Candice Michelle has revealed that she was told she was winning the WWE Women’s Championship only hours before the match and that the defining moment of her wrestling career came not at the victory itself but when Vince McMahon left the gorilla position to knock on her locker room door.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Michelle said the championship win followed a short three-minute match against Melina that preceded the title match itself. It was during that Melina bout that McMahon made the gesture that changed everything for her. “There’s a knock at the locker room door and I think it was Victoria,” Michelle said. “She’s like, Candice, Vince is here. I’m thinking, oh, I did something wrong. I mean, Vince does not leave gorilla for much of anything in those days. I come to the door and he’s like, good job kid, you did well.”
Michelle described the significance of the moment. “That was the moment I became a wrestler,” Michelle said. “For that to happen is big. And then the next match was when I got to take the title home.”
The news of the championship win itself came with very little notice. “We are literally down in the ring and I think it was Fit Finley,” Michelle said. “He’s like, you’re going over tonight. It is so casual. And I am like, what? He is like, you are taking the title tonight. Like, okay.”
Despite the casual delivery, Michelle said she had always known her reason for being in WWE regardless of how the company viewed her signing. “When I was signing that contract, I was signing that to be a wrestler and win the championship,” Michelle said. “They were signing me for other reasons, but I already knew why I was there.”
Michelle said the championship win came with a quick reality check about the nature of success in wrestling. “I remember telling myself, take a moment, because I know it is going to go fast,” Michelle said. “That moment lasts for a second, and right when you walk through the curtains, now you have a whole locker room chasing you.”
Candice Michelle held the WWE Women’s Championship for 181 days in 2007. She recently joined TNA as an agent and has hinted that an in-ring comeback could be on the horizon.
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.
