Alundra Blayze talks how she came up with Madusa name, funny story on how she was asked to go into WWE HOF, being part of Women's Evolution

Alundra Blayze has accomplished a lot in professional wrestling. She was a pioneer for women's wrestling, and her accomplishments showed by being part of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2015.

During her career, Blayze was a three-time WWF women's champions. When Blayze went to WCW, she infamously threw her WWF Women's Championship into the trash on WCW Nitro during the Monday Night Wars. She also is one of the few women to hold a men's title, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

Perched On The Top Rope Podcast's Lee Walker spoke with Blayze on topics such as the WWE Hall of Fame, participating in Women's Evolution, and more. There is audio below.

SK: I'm here with WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze. Alundra, how are you doing today?

Blayze: I'm doing great. Thanks for stopping by.

SK: I actually just learned that Madusa stood for Made in the USA.

Madua in an early match in Japan, vs Noriyo Tateno (via YouTube)

Blayze: Yeah, isn't it amazing? This question wasn't on there, but I'm going to share this with you how I got the name Madusa. [This] is when a Hollywood stunt coordinator approached me because I thought I was going to be a stunt woman because I was very athletic and that what I wanted to do. However, he introduced wrestling to me, and I thought, "You freaking creep. Are you kidding me? No! I don't want to do that."

Anyway, fast forward, he brought me to this training area with a bunch of sweaty guys, and I liked it. I was hooked. Then right away, I said, "Okay, I did my diligence." I found out about wrestling, found out about women that were wrestling at that time, found out what they did for gear, and all this other stuff, a lot of intricate stuff that I won't get into, but I said, "I'm gonna change women's wrestling. If I'm gonna do this and stop going to college for nursing, I better do something."

So I did my diligence, and I said, "Okay, this is how I'm going to do it." First and foremost is a name. Then I found out if you're going to be respected and be a legitimate wrestler, you need to go to Japan, and nobody went to Japan for a long period of time. So that was my goal. I said, "If I'm going to Japan, I need a name. A name that's American; a name that has syllables they can chant, something powerful like Madonna or Cher." I said, "Okay, what is powerful? Madusa. Mad-USA, Made in the USA." That's how it was developed, and I trademarked that name almost forty years ago. Nobody did that back then.

SK: How did you find out you were going into the WWE Hall of Fame, and what was that night like for you?

Blayze: I was sitting in a driver's meeting because I race monster trucks, and I was sitting with everyone just getting dressed. I had my fire suit down to my ankles bare a** naked getting ready, and I got this call. Before that, I was sitting getting a bunch of texts, and I thought a fan hacked my phone because I thought, "Oh, look at this, "Hey, this is WWE. We need your address. Hey, we need to talk to you, we were interested in something." I'm like, "This is such a hoax."

She really does drive a monster truck, folks. Madusa is *awesome*.

They really shut the door on me for twenty years, and I thought, "This ain't them." I was getting really deterred. So, I went to the dressing room, a fire suit around my ankles. I called them back, I said, "Hey, what's up? Do you need my address for taxes or something?" They were like, "No, this is Mark Corona. We would like to know what you're doing next year and put you in the Hall of Fame. What are you doing?"

I put it on mute or whatever, and was like, "YEAHHHHH!" I'm screaming nude doing the yeah dance almost tipping over my naked [rear end]. I put it back and said, "Yeah, I think that works." It was amazing.

SK: What was it like making your return to WWE and competing at WWE Women's Evolution?

Alundra Blayze and her glorious return at WWE Evolution

Blayze: Well, to sum that up, and to back up a bit... I was uncertain [about] even going into the Hall of Fame. It has changed drastically. I was a wrestler. I wanted to beat people up, and of course, its entertainment, but I believed in certain things and situations.

I live vicariously through the Ronda Rouseys, Charlottes, Beckys, Bayleys, Sashas, and everybody else. I was so ahead of my time because this is where I wanted to take it.

When I went back, I was uncertain because I didn't know how I'd be accepted because of the kool-aid everyone drank from me dropping the title in the trash, and being on hiatus all those years. When I went into the Hall of Fame, they embraced me. Those women were amazing, amazing women. They were so kind and so nice.

When I did go back in there for the battle royal, it was like it was nothing. They were warm; they were good, and they worked with you. There was no hassle. I love the women today.

SK: If you could ever have a one on one match with anyone on the main roster now, who would it be?

Blayze: There's a lot of them, so I can't just handpick because every girl would be a different program. So, how can you pick just one.

SK: I'd like to thank you for speaking with me today.

Blayze: Yes. Thank you.

---