Naomi is the gust on this week’s “Feel The Power” podcast with The New Day.
Naomi covered a bunch of topics, including locker room etiquette, cheerleading for the Orlando Magic, losing her nervous smile, turning heads when she returned at the Royal Rumble and more.
Here are some highlights:
Naomi talked about being part of Team B.A.D.: “We were all at a point in our careers where Sasha, Tamina, and myself wanted more. We wanted to grow and get better and there was so much changing and happening in the division, just knowing what a superstar Sasha was and what she was going to be without a doubt. It was always a pleasure to work with her and to have insight from her. To me, Sasha is the best we have, in my opinion. It was a breath of fresh air to work together and struggle to fight for things. I think we always had respect for each other. We were excited to work with each other. It was a really fun time.”
Naomi was asked how they came up with the name Team B.A.D.: “When we finally heard that they were making the three teams, we were hoping that we got Sasha because it fit. It wouldn’t have made sense for it to be anybody else on our team. Me and Tamina looked at each other and smiled. We were told to figure out a team name. We figured since we were the heels and we were going to be bad, we went with the name team B.A.D. Sasha was trying to come up with acronyms for it. We came up with Beautiful and Dangerous. Originally I think it was originally beautiful and dominating or something stank like that.”
Naomi addressed the issue of people talking about her hair: “It was a conscious decision. That is something I have always been proud of that I’ve always been aware of to represent women like me, our culture and our people. Not just being a feminist or just being a woman, but because I am black and I look the way I look and I talk the way I talk, there are people that connect with me differently and identify with me because of those things. I remember in the beginning when I came in, I wanted to wear my natural hair. I was told, we want you to look this way and they showed me one of my old Magic (Orlando Magic cheerleading) pictures and I had long straight hair. That was the look they were wanting me to go with. I said ok, that’s fine. I knew I couldn’t do it then, but when I get in the door and when I make it, I’m going to be me. I got to that point where I was like, I don’t care. Like it or don’t like it, I’m rocking my hair like this.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The New Day: Feel The Power with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
