Former body building champion Victoria was a force to be reckoned with during her time in WWE from 2000 to 2009, and was a staple in rings across the globe for two decades. The real-life Lisa Marie Varon, also known as Tara in TNA a friendly face on the "Grown Ass Women" podcast, had a lengthy career in wrestling after meeting Chyna at a gym in Los Angeles and getting her start in the then-WWF as one of the women who followed The Godfather to the ring. She was referred to as the "head" of his femaleentouragebefore getting reps in the ring in the company's developmental territories and returning to the newly-rebranded WWE as Victoria.
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Victoria would go on to win the WWE Women's Championship twice before moving on to TNA in May 2009, where she won her first Knockouts Championship that July.She would go on to win the company's top women's title four more times, as well as the Knockouts Tag Team Championship once, alongside Brooke Tessmacher. After leaving TNA, Victoria worked the independent scene from 2011 through 2019, but made appearances with WWE and Impact Wrestling (the once and future TNA) from 2021 to 2023. This period included an appearance in the Women's Royal Rumble match, markingher first appearance with the company in almost 12 years though the event was held in front of an empty arena during the COVID-19 pandemic and the "ThunderDome Era" of WWE.
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A legend in the business, Victoria was inducted into the Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024. However, it hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows for Victoria when it comes to both the wrestling business and her own work outside the sports entertainment sphere. She's gone through a few tragedies and uncomfortable situations in her life, locker room issues to gun-toting intruders.
Victoria also had a successful business life outside of wrestling. She and her now-ex husband, Lee Varon, opened a custom car shop called Black Widow Customs a nod to her finishing move in Louisville, Kentucky in May 2008. The grand opening was even attended by several WWE talent at the time, including Jillian Hall, Melina, JTG, Jimmy Wang Yang, and more.
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BlackWidow Customs was in business until December 2010, when the shop was destroyed in a fire that was deemed suspicious at the time, just 10 days before Christmas. Victoria issued a video statement after the fire, which occurred while she was having surgery to remove tumors from her breast. She said no one was injured in the fire (which was discovered by one of the company's window tinters, who warned neighbors and attempted to put it out himself), that the damage looked worse than it was, and that she was personally going to make sure her employees were rewarded and would have a happy holiday season. As for her tumors, she said they were benign, but had to be checked and biopsied.
The day before the fire, the shop had beenprofiled on a local news station's Consumer Watch segment. The story detailed a University of Kentucky football player, Antwane Glenn, who said his car was left "inoperable" after Black Widow Customers worked on it.Glenn wanted a refund for the work done on his car, saying he was stuck with a "dangerous vehicle" that cost him $2,000. Other mechanics allegedly told the football star that he needed emergency brakes after Black Widows Custom finished their work. An independent mechanic contacted by the news station said the car was raised with a lift kit, raising the vehicle between 7-12 inches, which the mechanic called "very dangerous."Victoria defended the integrity of the work her company did in her video statement about the fire.
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Having previously worked for WWE and TNA, Victoria expressed an interest back in 2020 with working with the new promotion in town, AEW, in a behind-the-scenes role. According to Victoria she felt she could accomplish a lot in Tony Khan's company as a trainer and agent, sharing what she learned over her decades-long career in the wrestling business with new talent.At the time, she told Wrestling Inc. that she would be interested in signing with the company, though she would have to have a discussion with Khan over what the travel schedule would look like.
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However, in June 2023, Victoria spoke about a less-than pleasant experience with the AEW locker room on an episode of "Grown Ass Women."On the episode, Victoria said she had gone looking for AEW producer Sarah Stock while attending one of the company's shows.
"I went backstage to go find Sarah [Stock,]" she said. "She goes, 'Are you gonna come back here to say hi to me? ... And then of course when I went back there, I got the look like, 'What the f*** is she doing here?' ... I felt uncomfortable." (H/T WrestleTalk)
Victoria said that only Stock, Mark Henry, and Christopher Daniels people she already knew were welcoming to her. When asked if she was going to "watch the second show" (presumably an episode of "AEW Rampage" or "AEW Collision" being taped that night) Victoria said she was ready to go, saying she "felt very uncomfortable."
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