Kristal Marshall On How Chris Benoit Would Go Out Of His Way With Her In WWE
On episode 3 of Noonan Speaks, former WWE security chief Jimmy Noonan spoke with former WWE Superstar Kristal Marshall. Among many other things, Marshall talked about getting her start in WWE, training in Deep South Wrestling under Bill DeMott, and holding onto positive memories of Chris Benoit.
According to Marshall, she joined WWE as a 20-year-old model. The hair-pulling heel shared that there was a divide in the female locker room between the so-called Divas and pro wrestling veterans.
"The funny thing when I think back about that time, I was so young. I don't think a lot of people realize that a lot of the girls that came in through the Diva Search were extremely young. I think I started with WWE when I was 20 years old." Marshall continued, "I just knew that there were a lot of guys in very skimpy clothes and there were a lot of girls. And I just remember trying to find my place and trying to get my feet grounded. And it was just a very interested time, a very peculiar dynamic between the Divas, which were the models, and the wrestling divas and the pioneers of the business, so I know speaking for myself, I felt like I had a lot to prove and I was trying to not piss anybody off."
With respect to Marshall's stint in Deep South Wrestling, the former Miss California pageant contestant indicated that the experience was difficult, though her neighbor was awesome.
"God, Deep South in itself was like a show." Marshall reflected, "that was tough. I've got to tell you, I remember my first week at Deep South Wrestling, all I did was come home, fill the tub up with ice, and get in the tub, and wake up on my bed, still wrapped in my towel because I was so tired and so sore. And do you know what? Actually, I used to live upstairs from [The] Miz, so he lived downstairs and I lived upstairs. That's so funny! I remember that."
Marshall recalled that DeMott, who has since been terminated as a WWE trainer following allegations of bullying and other misconduct, was hard on a lot of people. With that said, Marshall claimed she never had any problems with the former Hugh Morrus.
"Bill was tough." Marshall added, "he was very tough, for sure, on a lot of people, a lot of people. I watched it, but do you know what? He wasn't [tough] on me. He wasn't. I never had an issue. I never had a problem with Bill, but I've seen it."
On the subject of the Benoit, who has been declared persona non grata by WWE, Marshall divulged that Benoit went out of his way to look out for her.
"I don't know how this is going to come across, but I've got to tell you, the person that stuck out to me the most, went out of his way a lot to look after me, was Chris Benoit." Marshall admitted, "I'll never forget. Yeah. I'll never forget. I was actually riding with Michelle McCool. I think we were in Tennessee. I never had an idea of where I was anyway. And I know we were trying to find a hotel room, but everything was booked up. And we pulled into I want to say a waffle house, or gas station, or something, and we saw Chris. We rolled down the window and he was like, 'what are you guys doing?' We were like, 'we're trying to find a hotel' and he's like, 'no, no, no, no, you guys take my room. Take my room. It's fine. I'll figure it out.' And he used to do things like that I'm sure for other people, but I specifically remember a few times he did that for me and I remember that and it stuck out to me as being really nice and generous, just always look after me and some others like a big brother, so that's the part of Chris Benoit that I want to hold onto, for sure. Super sweet guy."
Moreover, Marshall said that Benoit would ask her how his matches were, though she thought it was a rib given her relative lack of experience compared to 'The Rabid Wolverine'.
"I used to do a lot of the ring announcing for the SmackDown house shows and I remember a couple of times, Chris came up to me, 'hey, what did you think about my match?'" Marshall remembered, "and I'm sitting there like, 'is he ribbing me right now? Like, does he really want to know what I think about his match?' But he was serious! 'What do you think about the match?' and it was great. That was one of the best parts of what I did when I was wrestling, the commentating, the interviewing, the little bit of ring announcing is because the guys would f–k with me during the matches."
Listen to the show here. If you use any of the quotations from this article, please credit Noonan Speaks with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Noonan Speaks