Trivia / Madusa

• Actor-Inspired Element: It was her idea to bring Bull Nakano over for their feud in WWF.
• Creator Backlash:
  • She wasn't a fan of being made Cruiserweight Champion - although she felt no ill-will towards the men she wrestled. She considered that a sign that they had no clue what to do with her.
    "Why couldn't they give me the Women's title?"
  • Understandably she regrets the infamous segment where she dropped the WWF Women's Championship into a trash can on Nitro - saying she wouldn't have done it if Eric Bischoff hadn't persuaded her to. The first time she saw Vince McMahon again (which actually wasn't until the night of her Hall of Fame induction!) she ran up to him and apologised over and over.
• Enforced Method Acting: She wrestled in the battle royal at Evolution - WWE's first all-female PPV - only seven months after having a double-knee replacement.
• Hostility on the Set:
  • Torrie Wilson admits to being bullied a bit by Madusa, with the latter threatening to throw her off the scaffold during their infamous Scaffold Match if she got anything wrong.
  • Rhonda Sing, who portrayed Bertha Faye, didn't get along with her either - saying she "saw right through her" in an interview.
• I Am Not Spock: Whenever in WWE, she's called Alundra Blayze, despite wrestling as Madusa everywhere else. According to her, Vince addresses her as 'Alundra'.
• Missing Episode: Miceli did a nude photoshoot for Playboy in the 80s long before even Sable did. However after the shoot, she decided against signing the release for the pictures to be published as she was afraid it would hurt her drawing ability in Japan. Miceli still has the photos to this day.
• Money, Dear Boy: Admits that was the main reason she stayed with WCW for so long, despite how poorly the women were booked.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • The segment where Rhonda Sing (Monster Ripper and later Bertha Faye) attacked her and broke her nose was to allow Alundra to take time off to get breast implants and a rhinoplasty.
  • The whole Bertha Faye character and feud with Alundra came about because the planned Monster Ripper/Bull Nakano feud had to be scrapped when the latter was found with cocaine and fired from the company.
• Real Song Theme Tune: Used Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" in the AWA.
• Reality Subtext: Her annoyance at being put in an Evening Gown match against Mona paralleled her real life refusal to conform to the excessive Fanservice WCW was relying on.
• What Could Have Been:
  • At the Survivor Series event in 1995, Alundra Blayze lost a match that put over Aja Kong - hinting at a program against her. But WWF were going through financial difficulties at the time, and Vince chose to get rid of the entire women's division to cut costs.
  • It is not well-known, but in the late-90s Vince was putting out feelers to bring back Madusa for a possible Alundra Blayze v. Sable feud. Upon hearing this, Luna Vachon (who could not hope to compete against Sable, let alone Madusa and Sable) made a beeline for Linda McMahon and urged her not to re-hire Miceli given how she had disgraced the WWE—and that put the kabosh on that.
  • In late 1999, WCW was in the pre-planning stages of bringing back a legitimate women's division, with the intention of building it around Madusa (heel) and Mona (face). They even went far enough to put out feelers on the few indy female wrestlers of the day - Malia Hosaka, Brandi Alexander, Debbie Combs, Little Jeanie/Sweet Destiny and Dee Dee Venturi^note LPWA's "Nasty" Kat LeRoux regimmicked. But then Vince Russo was brought in as a booker. Plans were switched over to a fanservice-based division centered around Miss Hancock and Major Gunns, which lead to Mona leaving for WWF and Madusa getting stuck in her feud with Oklahoma.
  • She was among many former female employees who were asked to appear at WrestleMania 25 in the 25-Diva battle royal. And like Wendi Richter, Trish Stratus, Lita and many others - she turned the offer down.