Hey everyone, thank you for checking out my very
first article for my blog for O-Face Wrestling. To start things off, I want to
talk about how and why I became a MEGA Holidead fan. So I first discovered her
while watching WOW (Women of Wrestling) back in the fall of 2019. In the first
episode that I had ever watched, I saw a match with Holidead tag-teaming with
her partner Siren. I instantly became a fan of both of them. But something
about Holi really stuck out to me. Me being an old school fan, I loved the
whole face paint look and her weirdness attracted me as well. In time, I
started following her on social media and I always found her posts and videos
to be extremely entertaining! I also quickly noticed that she was very engaging
with her fans. This has always been a big deal for me, seeing wrestlers engage
with their fans always wins me over. But hey, let's get to the good stuff. Want
to hear about the #QueenOfDarkness Holidead, right? Let's go!
Holidead, at an unknown age, started her
training under former WWE Legend Gangrel! (Yes, the guy who poured blood all
over everyone in the '90s.) She made her in-ring debut for KnokX Pro Academy
where she spent two years with the promotion. She has also wrestled for other
established promotions such as World Wonder Ring Stardom, Ring of Honor, WOW
Women of Wrestling, Hoodslam, and even for WWE. She has also had two matches in
WWE under the ring-name Cami Fields. Her first match was against Bayley on
Monday Night RAW on October 10th, 2016, and then again on NXT against Io Shirai
on August 18th, 2019. Holidead is always traveling all over the world to
entertain her fans. It seems like every week I see a new event that has her
advertised on the poster. I mean, who wouldn't want to book Holidead? Her
matches always give a fun and creepy vibe. The way she crawls out to the ring
can give you Grudge (the horror movie) vibes. She was also ranked #95 in the
PWI Top Women Wrestlers.
I reached out to Holidead and was fortunate
enough to be able to ask her some questions. Keep reading to find out more
about her, such as why she got into wrestling, wrestling for the indie circuit,
how she got her character, and more.
Q&A with Holi
1. What inspired you
to become a wrestler?
Love at first sight.
After watching a squash match at my first ever live show, I fell in love with
wrestling. Yup, a 1-minute match between Virgil and Yokozuna was all it took.
Everything about the theater and storytelling aspect immediately reeled me in
as a kid, and I've been in love
ever since.
2. Growing up, what
were some of your favorite wrestlers?
The Undertaker always
will be my fav, I really do love the dark side, it's not just a gimmick lol.
And also Razor Ramon and Macho Man Randy Savage, definitely my top three.
3. What's your plan
for life after wrestling?
I definitely want to
be involved in the fitness community. Since wrestling, I definitely have
developed a new love for the gym, health, and fitness, it's extremely
therapeutic. Even after wrestling, I know it's something I will keep with me.
In the end game probably looking at starting my own gym, with several different
aspects from my personal life, that I won't really go into, but things I think
that could help others being attached to a fitness/wellness facility.
4. What
opponent, was your favorite to work within the ring?
Ahh, that's always a
hard question. I can't say just one. Off the top of my head, some of my
favorites have been Thunder Rosa, just getting to do what you love with your
best friend it's always a different feel because you have a level of trust, and
you want to keep pushing each other and you know automatically you're going to
go balls to the walls.
Ray Lyn is another
favorite, that's another good friend of mine. And we are very similar in that
we are always wanting to get better and up to our game, and just looking for
the opportunity to show what we can do. So again whenever we work, it's a thing
we want to work, we want to top our next performance and push each other.
I'll throw in Gisele
Shaw as well, we've worked a couple different times, and our styles are so
different but the contrast actually compliments our matches I feel.
Some others, that I've
only worked once Sammi Jayne, Toni Storm, and Lana Austin, all UK talent, but I
feel we've had great matches, pushed each other and I'd love to work them again
for sure.
5. Where did the name
Holidead come from?
Have, no cool
backstory, sorry. My trainers
6. How long does it
usually, take to put on your face paint?
I don't wear face
paint. My face is similar to that of a mood ring. It changes with the times.
7. How did you come
up with your character?
Again, no cool
backstory. My trainers came to me one day and was like we need somebody to do
something dark, different, with face paint and crazy, can you do it? I said
yea, honestly, in the beginning, it was all pretty random and there was no
initial blueprint. But I always remember Gangrel saying that, whatever you do,
you have to believe it. Whatever you present to the people it has to be
real and genuine, and if not they'll see right thru it. He always challenged me
to go to that dark place and bring that person out. And in all honestly Holidead
today is not a character. She is 1000 percent an extension of the person behind
the wrestler. She is legit my other half in a deep dark place, and thankfully
to wrestling, I'm allowed to release this person and express this instead o
keeping it all bottled in. Holidead is no character, she's the Mr. Hyde to my
Dr. Jeckyl.
8. Besides wrestling
and working out, what are some other things that you are passionate about?
Haaa, I really do
need to find other hobbies, honestly, I know I'm too consumed in wrestling as a
whole and it can lead me to bad places, but again there is nothing and I mean
nothing that has these feelings that I do about wrestling, it's a bit scary at
times but there is no other passion or love like I have for wrestling. I have
hobbies like hiking, doing puzzles, video games, museums, etc. But passion
wise, wrestling and working out are top priorities. If I'm going to put forth
my energy full swing into something I better feel it.
9. What is the proudest moment of your wrestling career?
I have no idea lol.
Idk, just the fact that I get to tour the world and provide for myself doing
what I love. Seriously I've had jobs where I was miserable and became depressed
and went down dark paths. But just being able to do this, seriously, just being
in the ring is a different type of high, and I just live for that shit.
Hopefully, that answered the question.
10. What are your
ultimate goals for wrestling?
...thinking.....ha,
I'm still figuring it out I guess. Like I said I'm able to live off doing what
I love, that's ultimate in itself. At this point knowing what I know, and being
on the inside I can't say that my dream is to work for _______ company, cause
it's not. Idk, I typically make yearly goals, I can't say I have an end all be
all at this point. In another interview, someone asked me, what do I want my
legacy to be? And I was stumped because I didn't even know people thought of me
in a category of even leaving a legacy, that was a wild thought to me.
Ultimate goals? I
still haven't answered the question lol, I guess I'll still figuring that out,
but I guess for now I'd just like more people to recognize what I bring to the
table, and what I have to offer.
11. Tell me a little bit about being a wrestler on the indies.
Ahh, I'm bad with
vague questions so I'll do my best. Again not sure what the question is looking
for but I do compare it to independent contracting, it is, I'm an independent
contractor, I'm the owner of my own business and brand which is Holidead. The
indies can be good and bad. If you do work hard, hustle your ass off, and never
stop the grind it can be rewarding. I hate when I hear people who have never
done anything talk about how people on the indies don't make money. Like
there's a $20 dollar and hot dog joke as to say that's what everyone
makes on the indies. Again, I'm my own business, so starting like any business
I have to establish my worth, build up my name, and know what I bring to the
table as far as my worth. With all that rambles, I'm saying that to say this is
my job, being an independent pro wrestler, it pays my bills, nothing else does.
I get to travel the world and do what I love for a living. It is a hustle
though like I get my own bookings, I don't have any kind of agent or anything,
it's all me. So whatever I get or book, its because of the work and hustle I
put in. Some people feel weird or a certain way about reaching out to promoters
for work, but again this is my job. Whatever your profession, if there is a job
you want, you'd inquiries about it. Wrestling is no different. Unfortunately in
the indies, there are typically no contracts, most of the time you are going
off someone's word, so you will come across shady promoters and people who
don't keep their word, you learn a lot along the way and adjust with time and
experience.
12. Tell me
about wrestling for WOW. How did you get noticed by them?
I love wrestling for
WOW, it's a different feel for sure than the independent scene. We do shoot for
television, it's a specific company that knows what they want and how to
portray things, they have that GLOW vibe ya know, as the creator of WOW created
GLOW, overall it's fun. I got noticed them by reaching out to them. Again this
is my job, you gotta send out resumes and job inquiries. It was actually while
I was on my first tour in Japan along with Santana Garrett, she suggested
reaching out to them, that they are very character-based, and she thought I'd
be a good fit, so I reached out.
13. What does
wrestling mean to you?
Too fucking much
haha. I don't want anything else in this world but wrestling. It makes me feel
alive, it is my life, my love, I know I'll be lost without whenever it's time
to part. It's my first and only true love. It's similar to a drug. It gives me
the best highs in life, and then when I come down it's usually bad and I just
want that high again. It's also like an abusive relationship I refuse to
get away from lol. We put our bodies on the line and it does affect us day to
day, and wrestling, the business is not fair, it's not always about being the
hardest worker or being a good a person, it just doesn't work like that. So
emotionally and physically it absolutely takes it's toll but still, I
don't want anything else.
14. Tell me about
some of the top companies that you have worked for, and what titles you have
won in the past?
Ehh idk about the
term "top" companies, but some of my favorites I've worked for, one
on the top is EVE, a female promotion in the UK. As an independent, I don't
really have a home, I'm a bit of a stray, roaming from place to place, but I
can say without a doubt, when I'm at EVE, in another country, I feel home
there, they a so welcoming, about women empowerment and just rights for workers
in general and being accepting of people as they are. I love that place.
Another company I've enjoyed getting to be at is Shimmer, another all women's
company, I feel they try to scout the top women's talent and I love to be
challenged and put on a stage with the best of the best to show what I'm
capable of.
Titles? Honestly,
that's not something particularly important to me, but uh I've held a
Resistance title in Chicago, RWA in PA, Crossfire in Canada, tag titles at
Shine, Sabotage, and the former NWA International tag titles, I believe there
was another title in Cali that I actually beat Thunder Rosa for. But again
titles aren't that big a deal to me, but in this business, they do establish
certain clout, so of course, they are very much important in that aspect.
