Victoria Crawford, formerly known as Alicia Fox in WWE, recently joined “The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val” for a WrestlingNewsCo. exclusive interview. Now wrestling in TNA, Crawford opened up about the vulnerability and nervousness she feels when discussing her past career, revealing a deep-seated fear of speaking candidly about her experiences.
Early in the conversation, Crawford admitted to her nervousness, which she distinguished from her high-energy “level 10” in-ring persona. “I get nervous. I’ll just say it openly. I get shy,” Crawford stated. “Especially when it’s talking about… a topic that makes me go through a lot of waves of emotion”.
As she began to reflect on her time in WWE, that nervousness became more pronounced. “I’m having a hard… I’m like, freaking out right now,” she said. “It makes me nervous talking about it, because I feel like I’m gonna get in trouble or something like that. Like, so weird”.
She continued, “Sometimes when I reflect on my past and really put my opinions in, I always feel like I’m gonna get in trouble for saying something that’s not kind”.
Host SoCal Val acknowledged this, noting that she created “The Velvet Ropes” to be a “very safe space.”
This reassurance led Crawford to a realization in real-time. “I appreciate you saying that, because… as I’m experiencing myself getting nervous and getting mousy, I’m like, what is actually happening here?” she reflected. “It’s the fact that I actually think I’m going to get in trouble for saying my actual experience”.
Crawford then connected this fear to the vulnerability she felt upon leaving the professional wrestling industry without a safety net. “I knew once I left WWE, I didn’t have a degree,” she said. “I was so scared I would not be able to support myself”.
That fear was compounded by professional self-doubt that had been ingrained in her. “Because I didn’t know if I was a good wrestler,” Crawford stated. “I didn’t know, and I knew I couldn’t talk on the mic because I get shy, which is a big thing there”.
“I was so fearful by my own narratives,” she added. Crawford credited her “profession as Alicia Fox” for teaching her a lot, but also noted the internal conflict it created.
This is a key reason she now intends to tell her own story. “I feel as though I’ve got a strong story to tell,” she said. “And I feel as though I’m going to have to self publish it myself”.
She explained that her past pain was often misinterpreted. “When you’re in pain, like I had some pain toward the end of my WWE career… I didn’t know how else to react to it, than to get on my social media, cry out loud, act out,” she said.
Crawford described the persona she felt forced to maintain: “That veneer and that very nice glossy thing that I was trying to keep together… It shattered. Just naturally… It imploded because it went in myself”.
This interview is exclusive to WrestlingNews.co. If you use these quotes, please include a link back to this page.
