Lisa Marie Varon, best known to WWE fans as Victoria, recently shared the story behind her iconic “psycho” persona during an interview with SoCal Val for WrestlingNews.co. While the character became one of the most memorable in the women’s division, Varon revealed it almost never happened , as she was originally set to debut as a “Valley Girl.”

Before her first televised appearance, WWE creative had a very different vision for her. “I had several message calls to come to TV, and I would get to Louisville airport or Kentucky airport, and they were like, ‘Hey, we changed our mind.’ I was supposed to be a valley girl,” Varon recalled. “And I’m like, I’m from California. But I don’t think I fit the stereotype when you picture a valley girl is the blonde, the ditzy, you know, that kind of thing. And I was like, they changed their mind. Thank God.”

Her eventual big break came thanks to Trish Stratus, who had seen Varon’s work in Ohio Valley Wrestling. “Me coming back as a crazy, psychotic girl… Trish was watching a lot of my work in OVW,” Varon said. “And, you know, we knew each other from the fitness days. And she was the one like ‘I want to when, when she comes up here, I want to face her.’”

The final piece of the puzzle came from Fit Finlay, who suggested leaning into her aggressive and exaggerated in-ring style. “And Fit was the one… to come up with the psycho gimmick. He goes, ‘Wow, you really… wrestle crazy,’” she remembered. “And I go, ‘I do Memphis style. I’m very exaggerated’… And I was like, ‘let’s just go with it.’ And I was like, ‘I’m so happy I got that character.’”

Varon believes the character worked so well because she stood out physically in a division filled with smaller competitors. “Most of the girls that were there were tiny, itsy, bitsy things. And for me to be like the Goliath, you know, like the giant, it’s bullying the little kids, you know? I mean, it’s more believable,” she explained. “And I always love being a heel, which is totally opposite than I am in real life.”

The “psycho” gimmick propelled Varon to multiple WWE Women’s Championship reigns and some of the most talked-about matches of her era. Fans can watch the full interview now on the “Velvet Ropes” YouTube channel.

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