5 Things You Didn't Know About Dana Brooke

WWE Superstar Dana Brooke was a recent guest on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast and opened up like never before. Brooke poured her heart out and talked about her personal life in and out of professional wrestling.

Brooke revealed a bevy of personal struggles, opened up about what brought her into the world of professional wrestling, her relationship with NBA star Enes Kanter, and the tragic death of boyfriend Dallas McCarver. We unpack all that and more in 5 Things You Didn't Know About Dana Brooke.

#5 The New Dana Brooke Is Not A Character

WWE Superstar Dana Brooke makes her way to the ring

Dana Brooke has spent the majority of her professional wrestling career as a forgotten component of the main roster, but things have changed recently. Brooke was surprised by new WWE creative member Dana Warrior, who informed Brooke that WWE had something special planned for her.

Brooke was taken aback by the announcement. She routinely pitched ideas to the company only to be forgotten time and time again. Recently, she was particularly disappointed about being left off the Fastlane pay-per-view, which took place in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

Brooke opened up on Chasing Glory,

"Truly, this is not a character anymore. This is how I feel. It really hurt my heart, honestly, because Fastlane was in Cleveland, Ohio. I was on the road shows Friday, Saturday, and then Cleveland was my hometown. We had Fastlane there and I looked on my travel app and it was like Friday booked, Saturday booked, Sunday not booked and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'"

Brooke had been pitching the idea of being on Fastlane for over three months and offered her services in any capacity including commentary, the pre-show panel, or anything backstage. WWE made the creative decision to leave the Cleveland native off the show entirely. The move frustrated Brooke, opening up an opportunity for her career's most memorable promo on the following RAW.

Dana was handed a pre-written promo to do on RAW, but was urged to put things in her own words with her own feelings. The written promo nearly matched Brooke's thoughts identically and she delivered her authentic promo flawlessly.

#4 Dana's Promo Mirrored How She Really Felt About Rousey

WWE Superstar Dana Brooke

WWE finally gave Brooke an opportunity to be herself. She was encouraged to speak from the heart and put things in her own words. Brooke purposefully came out wearing little make up to add authenticity to the moment.

Brooke had already grown genuinely frustrated with RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey.

"First and foremost Ronda was calling out the locker room. She is dissing the WWE. Take it for what it is. She has posted on YouTube cussing out WWE, the WWE locker room, our talent, just everyone and I took that very personal too because I've been here for five years busting my tail just for a second, just to be heard, just to feel like what a true person feels like that gets told no, that's not handed anything, that's worked for this moment forever."

Brooke consulted with Paul Heyman before cutting the promo and confessed that it came from such a personal place that she may cry. Heyman's advice? "That's OK. If you cry, that's OK."

Dana; however, had other plans.

"I can't [cry]. I want to be brave. I want to stand up for all these women and children and females, males, everybody around the world. I want to be the voice for them, the voice for the locker room. This is it....I need to be brave. I need to stand my ground."

Brooke tapped into a special place in her heart.

"I felt like from the moment I was a child until that second everything I had been through, everything that I'd overcome, I was like, 'OK, this is my chance to go out there and be heard.' I had nothing left to lose. This was my one chance."

Dana Brooke made her way to the ring to interrupt Rousey.

"I'm not gonna let you disrespect the WWE Universe and I'm not gonna let you disrespect the women's locker room. I might not be some big time fighter, but I love WWE. I love this business. I've worked my tail off to be here, to earn the respect of the women's locker room and to prove that I belong here. Each week on RAW I fight for a chance and I don't even get the time of day, let alone a match. I might not be on TV and I'm not a household name like you, but all I want is just a chance."

The promo was deemed a resounding success and led to a championship opportunity for Brooke the following week on RAW.

#3 Dana Brooke Nearly Quit WWE

RAW Superstar Dana Brooke

Dana Brooke would pitch ideas routinely and frequently, but no one listened. Instead, the RAW Superstar became a forgotten component in WWE - an afterthought. Her position with the company grew tiring for Brooke and things came to a head when a match between her and Natalya was unceremoniously removed from RAW.

Brooke told Lilian Garcia,

"We were seg[ment] 10. We got in the ring. We rehearsed and we had our match together, everything. Then I see the run sheet and I was like, 'What are you talking about? We're not on?' That ripped my heart out of my chest."

Brooke began to have doubts and wondered if she was being removed for personal reasons. She even questioned whether the company had lost all faith in her. The incident nearly caused Dana Brooke to walk out on the company.

"When I found out that me and Nattie weren't having anything, I was like, 'How am I the one where it's always like this?' It always happens where if I'm in a segment, it gets pulled or cut."

Ultimately, Brooke decided to stay with the company.

"In life, you're always gonna have obstacles put in your path and I am a prime example ever since I was a little girl to where I am now. You control your own destiny...I went to the locker room and put my head down. I thought through everything I had been through. I've been through injuries, I've been through deaths in my life, I've been through personal experiences growing up in my childhood and said, 'You know something? If I quit now, what kind of an example am I gonna be for everyone that's followed me, who has supported me, who has been my backbone through the hardest times?' I said, 'I can not give up now. I can't. I can only pick myself up, keep my head up, put a smile on my face because there are millions of people in this world that would die to walk a mile in your shoes.'"

#2 Dana Brooke Chose Wrestling For Her Family

Dana Brooke

Dana Brooke was supposed to be a gymnast; however, injuries derailed her career. The derailment was a huge adjustment for Brooke, who did not plan for life after gymnastics. She relied on her family's support to get her through the adjustment period.

After the death of one of her aunts, Brooke and family reminisced about old times watching wrestling together.

"Growing up my dad, myself, and my uncle would always watch WWE and every Sunday morning was my morning off when I was in gymnastics. This was when I was a little girl and my dad and my uncle always watched wrestling....I was a balls to the wall child, bouncing all around, always fearless. Every Sunday morning me and my dad would end up wrestling, playing with stuffed animals, and I would wrestle my stuffed animals and my uncle would be my manager."

It had brought the family together then and Brooke surmised it could benefit the family further. "This was just an amazing time in my life growing up when we would all play wrestle. We were all so happy." Shortly thereafter, Brooke was offered an opportunity with WWE.

She thought to herself, "If this can make my family close again...I felt our family could have a common ground to talk about what we used to." The WWE Superstar was correct in her assessment and enjoys a rejuvenated close-knit relationship with her family.

#1 NBA Star Enes Kanter Is Her Real-Life Angel

From Left to Right: Dana Brooke, Enis Kanter, and Charly Caruso

After Dana Brooke's 26 year old boyfriend Dallas McCarver died tragically and unexpectedly, Brooke struggled to find her bearings. Brooke tried to push the negative feelings away, but things didn't improve until she met NBA star Enes Kanter. "I tried to push it away with Enes, who I am currently with now, who has helped me a lot through this. He's been a blessing for me."

Before Kanter, Brooke felt "so alone," and struggled to find "what she had to live for." Brooke felt "lost" and confesses to being in "a dark place for a very long time." She could not eat or sleep.

McCarver's mother encouraged her. "Don't live your life like this. Don't live your life sheltered and alone. You will find love again." Brooke doubted that she ever would.

Eight months later while wrestling at Madison Square Garden, Brooke made an instant connection with former New York Knicks star Enes Kanter. Brooke opened up about her relationship with Kanter.

"He could sense something. He could sense some kind of pain or something that I couldn't let go and I never really opened up to anyone ever about this and I opened up to him and I let it all out. I felt as though if I met somebody and tried to talk to another man or person in my life, I would feel judged or they would say, 'Why are you crying about this person?' They would feel like he was still somebody I was in love with."

Brooke found support from the NBA star.

"Enes let me cry. Enes held my hand. Enes would talk to me on the phone and he got me through some of the hardest times. In wrestling, I would go to work on Monday not being used. I would call him crying like, 'Why am I wrestling anymore? I don't even know why I'm doing this.'"

Kanter's advice motivated Brooke.

"He would be like, 'Push through girl. You're doing this because you're inspiring thousands. He prays for Dallas and says, 'Do this for him.' It's like Dallas put this walking living angel in front of me and he holds my hand and he motivates me, and at the darkest times when I wanted to walk away from everything and wrestling, Enes wouldn't [let me]."

Readers are encouraged to listen to Lilian Garcia's interview with Dana Brooke in its entirety HERE.