TS:  How did you go from working as Teri Byrne, mortgage broker to becoming “Fyre” of the Nitro girls?

TB:  I was in the right place at the right time.  I had been training for a fitness competition and doing some body building for about a year to year and a half while working for the mortgage company.  So I was training all the time at Lex Luger’s gym the Main Event.    It was one day in training that Kimberly Page spotted me and asked if I would be interest in auditioning for something called Nitro Girls which I had no idea of what it was or what it was about.  But I auditioned and two weeks later I got the job.

TS:  You’ve been featured on Playboy.com and you chose not to pose nude.  How did it all come about and why did you choose not to pose nude?

 TB:  One of the most often questions that I get asked by fans is when are you going to pose for Playboy.  I just didn’t feel that was the next step for me in my career right now.  I did want to do something that would be controversial, fun, and risqué and I thought Playboy.com would be the next thing.  I have been very active on the internet during trade shows and interviews so it just made sense to me to do Playboy.com.  I got a really positive response from the fans, too. 

 TS:  Were you a fan of wrestling prior to becoming a Nitro Girl?

TB:  No.  I watched it as a kid off and on as most people do back when Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth were the hottest thing going and then I never really followed wrestling.

TS:  The internet is a place for insider information.  Unfortunately, although not all of it is true.  What’s the weirdest or funniest thing you’ve read about yourself on the internet?

TB:  I’ve been really lucky.  I think I’ve been the one girl, especially among the Nitro Girls, that there was never any dirt or rumors going on about me.  As a matter of fact, for a while, I felt really left out because all of the other Nitro Girls had the juicy rumors going on about them and I didn’t have one.  So for a while, we were all trying to make something up that we could spread on the internet to get people talking.  But we never did.  So there was never anything good --  no juice.

TS:  What led you to leave WCW?

TB:  A lot of things led to the end of my career as Fyre.  The main thing was when Vince Russo took over and also when we lost Kimberly Page as a supervisor of Nitro Girls.  When those two things changed, we had a new leader to come in and take over the Nitro Girls and she has since replaced almost every one of the girls.

She had her own idea in her mind what the Nitro Girls should be and that didn’t include me.  So that was the big thing.  The change in management.

TS:  Do you stay in touch with the other girls and wrestlers?

TB:  Yes, I do stay in touch with Tigress and Spice.  Also Chae and Storm (who is now Paisley).  We talk almost every day.  Also, I do see a lot of the wrestlers at the gym in Marietta that I talk to quite a lot.

TS:  Rumor has it that you’ve appeared on the cover of a romance novel and have a comic book in the works.  Can you fill us in on this?

TB:  Yes, that’s true.  I’ve just shot my very first romance novel cover this past Saturday in Chicago working with a company called Forten & Sanders.  All they do is romance.  In fact, they just published, printed and did the photography for a book called Passion that was out last year.  We did a few f medieval pictures with myself and another male model.  I think they are going to be really, really  great.  I was in costume, he was in costume with a big sword and there were a lot of flowers.  It was really beautiful.  The comic, which you can see a drawing of the picture on my website (http://www.teribyrne.com),  is called “Angelheart” and it’s a picture from the WCW calendar of me.  They’ve added wings and made a few changes and it’s really awesome.  So, I’ve just came from WizardWorld in Chicago, which is a huge comic convention, and sold lots of prints there and met a lot of people in the industry.

TS:  How do you feel about the treatment of women in the WCW, WWF, ECW, and wrestling in general?

TB:  Well, I can’t speak for the treatment of all women because I think everyone’s case is unique and involved.  I think that women are being underestimated.  Whereas, we’re only good for T&A and catfights in wrestling.  And I think there is so much more an opportunity for women to do more acting and troubleshooting.  We can be used in all areas same as the men.  It seems as if we’re king of pigeonholed into this T&A and catfights into little segments and there is so much talent.  There are so many women who are so talented and are not being utilized to full potential.  So that, I disagree with.    I think that we could help the shows rather than getting a quick shot of catfights.  There is a lot more that could be done that is not being done.

TS:  Many in wrestling having been bitten by the acting bug.  You’ve appeared in a supporting role in Ready to Rumble.  Any chance we’ll be seeing you on the big screen or television anytime soon?

TB:  I would like that.  I really would love to do comedy.  I think that is why a lot of people in wrestling on get the acting bug.  You do a lot of slapstick comedy.  So I would love to do that.

TS:  Since leaving WCW, you’ve appeared in NSWA, EFW, AWA, and now with the PCW;   How does being in an independent company compare to being in one of the big three?

TB:  It differs in many ways when you’re used to being in front of 40,000 people, cameras, and lights.  I never realized what independent wrestling was all about because I didn’t start there so to go back to independent wrestling was a huge change.  Naturally, you don’t have all the big production bells and whistles.  But the big thing I noticed was that the people in the show and involved are involved because of love and passion for the sport because they most of them aren’t making a lot of money.  They are driving hundreds of miles just be in the shows and have an opportunity wrestle and they all do it just because they love it and that was one of the biggest things that I noticed.  People are there for really different reasons.

TS:  You’ve always been a spokesperson and involved in animal rights for the Humane Society.  Do you think that your popularity has helped draw attention to this worthy cause?

TB:  I hope so.  That’s the one benefit to having some sort of celebrity status is that when you get involved in any type of charity – the contribution and attention that you bring.  So I hope that is true. 

TS:  You were into horses while growing up.  Is that something that you still enjoy?

TB:  I wish that I could do it more but I don’t have a horse unfortunately now so I don’t get to ride nearly as often as I would like.  It’s always been a passion and my dad still has horses and occasionally I get to go see them.  I would like to take up riding again some day.

TS:  I’ve heard that you love to cook.  What is your favorite dish to make for that special someone?

TB:  I make an awesome chicken pot pie.  That’s probably one of my specialties.  Southern food with all this fattening stuff with chicken, biscuits and gravy.  But chicken potpie would be my specialty if I had to pick one.

TS:  What is your favorite kind of foods?

TB:  My favorites are unfortunately the ones that I can’t eat.  I love lasagna… I love sugar, cake and any kind of dessert. These are my favorites.  I could eat cake three times a day and be a happy girl.  But I would be out of a job, so I have to stick to chicken and broccoli unfortunately.

TS:  You’re in terrific shape.  How do you find time to exercise on such a busy schedule?

TB:  Well, my schedules actually make it easy to work out because I don’t have a  9-5 regular job so I can train almost everyday.  When I’m traveling, I try to find a hotel that has a gym or work out room where I can do some cardio in the morning before and appearance or afterwards.  As long as I get my cardio, I’m doing pretty good.

TS:  You also write a  column, "The Fyre Pit" for the Internet site "Pro Wrestling Daily".  How did that come about? 

TB:  As I’ve said, I’m really active on the internet and have a pretty active website I was approached by Shannon Rose and he just asked me if I would be interested.  I’ve always had an interest in writing and did a lot of writing when I was in college.  It seemed like a natural thing to do and I’ve enjoyed doing it.

TS:  What is Teri Byrne “Angelheart”? 

TB:  The Angelheart was just created a month ago here at DragonCon in Atlanta by an artist called Monte Moore who’s an incredibly talented guy.   I spent the weekend with him at WizardWorld in Chicago and saw all of his artwork and we sold a lot of the Angelheart drawings.  He just saw the picture of myself in the calendar, drew the picture and added a little bit of I guess magic to it.  It’s awesome and one of my favorite pieces and people just seem to be really taken by it.

TS:  What is a typical day in Teri Byrne’s life like?

TB:  My morning starts with making phone calls and being on the computer answering my emails, talking to promoters and setting up appearances that are coming up.  And once I’ve done all my business and make my phone calls and thing like that I head to the gym and just work out – get my cardio in.  I train everyday.  On the way hone, I pick up all of my fan mail and I sit down in the evening to send out pictures and letters to people who have written me.  When I’m traveling and have appearance which is on the weekend, I’m packing and heading to the airport.

TS:  Your family lives here in Atlanta, what was family life like growing up in the Byrne household?

TB:  Oh, I have two sisters.  Three girls so you can imagine that there was always one of us on the phone nonstop, getting into makeup, clothes and things like that.  And boy problems and sleepovers and things like that.  But we were also very active with animals.  My dad had many horses, dogs and cats.  Another sister was always playing soccer, so we were always running to the soccer games and practices if we weren’t going to horse shows.   We were pretty active outdoors.  We didn’t sit in front of the TV or computer or go to the arcade.  We were on the go as far as being involved in different horse events as well as athletic events.  It’s been like that as long as I can remember and we’ve always been running around.

TS:  What would you like to say to your fans that have supported you all the years?

TB:  Thank you is the biggest thing that I say because I’ve received so much support from fans.  When I left WCW I had a lot of fans write-in an express their feelings.  I still have fans that write me every week and ask me what I’m doing and where they can find me.  It’s amazing because I’ve not been on TV for six months and I still have just as big a fan base and fan club which is still active.  I couldn’t do it without the support of the fans.  They’ve been really great.

 TS: Thank you, Teri.

 TB: Thanks. 

Interview By Tony Stark.