To celebrate a historical year for women’s wrestling, in collaboration with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bell To Belles interviewed over 20 women who have ranked on this year’s PWI 500 ranking, creating the “Women of the 2021 PWI 500” Interview Series. To empower women in wrestling even more, some of the interviews were conducted by the talented women who make up wrestling media.
Erica Leigh, who ranked #245 on the 2021 PWI 500, shared with Lauren Founds of Bell To Belles her thoughts on her placement in the PWI 500, the Cassandro Cup, and future aspirations for international travel.
Lauren Founds: First, we want to congratulate you on your first year ranking on the PWI 500! That’s really exciting news. How does it feel to be ranking for the first time on the list?
Erica Leigh: Debuting on the list in the top half of performers is a big friggin deal. I had the best covid of anyone. I skyrocketed in popularity. I created magic for people during a time when we were all stressed out and maybe even afraid of what would come next. I am an inspiration.
LF: The ranking is well-deserved. You’ve had a great year, which has included your reign as PWM Champion. How does it feel to be champ? Anyone in particular you’d like to face with your title?
EL: I welcome all challengers to try to take this big boy belt from me. It is my pride and joy. My baby. Magic is a special place to me and I don’t take the responsibility of being a champion lightly. I want big greasy meanies to come at me with all they got. Any meanies out there want to try me? You know where to find me.
LF: Also this year, was your participation in the Cassandro Cup. How did it feel to participate in such an important tournament?
EL: It was an absolute honor to participate in the inaugural Cassandro Cup. I’m so grateful to have been able to pay homage to a trailblazer of the industry and icon in the queer wrestling community. I didn’t get as far as I would have liked but since I lost to Edie, who won the whole shebang, I feel like a runner-up.
LF: You’ve become one of our favorites on Camp Leapfrog. Do you have any favorite moments from your time on the show? Can fans expect to see you more in the future?
EL: I liked my brief stint as a werewolf (Werica) during the Halloween special. And tag team matches with Boar.
LF: In April, you participated in a Lucha Libre Rules Six Man Tag Team match, and it ruled! Can we expect more lucha style from you in the future?
EL: Lucha Rules matches are super exciting but sometimes I forget the rules. Hard to keep track. With more experience I bet I could really use the rules to my advantage and augment my strategies. I would love to do that! With Boar by my side, anything is possible.
LF: Your career has typically stayed within the US. Assuming COVID cools down sometime soon, would you like to work within the international scene?
EL: I would love to get up there to our northern neighbors, oh, Canada. England and Germany too. And of course I wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to go to Australia, but that’s because my cousin lives there and I could visit her, too. And see some cool bugs. But we’ll see how this global health crisis shakes out. The town I live in is worse off now than in the summer of 2020 in terms of hospital bed availability and the severity of people’s symptoms.
LF: We really appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions, and really enjoyed looking over your career for the past year. Are there any future plans you want to share?
EL: I’ve got a lot in the works but you’ll have to just wait and see!
Be sure to follow Erica Leigh on Twitter @EricaWrestles, and follow Lauren Founds @LoFounds78.
Order the digital version, or pre-order the print edition, of the 2021 PWI 500 issue at pwi-online.com. Follow PWI on Twitter @OfficialPWI.
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