Stella Gray On Breaking Into Wrestling, Training At The Ring Of Honor Dojo, Goals For Women Of Honor

Women Of Honor’s Stella Gray recently spoke with RingOfHonor.com; you can read a few highlights below:

Stella Gray on how she first got interested in wrestling: 

I remember seeing WWE when I was younger and kind of noticing it but not being a passionate fan. It wasn’t until – I can’t remember exactly what age I was, maybe 10 – my brother was watching TV and I walked in, and it was an ECW match between Beulah McGillicutty and Fonzie (Bill Alfonso). I just remember seeing him all bloody and I was like, “What is going on? A girl and a guy fighting – and girls can win?” My mind was blown. Since I watched that, I was hooked.
Since ECW was based in Philadelphia, me and my friend would sneak out to the ECW Arena. My parents hated it, but I didn’t care. I was in love with it. Within a couple months of going to the shows, I was like, “I have to do this. This is what I’m meant to do.” And then ECW got shut down within that year or so. I was such a fan of it and I was like, “I’ll never watch wrestling again if there’s no ECW.” Then I started hearing about ROH and CZW because they were around the area, and I started watching them. I always loved the independent scene — just the amount of talent and athleticism and how much the fan are involved in the matches. That’s what rekindled my passion and made me realize this is what I need to do.
Gray comments on training in the ROH Dojo: 
I always had it in the back of my head that I wanted to do it, but I have a strict Italian family and they’re all about the idea of women being married and pregnant. That just wasn’t a goal of mine, but I always had that pressure. When I turned 21, my father got me a 9 to 5 job at an insurance company.  My brother – the one who introduced me to wrestling – quit his job and moved to New York to follow his dream of being a standup comedian. He just gave everything up and bet on himself, and I was like, “Why am I not following my dream? Why am I doing what other people want?”  I just started Googling wrestling schools and the ROH Dojo showed up. When I found out it was so close to me, I knew I had to go for it. I kept my training a secret for a long time because I knew my family wouldn’t be very accepting of it, and some friends wouldn’t be either. Only about five people knew I was training until a couple months ago when I made my debut. I was basically leading a double life — working at the insurance company during the day and at night training and weekends on the road. A lot of friends had no idea why I was so busy and out of town so much.
Gray reveals her goals for Women Of Honor: 
The short-term one is just to have more matches with Women of Honor. I’d love to wrestle Mandy Leon. Obviously, Deonna Purrazzo has a totally different style. Honestly, I would be ecstatic to have the opportunity to wrestle anybody on the Women of Honor roster. They’re here because they’re good at what they do. There’s no other wrestling like Ring of Honor, and Women of Honor is of the same caliber. I think all of the girls would love to have a championship belt to compete for. I think Women of Honor can set the standard for women’s wrestling, and I just want to continue to be a part of that and one day be a champion for Women of Honor.

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