Candice Michelle has revealed that she was signed to a WWE contract and competed in matches without ever receiving formal wrestling training, relying on stolen moments with available talent and a rented ring to develop her skills. Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Michelle confirmed that her Wikipedia page listing several notable trainers is largely inaccurate.
“None of them I was trained by,” Michelle said. “None of them. Actually, I’ve seen that before.” She acknowledged that Arn Anderson helped her greatly and that Trish Stratus showed her things early on, but said she was not in the right mindset to receive that teaching at the time.
Michelle described how she developed her skills in the absence of formal training. “I would get there earlier, like when the refs and everybody was setting up the ring, and I would get in the ring,” Michelle said. “That was my training. Who would be there? What ref would be there, what superstar would be there that would be willing to give me any knowledge of how to do this?”
To supplement the sporadic ringside education, Michelle found a ring she could rent independently. “I found this ring. I could rent it for $3 a day,” Michelle said. “The guy’s like, just don’t bump in this area because I don’t know if the boards will stay and you might fall through. I was like, great.”
Michelle said her husband, a chiropractor, connected her with a patient who had experience on the independent scene. “He would just start going over anytime I could get in the ring,” Michelle said. “I just get in the ring.”
She said the early period was defined purely by desire. “I went out there and wrestled without knowing how to wrestle,” Michelle said. “I would feel like I really grasped it in the two out of three falls match, which was close to the end of my career.”
Michelle said she did not take the independent route after WWE because she recognized the limitations of what she had learned during her time with the company. “I just knew the indie scene wasn’t for me,” Michelle said. “I was wrestling the best of the best with the knowledge that I had that was safe, and to go to the indie scene with the knowledge that I had probably wasn’t the best route for me.”
Candice Michelle recently joined TNA as an agent and has teased an eventual return to in-ring competition.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
