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31 years ago, Alice Cooper was in the corner of Jake "The Snake" Roberts in an iconic WrestleMania moment. Over three decades later and - step aside, Alice - because WWE has a new rock icon who's made the squared circle her very own stage. Quite literally.
When Nita Strauss performed the entrance theme of WWE's very own Rockstar, Shinsuke Nakamura, during WrestleMania 34, she took the world by storm. A few months later, she's now becoming somewhat of a fan favourite among the WWE Universe, opening WWE's first ever all-women's pay-per-view by becoming the first ever guitarist to perform inside the ring to open the show.
While Strauss may be a fresh face, though, to the WWE Universe, she's definitely a veteran of the music business - honing her craft playing with the Iron Maidens, Femme Fatale and LA Kiss before joining up with Alice Cooper and, subsequently, becoming a huge artist in her own right.
Strauss has been playing alongside Alice Cooper since 2014 and was ranked #1 on the list of Guitar World's 10 Female Guitar Players You Should Know.
WWE has a long history with rock music, not just with the obvious numerous iconic theme songs over the years, but with Lemmy and Motorhead playing Triple H to the ring, Limp Bizkit doing likewise with The Undertaker and Ozzy Osbourne even guest-hosting RAW - and Strauss looks to be adding to that legacy while creating a whole new one of her own.
We caught up with Nita recently to ask about WrestleMania, Evolution, and all about her connection with WWE.
Fans can order a signed copy of her album here.
So, let's start off where a lot of the WWE Universe may have with regards to exposure to yourself. WrestleMania - that must have been crazy! How did it feel to join such an elite list of rockstars who have performed to a wrestling audience?
It was absolutely incredible. Playing at WrestleMania was absolutely a dream come true - especially with all the artists that have performed before me. It was just really a dream come true to add my name to that list.
Coming up...
But next: Nita talks NXT and the possibility of getting involved in the action!
I think you were actually in the NXT TakeOver audience the evening before if I remember correctly - tell me about how we've gone from that to where you're at now with WWE.
Yeah, definitely. We were at TakeOver in New Orleans and that was kind of like a little bit of a preview because obviously no-one knew I was playing at WrestleMania.
They were like, "We're going to put you on camera but no-one's going to know what you're really there for." So that was a fun little hint. It's been a lot of fun to be a part of the WWE world and see how they do things, and how they tease things, and now they're using one of my songs for #NXTLoud for WarGames, which is really exciting as well!
It's just an amazing relationship between us and WWE, and they've been incredibly supportive and - for us, as big fans - it's just been really exciting to get to work with them.
Your new song, Mariana Trench, was selected as one of the #NXTLoud tracks for NXT TakeOver WarGames. One of the great things about NXT, aside from the obvious wrestling content, is how much rock and metal music they introduce the WWE Universe too. How did you find out your song would be involved?
You know, we've been in pretty close contact with WWE's music team ever since WrestleMania. Of course regarding Evolution, my performance there, and some other fun things we have coming up as well, so one of the things we talked about was that my album's coming out and I'll be promoting that, and I sent them the record ahead of time and their music team and Triple H, together, selected the song.
Now, you play alongside Alice Cooper who had his very own WrestleMania moment just over three decades ago involving Jake The Snake and a python. Are you quite happy performing or are you open to getting a bit more involved in the ring - without a guitar?
Of course! I would be open to anything. I'm such a big fan. I'd absolutely be open to that!
NEXT: Nita discusses Evolution and making her own history!
Coming on to your most recent involvement with WWE then, and it was definitely a surprising and historic one. Alongside Lzzy Hale, you opened up the first ever all-women's WWE event, Evolution, in spectacular fashion - how did it feel to know you were playing such a huge part in the history of women's wrestling?
Yeah, it was a complete surprise, that was one of the little WWE easter eggs. They were clear to Lzzy and myself that they wanted it to be a surprise for the fans, so don't tweet about it, don't post it, or anything like that.
I think it was really cool because it started the evening off really high energy, it started off with a bang, we wanted them to know it was going to be wild, it was going to be exciting, there were going to be surprises - and I think we definitely did that.
I know you said you didn't get to see Shinsuke Nakamura's match after you played him out at WrestleMania as you had press commitments, did you get to see much of Evolution? If so, what did you think of it?
We missed maybe the first 30 minutes, which I had to go back and watch on the Network but, besides that, we got to watch all of the rest of the pay-per-view, and I actually got to go out... Josh and I kind of snuck out and watched Becky and Charlotte's match, and Ronda and Nikki's match from outside in the arena, so that was really cool to experience it from a fan's perspective. Not just on the TV but to be in the arena and feel the energy of the crowd.
As for Becky and Charlotte, that may have been one of the best wrestling matches I've seen in a long time - not just women's wrestling.
Absolutely! It's one of the best matches I've ever seen, of all time, in women's or men's wrestling. This match truly is one of the best matches I've ever seen. I can't think of a better match off the top of my head that was better.
Mick Foley and Undertaker maybe, in Hell In A Cell. It's literally up there in the top five with that match for me - and I know that Becky would agree!
We speak about women breaking ground in wrestling, but you're doing that all on your own in the world of music, too! From being the first woman to have a signature Ibanez guitar, to being the only woman on the cover of Guitar World in 2018. This may be a silly question, but is your gender and gender equality something that's always on your mind, or is it a nice surprise to learn that you've made history when you do?
It's exactly that. I try not to move my career too much based on "I'm a woman and other people aren't" - I just try to do my own thing. If I need to make a new path to go somewhere, I make a new path and go there, If the path has already been made, I'll travel that path, but I've never had a problem creating my own path to go somewhere that's never been gone before.
NEXT: More on Becky Lynch and Nita's famous and legendary fan!
The main reason I ask that as there was something I absolutely loved hearing you and Becky Lynch speak about on Stay The Course on YouTube a few days ago about being women in mainly male-dominant industries - something I believe is changing - in a truly incredible interview. What more can we expect to see from Stay The Course?
Yeah! Actually, the second episode was released today, I just have to now announce it. It's just been made live so by the time your readers read this, it will be available, and you can definitely expect to see more!
And here is that new episode!
You mentioned a name earlier, you also have a huge fan in a certain Mick Foley! You even played at his 20 Years Of Hell solo show. How did that come about?
You know, Mick was so incredibly instrumental in connecting us to WWE in the first place, and even though he wasn't there, at WrestleMania, he was actually the one who introduced us to Becky as well, because he said, "I can't be there at WrestleMania, but if you see Becky Lynch, make sure and tell her hello, and I'm going to tell her to say hello to you as well."
If he hadn't said that, I wouldn't have wanted to bother her and probably wouldn't have introduced myself, but because Mick said he'd make sure she'd be expecting me, I went up and said hello to her, she gave me a big hug and we've been friends ever since - so you can thank Mick Foley for that friendship as well!
Mick is wonderful. As far as playing his music goes, this was in the works even before WrestleMania! Like, way at the beginning, Mick said, "I want WWE to take notice of you, and what better way than for you to play my music at my Hell In A Cell 20 Years of Hell special. He said, "If you play my music, they'll see you and they'll put you on some other stuff."
To our surprise, before that could even take place, we ended up on WrestleMania. Mick's influence carries so far beyond just about anybody in that industry. Not many people's word carries more weight than Mick Foley, so he's a great ally to have but, not only that, he's also a great friend.
One really inspirational video that I think everyone should watch - you were "tricked" into meeting one of your heroes in Jason Becker - a guitar genius who got diagnosed with ALS. You got to perform for Jason in what, for me as a viewer, was as close to a cathartic experience as you can get. What was the experience like for yourself?
Oh, it was one of the most emotional days of my life. It's not every day that you get to meet your hero and tell your hero that they're your hero. Much less do something for them.
For Jason, I think it makes him happy for people to play his music, for him to hear his music and for them to be able to honour him in that way. It was really life-changing for me and all the credit goes to Josh who arranged that whole thing for me. All the credit goes to him.
NEXT: Will we see Nita in WWE again soon? And Strauss causes controversy!
I mean, what's next?! Your new album, Controlled Chaos, is set to be released on the 16th of this month. The first single, Our Most Desperate Hour, was just released from that. You're embarking on a US tour. Where do you go from here? How much bigger can things get?
Oh, we'll find a way! We'll find a way! Right now, we're just really laser-focused on releasing the album. I actually just saw the physical CD for the first time today, which was really awesome. You know, holding the CD in my hands - and then the excitement quickly died down as I had to sign thousands of them. (Nita laughs)
But we're getting everything rolling, sending out all the pre-orders and getting everything all together, so it's a really exciting time for us.
Will we see you in WWE again any time soon?
They've got my phone number. They know, any time they invite me, any time they need me, I'm on the next plane. I'm very thankful to be a small part of the WWE Universe. I'm a fan first and foremost, and to get to play a small part in some of the events, they know I'm ready any time.
Finally, I'm saving the most controversial thing to last - and this is one thing we can't skip over - you had an exchange with a WWE legend recently that I think may very well alienate a large section of your fan base. You like pineapple on pizza?!
I LOVE pineapple on pizza! If The Rock says it, people can argue with me, but they ain't gonna argue with him. Pineapple pizza is my jam.
I mean, The Great One isn't bad company to be in...
Thanks to Nita Strauss for speaking with us. You can pre-order her new album, Controlled Chaos, here and you can follow Nita here.
We wish her all the best for the future!
