SquaredCircle

In 2019, Priscilla Kelly (Gigi Dolin in WWE) went viral when she pulled out a “used tampon” and stuck it in her opponent’s mouth at a Suburban Fight event, which took place in a bar in California.

The spot received backlash from many fans and peers, who believed it was disgusting and had no place in wrestling. Others thought it worked for what it was, saying Kelly was pushing the boundaries.

Speaking to Saraya on Rulebreakers, Kelly detailed the spot and the fallout.

“I had the idea for a long time. It was a 21 and up bar show in California. Out there, everyone is pretty open-minded. On these bar shows, there is no ring. So you have to figure out a way or your match to be different than all these other matches where they are just bar fighting. It’s really hard. I was like, ‘I have this idea.’ The chick I was wrestling, her name was Tuna. Obviously, I asked her if she was okay with the spot. She was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ She was pretty punk rock,” recalled Kelly.

Asked if it the tampon was real, Kelly replied, “Tampon, yes, it was a real tampon. The blood, no. I don’t think she would have said yes to that. I don’t know if this is taboo, ‘You can’t reveal the magic.’ It’s fine, it’s been long enough. At first, I was like, ‘I’m not ever going to reveal if it was real or not’ because I really wanted to wig people out. He might kill me for saying this, but Brody King, who is one of the coolest guys ever, he’s super punk rock and supportive of women. He’s just a cool dude. I asked him, ‘I have this idea for a spot. Do you think it’s too crazy?’ He’s like, ‘Fuck that. Do it.’ He encouraged it. I don’t know if he’ll kill me for that or not. He probably doesn’t remember. I went out and did it. Thank God that it clips after I put the tampon in her mouth because I was supposed to jump off the stage, have her move, and I was going to do a flip into the chair and eat shit. I didn’t flip. I just went headfirst into the chair and it hurt really bad and looked terrible.”

She continued, “A couple months go by. I thought the footage would never see the light of day. I’m working at my little GNC job and my phone starts going nuts. ‘What the fuck.’ My internet is blowing up. It was really bad at first. Gail Kim didn’t really enjoy it. People like that, who I looked up to in the business. People did not like it. There were so many big names in wrestling that were saying that I was disgusting and an embarrassment and setting women’s wrestling back. So many people came for me and I’m working at GNC. I’m panicking because I can’t just go home and deal with this. It was one of those things where, I didn’t care, but when these people you look up to start coming for you…it wasn’t until Lita messaged me. She messaged me and said something along the lines of, ‘I think you’re awesome.’ That’s all it took to get me out of this mental hole that day. ‘Okay, I don’t give a fuck what anybody else says. Lita just told me I was cool.’ Then, Tommy Dreamer, who I’ve known since I started in the business, tweeted like, ‘You my dear are hardcore.’ Taz went out publicly and said something nice about me. They came from ECW so they got it, but that’s all it took to make me not feel like shit. When the whole internet is coming for you and it’s people that are legend status wrestlers….Gail is a sweetheart. Hers wasn’t like, ‘You’re a disgusting piece of shit.’ It was more, ‘Just learn to tell a story.’ I get it. She comes from a different era. I love Gail now. She is absolutely wonderful. I’ve met her and I love her. Back then, nobody knew who I was. I was just some random chick and the perception is a little different. Once people know you and see your actual work, it’s a little different.”

Saraya praised Kelly for the spot, saying she loved it and thought it was awesome.