake--it could've been a dream. "What was that about?" Matt said. "I don't know. Something about a plane hitting a building." "Maybe we ought to check it out," he said, getting up to turn on the TV.
Matt had been driving all night after the 9/11 SD and its now 8 in the morning the next day: I stayed up with him until about eight that morning. I was exhausted--I was basically holding my eyes open with my fingers. The next time we took a rest stop, I switched with Shane. I crashed the second I hit the backseat, only to find out a few minutes later that Shane had fallen right back to sleep up front. I kicked him back to the back and stayed up with Matt the rest of the way.
Traveling - Even though I've had some good times, I've got to confess that those trips are really rough. Three days of press interviews and TV appearnces in a foreign environment is really hardy work. Usually I have to fly straight back to doing TV and by that time I'm juts utterly exhausted and phsycially burnt out. People always think that traveling around the world must be ust the greatest fun, but let me tell you, I think kicking it at home with Matt and Cody is even better.
More Matt stuff - I honestly don't know how I could've gotten through this whole experience without Matt by side. He was everything I could have possibly wanted from a boyfriend in this set of circumstances. He was calmer and more lvelheaded than most people would've been. At the same time, I knew he was very affeted by it. Matt knew had to besupportive and be my rock, but I could see that he was upset and eeply concerned about me.
There are times when Matt's practical nature can be a pain in the ass. Sometimes, if I'm having a crappy day, I just want him to say, "You're right, Amy, that does suck." But he's so rational and reasonable--instead of showing sympathy, he'll offer advice on how to fix things, even if that's not what I want to hear at that particular moment. On the other hand, theres nobody I'd rather have as my support system when there's a legitimate crisis going on. Matt was there for me one hundred percent and then some.
Leaving for Dark Angel - Since Matt and I had been working and traveling together for 2 years, twelve days apart was going to be the longest we'd ever had to be away from each other. We were saying our goodbyes the night before I left for Vancouver and for some reason, I just lost it and started crying. I wasn't feeling especially sad--just seconds earlier I had been thinking about all the packing I still had to do--but all of a sudden, I got real emotional. In retrospect, it was if I had some unconscious knowledge of what was going to happen.
Trish/Leather straps - There was on night where we didn't have our usual leather strap, so Tom Prichard gave us the belt off of his pants. It was brand new and really stiff. Fortunately for me, that was one of the rare nights where I got to whip Trish. The second I hit her with it, I knew it was cutting her up. I could see this look in her eyes, like, "You are freaking killing me with that belt." It was rough--I had to whip her all the way from the ring up, up the ramp to to the back. I probably had to hit trish with that belt twenty-five times. When we got to the back, I just looked at her and shrugged my shoulders, "Sorry about that."
Tag Teaming - Matt and I have had a number of discussions about one day working together as the first real intergender tag team. We've talked about doing it as a heel couple, like Bonnie and Clyde, or Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers. The idea is so intriguing to me. The male/female tag team has never been done before. No question, I'd have to really step up. To be in a serious in-ring partnership with Matt, I'd have to be at the very top of my game in order to make it work. He's a total perfectionist, especially when it comes to wrestling. He takes it very seriously and even though we're a couple, he never bullshits me or coddles me in any way. When Matt tells me my work was good, I know it was damn good.
The Kiss - Matt and I stood there in the middle of the ring, celebrating my victory, when all of a sudden, he kissed me. The crowd popped big--I was totally psyched, thinking, If they thought that was great, they're going to love what happens next! I just stood there in shock at what he'd just done. Matt got all embarrassed and started up the ramp. I ran after him, grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, took thoughtful pause, and kissed him back--a huge, long lip lock. Sure enough, the crowd just went insane. The cheering was just ridiculously loud. I felt so great about that. Cool, I thought. We got 'em. We got back to gorilla and everybody was all smiley, congratulating us on a job well done. Watching the show back, Jerry "The King" Lawler was in rarer form on commentary, "She's eating him up J.R.! She's swallowing him whole!" Some people had been worried that it wouldn't, but The Kiss, as its come to be known, was one of those rarer occasions where it all came together perfectly--the storyline, our timeing, the camera shot, everything. It's one of my proudest WWE moments.
The Kiss was the next logical step in the evolution of Team Extreme. Matt and I were both a little hesitant about making our personal lives public, but after we were told how it was going to develop, we were totally into the idea. It wasn't just a little pre-tape where we kissed and that was that--it was a well thought out scenario that would definitely get the fans talking. The Kiss got such great audience feedback that the following week, they wanted us to do it again. That's classic WWE--if something works, then do it again and again and again until no one gives a damn anymore. Team Extreme were in a meaningless little match against the Hollys. We were told to jump around celebrating our win, thenmake out like Matt had been on a trip and I hadn't seen him in a month. "Why would we do that?" we asked. "It's not like it was a high drama match." "Well the crowd loved it last time." we were told. "Okay," I said, "but its going to get old quick" I was worried that we'd burn out the relatioship gimmick without ever really developing it. If we kept up that pace, we'd end up as heels--Matt and Lita, the annoying couple thats always making out for no reason. It would have been no time at all until we started getting booed out of the buildings for kissing and slobbering all over each other after every match.
Ideas for Matt & Lita - Matt and I had so many ideas for things we could do as a couple. We suggested things like getting filmed in the shower together--we thought it could've been sexy as hell. Obviously I wouldn't suggest things like that if I was paried with someone who wasn't my real boyfriend. But since Matt and I really are together, why not take advantage of that fact. It's sad--creative spends so much time trying to for unique TV moments to happen, and yet they always blew off our ideas. We really could've done some great things if were given the opportunity.
TLC 2 - In the first TLC, I did the only run-in. The time, all three teams had an equalizer--Edge and Christian had Rhyno, Bubba and D-Von had Spike Dudley. Before the match, there was some debate over the order of the run-ins--some people wanted Rhyno to come out last becasue he was going to do the most damage, but Matt argued that my coming out last would provoke the biggest reaction. I didn't get involved in the discussions. I just sat there. "Tell me when you want me to come," I said, "and what you want me to do, and thats what I'll do." It was decided that I'd be the third and final run-in. Matt was absolutely right--when I came down to the ring, I got one of the biggest pops of the night, which was very exciting.
Amy & Stacy fight! - I went over to her and started in on her. As I was talking, I saw Stacy and Matt out of the corner of my eye. She was dancing fairly close to him, talking his ear--the music was so loud, you had to yell to make yourself heard. "Anyway," I said to Torrie, "you really can't screw up again...hold on a sec, okay?" I reached over and smacked Stacy in the back of the head with all of my strength. She's so skinny--she went right down! She looked up from the floor--like, "What the hell just happened?"--and saw me standing over her. "Ha ha," I smiled. "Just kidding." I turned back to Torrie without skipping a beat. "The guys give us a great opportunity every time they allow us to get in the ring with them," I continued, "and you really ought to be grateful..." The Blondes looked at me like I was crazy. They both started laughing nervously. Stacy was definitely frightened, but she also got the "Keep away from Matt" message--loud and clear. The look on Matt's face was priceless--he just shrugged his shoulders, like, "Hey, I had nothing to do with it!"