Women wrestlers have always struggled to get the same attention as their male counterparts. And many would argue that the focus on “divas” with backgrounds in modeling and dancing has only further diminished the legitimacy of women in the ring. But since the inception of its Knockouts Championship almost five years ago, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling has consistently featured some of wrestling’s top female wrestlers in competitive matches rather than pillow fights and lingerie matches. As a result, it was a surprise to many when Brooke Tessmacher, a former Hooters Swimsuit Pageant competitor who broke into the wrestling world as a valet and dancer, defeated Gail Kim, one of the most accomplished female wrestlers of our time, to become the new Knockouts Champion two months ago at Slammiversary. For those who thought this victory was a fluke, Tessmacher has retained the title with impressive victories over Mickie James and, most recently, Kim on Impact Wrestling. Having clearly come a long way since her days as a swimsuit model, Tessmacher takes on former champion Madison Rayne this Sunday at Hardcore Justice (hopefully, for Tessmacher’s sake, Rayne‘s new love interest Earl Hebner won’t be the referee). As she prepares for her next challenge, Tessmacher discusses her beginnings, how she has improved and how she hopes to continue as TNA’s top female competitor.

You’ve obviously come a long way since you started your wrestling career six years ago, with most of your success coming very recently. What do you attribute this recent success to?

It’s been a long road and I have been really giving it everything I had over the past few months. When I first came into TNA and Impact as a secretary, it really wasn’t fulfilling. It wasn’t utilizing my talents for what I wanted to do, so I knew that in order to make an impact I had to quit everything else I was doing. I gave up a Hooters pageant to start training, I gave up another pageant and two other modeling gigs because I realized wrestling was the most important thing in my life. It being the most difficult sport I’ve ever been involved in, and the biggest challenge, I did have to give up a lot of things to do that.

As everyone knows, Tara did help me tremendously in the ring and out of the ring. Also, Booker’s school with Paul Cook in Houston has helped me a lot with one-on-one training. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible. Being on the road with such talented knockouts as Mickie James, Gail Kim and Tara has allowed me to sit back and get a bird’s-eye view of how they perform, and that has really helped me step up my game. I’m constantly taking notes and to be there and see them yourself is the best way to climb up the ladder the quickest. I watched a lot of videos, a lot of tapes and spent a lot of man-hours. It’s been tough, but now I’m living my dream and it’s all paying off. It’s still very surreal to me.

How humbling or exciting is it to be the champion in one of the most stacked women’s divisions in wrestling?

I’ve had maybe 50, 60 matches now and for me to hold the championship and know that I’m the best at this time is very humbling. It’s a great feeling, it’s an exciting feeling, I wake up every day with the biggest smile on my face knowing I’m up there with these women and compared to these women like Mickie James, Tara and Gail Kim. I can only hope that I’ll have a career as long as them and that I’ll be able to hold this championship as long as them and, if I lose it, to get it back. I want to build my career just as they did. They’re amazing women and it’s crazy to be a part of it and compared to them.

With your improvement in the ring, do you think people are starting to take you more seriously as a wrestler as opposed to viewing you as a model in wrestling?

I do think they are taking me a little more seriously. I think I came in and really shocked people because I did improve a tremendous amount in a short period of time. And that was from all the work I put in. I think for a while I’l have to fight the stereotypical, “Oh, she’s just a model” thing. That’s fine. I’ll continue to keep improving and proving everyone wrong. But I think I’ve finally opened everyone’s eyes to say, “Oh, wow. This girl can work. She isn’t scared.” I’m a firecracker, so I can only go up.

How has your time in TNA compared to the work you did in WWE?

I look back and it’s a great company and it’s awesome to say I worked for them. But there really is hardly any comparison between the two when it comes to my career. I came out and did a sexy dance routine every week. It was fun, it was great, I made some good friends, but I’m an athlete and I wasn’t fulfilled doing a dance routine every week. Even though I wasn’t trained enough to have a full match, I would much rather have been training the whole time and getting ready for what I wanted to do rather than having to dance. At Impact Wrestling they’ve really believed in me and given me a chance. They opened the door for me and I just took and ran with it.

When you beat Gail Kim for the title, what was going through your mind before, during and after the match?

I remember sitting in the back before I walked out thinking, “OK, this is my one chance. I’m getting this right now. I have to be on my game now more than any other match.” And all of a sudden I just couldn’t breathe, the crowd was so loud and it just kind of took over me. I had been waiting for that moment for so long and I got so scared and freaked out. As soon as I entered the [ring], I just knew I wanted that championship more than anything. To win in your home state for the first time is indescribable. It was my moment to just take in everything that had just happened. My tears just started to flow as soon as I got backstage, it was just uncontrollable. I was just so happy and finally [realized], “Oh, my God. I did it! I did it! I cannot believe I did it! I just proved the whole wrestling world wrong.” No one took me seriously because I’m just a model, I’m inexperienced, especially getting in the ring with such a talented and tremendous athlete as Gail. It was a great feeling.

Do you feel more pressure now to retain the Knockouts Championship or was there more pressure for you trying to get to that level?

Of course there was a lot of pressure before because I was trying to prove everyone wrong about me being just a model that was trying to become an athlete, that I can do it, that I’m just as good and can hang in the ring. Now I do believe the pressure is a lot worse. Once you go up, all you can do is stay up and not fall down. So going out there every week to defend the championship is pretty difficult. With Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Mickie James, it just takes one small mistake for it to be over, and that’s very difficult. When you’re as new as me, I still make rookie mistakes and I’m still learning. Thank God I have people like Tara and my trainers back at home to teach me these things because it only takes one wrong move to be done.

Since you won the championship, you’ve been on the road pretty much every weekend for TNA. How has working these house shows and live events helped you in terms of learning and growing as a performer in comparison to just doing TV in front of a live crowd?

My suggestion to everyone is to do as many live shows as you can because what they need the most is to get out there in front of people. It’s better to make mistakes when you’re not on live TV. You learn when you’re on the road, that’s how you get better and master your craft. When the title’s on the line, that’s not really the time to pull out new things and experiment. When you go on the road it gives you a chance to really master these things and try them out for the first time. It’s an awesome way to get out there and feel the crowd getting behind you. I love going on the road where people can see us who don’t normally get to see us. It’s awesome to get a new crowd out there and get new fans. So it’s great for experience, it’s great to help master your skills in the ring and it’s great to help calm you. I get so anxious, nervous, freaked out, excited and sweaty before I walk out and when you’re traveling on the road it teaches you to calm that, relax and really think about what matters and what you’re going to do in the ring and slow down.

Do you think it’s easier for women like yourself to make a career out of wrestling today or is it still an uphill battle as it has been in the past?

I don’t think it’s easier. When I got into the business, it was through the Diva Search. I don’t think they even have that anymore. I think it’s easier in the sense that women are getting looked at more, that we’re getting taken seriously. And we have Gut Check, which is an awesome way for people to come in and get recognized. But it’s still quite hard because you have to find your place to shine. We’re still proving ourselves every week, every month. It’s really just about putting yourself out there and finding where you can move forward.

As you’ve already mentioned, you got your start in wrestling through the Diva Search, then Extreme Exposé. You got your first big break in WWE around the same time that TNA introduced the Knockouts Championship. Even though you’ve defeated some of the top female talents to win and retain your title, you still have naysayers who only see you as a model and dancer. What more do you think you can do to win some of those people over and prove your worth as the Knockouts Champion?

It’s just me continuing what I’m doing at home, continuing the training, continuing watching these women every week and mastering what they’re doing and coming out there and doing my best. It will take time and I understand that. I understand that some people are like, “Oh, this is a joke. She doesn’t deserve it.” But in all reality, I do deserve to be where I am because I fought for this for a very long time. Some people don’t think I’m the best, but right now I am the best. I won fair and square. There was no cheating involved, there were no surprises and all I can do is come out each week and bring the fire that I bring and continue to win. And I will do that. I will not come out there and not bring everything I have each week. It’s going to take someone to kill me and lay me out before they take the championship from me. I will continue to prove everybody wrong each week, and I’m thrilled to do it. It gets me excited when I do hear that because I do want to prove everyone wrong. I’m a very competitive person by nature and you’re not going to be liked and believed in by everyone. One of my biggest priorities is to go out there and prove myself to everyone over time and prove that I do deserve it and can hang with these legends and be just as good.

We’ve seen former indie stars such as Austin Aries rise to the top of men’s wrestling in both TNA and WWE in recent months. Is there anyone in the indie scene that you’d like to see rise to the top in women’s wrestling?

I don’t really follow it too much, but I do follow the women that we have here and I’m very proud of the girls we have. Austin Aries is phenomenal and was kind of the underdog and look at him now. That’s a great story. I’m sure there are a lot of women out there and I would love to have them be part of our company and give everything that we give.

Many look at the feud between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong a few years ago as the pinnacle of contemporary women’s wrestling. Would you welcome a similarly hard-fought feud with someone like Kong?

I’ll never forget that. It was one of the best feuds in all of TNA’s history and in women’s wrestling in general. It’s something I don’t think anybody will ever forget and something you can never take away. I’ve watched tons of those videos to learn and grow myself.

She is killer, man. She’s strong, she’s tough and she is unlike anybody else we have right now. I’m up for any challenge and would never turn down any challenge. I know that would probably be one of the most difficult challenges I would have to face. I would definitely have to grow and get stronger and really learn her craft to be able to master it. I’d have to try and run circles around that girl because she is insanely powerful and I am very small. But I’d definitely welcome it, but I’m not saying it’s something that would be really exciting. It would be very scary for me because I am so new. But, yeah. I’d take her on.

When you are studying wrestling tapes to learn your craft, who do you find the most inspiration from? Is it just women wrestlers or do you find inspiration from men as well?

I watch both men and women. I watch a lot of Shawn Michaels and Trish Stratus. Trish came into the business as a model and was not taken seriously. To watch her grow and become one of the best female wrestlers today, hopefully I can be as great as that. Also, of course, Tara. I’ve watched a lot of her tapes and can only learn from the best. Mickie James, as well. But mostly Trish Stratus because we came in the same way. I can only hope my career can be as long and fulfilled as hers.

What’s your opinion of the direction TNA is heading and the role women’s wrestling might play in that development?

Now that we have one of the toughest and best [women’s] divisions out there – we’re shooting Impact live now, going to more countries – we’re only going to get better. As we have more time we’re just going to keep proving ourselves. I think we have made a huge impact in this company and in the wrestling world, and we’re only going to keep doing that.

For more information, go to www.impactwrestling.com.