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With more than three hundred matches in her kitty and several championship victories in promotions all around the world, Laura Dennis aka Allie has turned herself into one of pro wrestling's brightest stars.
Before she became a star with Impact Wrestling, Allie — along with juggling a day job — honed her craft and followed her passion for pro-wrestling by working in promotions all around the world. In this interview, Allie talked about the upcoming Bound For Glory PPV, her thoughts on NXT Superstar Abbey Laith, her equation with Jeff Jarrett, her favourite match from the Global Wrestling Network library and much more.
So, without further ado, here's our interview with Impact Wrestling Knockout Laura Dennis aka Allie.
Q. You’re returning home to Canada at Bound for Glory. How important is the event to you?
I remember watching the Knockouts Division back when they debuted in 2007 and I remember thinking how badly I wanted to be a part of it. So going into Bound For Glory in a knockouts title match with the amazing Gail Kim is really a dream come true for me.
Q. Gail Kim is retiring at the end of 2017. How important has she been to your journey?
Well, I’ve looked up to Gail since before I started wrestling and I actually heard so many stories about her at the school I was training in — Squared Circle Training; Gail also did some training at that school.
So, I had so much about Gail, how athletic she was, how amazing she was, and then to be able to debut for Impact Wrestling against Gail, and now flash forward to Bound For Glory to able to share the ring with her during her retirement year, it’s kinda like mind-blowing for me and it’s an honor to share the ring with her.
Q. How did you feel seeing your former tag team partner Abbey Laith aka Kimberly Frankele at the Mae Young Classic?
So, a lot of people may or may not know, but professional wrestlers… we’re all part of a big family, so at the end of the day, we all want to see each other to succeed.
So, whether it’s succeeding in the company that I’m in or in another company, it’s just good to see that she’s succeeding in what she’s doing because I know how much she loves wrestling, how passionate she is, and how hard she works. And, it makes me feel so good to see her succeeding just like I’m sure it makes her happy to see me do well too.
Q. What was your personal equation with Jeff Jarrett, and how different is the locker room without him?
Well, I had a really good relationship with Jeff. I knew Jeff when Braxton & I actually worked for Global Force in the UK, we did a tour, and we also did some of his shows around the US, so both Karen & Jeff we knew pretty well. They’ve really been great with us. I’ve had a great relationship with both of them for a while. We haven’t been back at TV, so it’s gonna be different without them, but I know the company’s in really good hands, so I’m not too worried.
Q. What’s been your biggest moment in Impact Wrestling, since you made your debut?
I’ve got a couple of big ones — one of them has to be the wedding segment with Braxton Sutter. That was a pretty big moment for us; I was so proud of everyone in that segment. From Madison, who wrote that segment, to everybody that took part in it just played their part so good. It came off so well, the fans were going crazy.
Then there’s obviously winning the Knockouts Championship. What some people might not know, as soon as Earl (Hebner) counted to three I started bawling my eyes out because you know I wanted to hold that title for so many years, so even though I only got to hold it for a day, I felt that all of my work had finally paid off.
Q. How did you develop the character of Allie? Is it something that is a part of your personality or an entity completely different from yourself?
So what’s great about Allie and the character is there’s a lot of me in Allie. When I was first introduced as Allie, there was a part of me that was worried because the character is so innocent, naïve and afraid of things. So, a part of me was worried about that because I’m a very independent person and I have no problem standing up for myself.
So that part of it was difficult. But, the part where… you know, I think a lot of people that know me, know that I’m a very happy person, I’m very positive, I love animals, I’m Vegan, I like to stand up for what’s right, and a lot of those qualities are in Allie. So, there’s a big part of me in the characte
Q. What’s your ultimate goal in your career that you would like to achieve?
That’s a tough question *laughs*. It’s funny because for me when I started wrestling, I was very bad *laughs*. I was terrible, it’s just that for a long while I was trying to find my confidence and develop my skills in the ring. So, initially, my goal was to be a great wrestler and then it was “I want to be a wrestler on TV”. And now that I’m here, like obviously winning the Knockouts Championship is very very high on my list that’s something that I really want to accomplish.
But, I guess my ultimate goal is to be satisfied in whatever I end up accomplishing in my career. It’s hard to like pin-point what exactly is the ultimate goal because there are so many goals you could to achieve along the way. I just want to be happy with my work and whenever it comes the time I look to retire I hope that I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do.
Q. What matches would you like to watch from the Global Force Network? It doesn't necessarily have to include the Knockouts Division.
It’s so funny because the first time I ever saw Impact Wrestling was the very first Ultimate X PPV and that was maybe 2003 or 2004. I would love to go back and watch that match, maybe it’ll take me back to being sixteen again *laughs*. So, that was my intro to Impact Wrestling.
The app as a whole is so cool because not only does it give you the opportunity to watch Impact’s past and present, but also gives you the chance to watch matches from other companies such as BCW and Smash Wrestling. So, I think it’s really cool as a fan to be able to have access to all those programs
Q. Apart from your own match, what are you looking forward to at Bound for Glory?
Oh, Rosemary vs. Taya, like Hello?! Oh my Gosh!, Obviously I’m gonna be in Rosemary’s corner. I’m so excited for both of them because they’re both tremendous athletes and I know it’s going to be one hell of a match.
Q. How was it coming to India?
Oh my Gosh! I loved it! Everything from the food, the people, to the atmosphere, it was such a dream come true, I never thought I was gonna go to India. That was my wildest dream to think that I would be wrestling in India. It was such a cool experience and OH MY GOD! The food was amazing!
Q. So before we leave would you like to leave a message for your fans in India and all around the world?
Yes! So my fans in India, thank you so (5x) much for all of your support. It was so cool to be in India and meet so many of you. It was so welcoming, you welcomed us into your country and… so, I just want to thank you for that.
And, to all my fans around the world, thank you for getting behind me and for seeing something in… Allie *laughs*, it’s something that I wanted for such a long time and I really do love every single moment that I get to spend in the ring. So, thank you to all my fans, I appreciate it.
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