Elayna Black is enjoying her time in TNA, but being a recognizable name in wrestling has apparently taught her to choose her words a little more carefully. She’s learned pretty quickly that an innocent comment can become something completely different once it hits the internet.
Speaking with Women’s Wrestling Talk, Black was asked whether becoming a public figure had stopped her from doing things she could previously do without attracting attention. She doesn’t necessarily feel restricted, but admitted she has become much more cautious about what she says because clips and headlines can strip away the original context.
“I don’t know if there’s anything that I can’t do now, but I will say you definitely have to be more cautious with how and what you say because I could right now be talking to you and I could have no ill intent of anything I’m saying, but people love to get the clips or get the headlines and turn something into maybe something completely different than you actually said.”
For Black, that caution goes beyond interviews. She said being in the public eye has also made her more careful about who she trusts and what parts of herself she opens up about because she knows those words can eventually become somebody else’s story.
“So I think you just have to be more protective of how you say things, how you word things, who you trust, who you kind of open up to and stuff like that because people like to twist words and people like to turn things into stories.”
Black made it clear she isn’t miserable because of that extra attention either. She sees protecting herself, her career and her private life as something that simply comes with the territory now.
“So I think that’s the only thing. You just have to be very protective of yourself and your words and your life and your career because people like to mess with it.”
Despite having to keep her guard up, Black said she doesn’t actually feel restrained in TNA. Wrestling is what she wants to be doing, and between having her friends around and getting creative freedom, she sounds pretty damn happy with where things are right now.
“So that’s all I would say. But I don’t think there’s anything that I’m not able to do, especially because all I want to do is wrestle. So I get to do that at TNA and I get to be around my friends and, like we’ve talked about, have the creative freedom. So I think I’m having a very, very good time and I don’t feel like I have any restraints.”
Black’s comments show the weird tradeoff that comes with getting more attention in wrestling. She finally has the freedom to do what she wants creatively, but that same visibility means she has to think twice about who gets access to her and how easily her words can take on a life of their own.
Do you think wrestlers have to be too careful about what they say publicly because of how quickly comments can be taken out of context? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
