NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
LAS VEGAS – Johnnie Robbie enters WrestleMania week as a relatively unknown and rising pro wrestling star, but when the dust settles in Las Vegas this week, fans will definitely know who she is.
Robbie is a California native who has trained in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and made brief appearances in Ring of Honor and All Elite Wrestling. She enters the week as the West Coast Pro Wrestling Women’s Champion. She will have about half a dozen matches during the week, headlining the company’s show and competing in several others.
She opened up to Pakinomist Digital about her background and how she got started.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Johnnie Robbie hits Persephone with a crossbody from the top rope. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
“I kind of watched it as a kid,” Robbie said of getting into professional wrestling. “It fell off a bit. Then my best friend got me into it and then I started watching it again. And then I just thought I’d rather do it than watch it. A bit about Johnnie Robbie – she just kind of doesn’t take anything from anybody.
“I come from Chicano roots – like I was praised quite a lot. From the sneakers I wear to the way I dress, you can tell it’s street style and some people might be reminded of home.”
Robbie said she initially started training as a judge before she was able to receive more bookings.
“My best friend, like I said, he was like, ‘Oh, figure out how to be a wrestler because you always say you want to be something new every day,’ and that was something I was digging for and trying to find a school because it’s kind of hard to find a school, especially here in LA because there’s only a handful of them,” she said. “I started coaching and then I didn’t pick up as much as everyone else and my coaches at the time suggested I referee until I’m ready for my main debut. I think that’s how they did it – the school they came from, they wanted to do it. I took the idea from there.”
JAPANESE PRO WRESTLING STAR MIYU YAMASHITA SETS UP FOR LAS VEGAS RETURN AT SLAM FEST
Robbie told Pakinomist Digital that she tries to reinforce her roots when she comes to the ring.
She said the gear she wears from head to toe has something to do with where she’s been and her background.
“I’m here for a good while and then I’m irritated or I’m p—ed off and I tend to get p—ed off very easily. I think I tend to show that in-ring. I have a quick temper and if I’m on top I get a little, I don’t want to say cocky, but I get really comfortable,” she said. “I think for the most part what you see is somebody who’s not as big as everybody else or just being able to take punches and just the way I move in the ring,
“I think it comes across well in relation to … One of my best friends, Alan Breeze, I say, ‘I don’t know what my style is,’ and he says, ‘You’re a little pit bull, you’re a little dog, you’re kind of messed up.’ Your style is, I think he said: ‘Scrappy’. I think that comes into play when I wrestle. You can see that. As I said, I am withdrawing from the way I was brought up by a bunch of ‘Cholos’. Like I said, the Chicano lifestyle. I think you see a lot of that when I’m in the ring.”
Johnnie Robbie feels Persephone’s wrath in the ring. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
Robbie emphasized how important it is to her to be able to share her background with the people who come to her shows and how much of a difference it makes.
SLAM PARTY TO BRING PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL TO THE PALMS CASINO RESORT IN LAS VEGAS
“Personally, I love it because sometimes people are like, ‘Oh, you’re just pretty cool,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, you just don’t get it because you’ve never seen it before.’ Unlike when I’m here in LA or up north in San Francisco with the West Coast, I have these little girls who look like me, or I have fans who are older and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, you remind me of my sister, you remind me of my tia,'” Robbie said. “Little girls see themselves in me, or they see their big sister in me.
“So I think it’s whether you don’t recognize where I’m from, or whether it’s the little kids who see it, or whether it’s the people who grew up like me who see it, that just makes a difference. I’m just glad to be that person that you’re reminded of somewhere, because even though you’re not familiar with the way I was raised, as opposed to being a little girl, I enjoy that you’re still out here in LA. that, ‘Oh, that’s what they mean by that’.”
Robbie said she will attend six games during the week, but this was not her first game.
She said she had hoped to do at least three matches and put on quality shows until more people started calling her to wrestle at their shows. The hustle mentality is a driving force for Robbie.
RISING PRO WRESTLING STAR PERSEPHONE TO BE PART OF HISTORIC CMLL SHOW AT SLAM FEST, REACTS TO TONY KHAN PRAISE
“I think we all need … But I was watching a fan make a list of everyone who had matches and I remember thinking coming in like, ‘Oh, I’m only going to have three matches this year,’ because last year I think I had as many. I want quality over quantity,” Robbie said. “I didn’t want to be overbooked or underbooked. And then I just got these opportunities, big names or people that I’ve always wanted to fight. I was like, ‘Oh, well, okay, I guess I’m free, so …’ It’s ‘Mania week, and I just, I don’t even know how to explain it. You can have so many matches that you just can’t keep getting’ these opportunities because everyone from all over the world is here.
“If you’re not out there and have a lot of (games), or if you’re just not out there at all, I hope you want to get out there. I know it’s hard — it’s a whole week off. Hustling in general for me, that hustle mentality, do you give it all you can do? If I could do was three games, and I did all I could do is get those three games, and to get those three games is to have a good week. It’s also OK to miss it because the rush is still going on on the other side if you don’t show up that week.
Johnnie Robbie appears in a Ring of Honor match against Persephone. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
Robbie will be among the dozens of wrestlers who will be involved in matches throughout the week.
She kicks off her week with two matches on Wednesday – one at Pandemonium Pro Wrestling and another with Unapologetic Pro.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
On Thursday night, Robbie will defend the West Coast Pro Women’s Championship at their event and then move on to a Marvelous event. Then she’ll also be looking for another belt at PrideStyle Pro, going up against Chris Nastyy for the PrideStyle World Championship on Friday night. It will be her first of two matches there.
