Beth Phoenix was “nervous as hell” for her in-ring return at Elimination Chamber.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Beth Phoenix reflected on her in-ring return at WWE Elimination Chamber. The event marked Beth’s first match in more than a year, and just her second one in nearly four years. Beth said that her situation was a challenge, but she worked hard to prove she was still worthy of being in the ring.
“It was so challenging. I try to put in the time when I can. We have a ring here in Asheville, and everybody helps me to kind of stay a little bit in the zone, but no amount of cardio, no amount of lifting weights, no amount of training in the gym can substitute for being in the ring. So I was extremely intimidated, especially to be in there with two talents like Finn and Rhea that are firing on all cylinders and at the top of their game that I definitely felt out of my league. I felt underwater and very nervous to get in there. Even Adam, he works pretty regularly and gets in the ring really regularly,” Beth explained, “and it’s intimidating to be in there with him. Even though he’s my husband, his experience level and everything that he’s done in his life and his career, I was nervous as hell. I did not want to be the weak link in that match because the other three were phenomenal, and Dominik too. I gotta give Dom his props.”
Although Beth Phoenix was hard on herself, she says that advice from FTR helped her look at things from a different perspective.
“I was really beating myself up after the match because I really wanted to be able to keep up. I felt like in some moments, I wasn’t there,” she said. “But I was talking to FTR, and they gave me some great advice that I just kind of leaned on. They said the fact that we are perfectionists, that’s why we end up at the top of our game, at the top of our business, being Hall of Famers.
“The reason we’re so hard on ourselves is because we perform at that level and expect it of ourselves. I was like okay. I don’t want to take it to heart and take it home with me and really beat myself up. But at the same time, we know, no matter how good the performance is, we can always do better,” she added. “I think that’s how you can perform well for a good long while in our business.”
More must-reads: