Madison Rayne was recently interviewed by Interactive Wrestling Radio on Wrestling Epicenter. You can see highlights of the interview below, and the full interview at this link.
How crazy her 2018 has been:
"I did know that this was the first time that I was going into a new year as a quote unquote free agent. It has been a long time since I was not under contract with one company. I knew I had more freedom in terms of where I could go and what I could do but no, I couldn't have, in my wildest dreams, have predicted that this year would be as crazy as it has been."
What it meant to work under the WWE banner for the Mae Young Classic:
"I think everybody, or most people, when they start chasing this dream to be a professional wrestler, we all dream of having that Wrestlemania moment. Certainly, it is something that, since I was 10 years old, that I wanted to do. But, I came to a point in my career at Impact, and I was happy at Impact - I had a great, long, successful career there. I had come to a place where I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have that opportunity and I had made peace with it. But then, 2018 came about and I had no roots planted anywhere. Timing is everything! This is a great time for women's wrestling paralleled with a great time for Madison Rayne. I think I was ready. My in ring work was, is, the best that it has ever been. I feel like I went into my opportunity with WWE and the Mae Young Classic at the peak of my career. I'm really happy to be able to say that."
If she felt the Mae Young Classic was like Impact as it was a sound stage:
"No, not really. (laughs) For me, there was so much more emotion. The last 5 years of my career have been so unpredictable. You know, I obviously took time to be a mother. And then, coming back, and I could b wrong saying this. I think I'm the first female to have a successful career on television to have a child and then come back. That was uncharted waters that I was coming into. I didn't know what that was going to look like. Then, fast forward a couple years and kind of breaking out of that Impact bubble not knowing what was going to happen. After 13 years, for me to finally stand in the ring and look at the turnbuckles and see the WWE logo, there was a lot more emotion invested in it for me. So, I guess yeah physically, the sound stage feel was the same but it felt really big in a different way. Not to take anything away from Impact. There were moments there that felt like they were going to be my Wrestlemania moment for me. It was just different. Maybe for me it is because I spent so much time with Impact. I was there for 9 years! For me to finally do something with WWE and not just a dark match or extra work but ti be a part of something as big as the Mae Young Classic, it felt bigger to me!"
