Ivelisse Velez is a great wrestler for Lucha Underground. Her status as “The Baddest Bitch in the Building” has made her a star for them and any other promotion would be much better for having her in their ring.

A lot of her training came from Tough Enough and FCW. Recently, she spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard about Lucha Underground, her time in WWE, her training under Bill Demott, and her friendship with Paige.

You can read the full interview right here. Below are some of the highlights:

Why has Lucha Underground been a better home for you as opposed to WWE and TNA?

“It’s been a long, hard-fought journey with a lot of sacrifices, but I’m so grateful to be in Lucha Underground. I come from absolutely nothing–a little island on top of a mountain [in Ponce, Puerto Rico]. I went for it, and I have not stopped. There is no other option than perseverance for me, and fortunately, I’ve landed at Lucha Underground with a great opportunity to show what I have on the mic and in the ring. The professional atmosphere is so great backstage, and that’s rare in wrestling.”

What is her biggest goal for 2016?

“Definitely Japan. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to go to Japan last year and the year before, but I couldn’t go for different contract reasons. It’s presented itself again with Stardom and I hope to be able to do that this year.”

Was former NXT trainer Bill DeMott one of the reasons you left the WWE? 

“Obviously, I’m not the only one who ran into numerous big problems with Bill DeMott. In my personal experience, [his presence] was a big obstacle and big problem. I tried and tried my best to deal with it, but there was only so much I could do when he was in such a position of high power. I am not the type of person to blame someone for any type of failure, but it was a very big obstacle during my time there, especially during the last three months when he was placed in power of the developmental territory.”

Are you and Paige still friends from your time in FCW?

“Paige and I clicked right away in FCW, especially because she had an independent scene background and no one else of the females really did but me. She was the youngest, too, and I wanted to be there for her. We aren’t as close now as we were when we first met, but I’m pretty happy that she managed to find a way to overcome all the crap that made it very, very difficult for one to succeed in that developmental territory. It’s very hard, but she is still there and doing great.”

Source: Wrestling-Edge.com

Do you think Ivelisse would do well in WWE?

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