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LAS VEGAS – Johnnie Robbie will enter WrestleMania week as a relatively unknown and rising professional wrestling star, but when the dust settles in Las Vegas this week, fans will surely know who she is.
Robbie is a California native who trained in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and has made brief appearances in Ring of Honor and All Elite Wrestling. She will begin the week as the West Coast Pro Wrestling Women’s Champion. He will have about a half-dozen matches throughout the week, headlining the company’s program and competing in several others.
He opened up to Pak Gazette Digital about his background and how he got started.
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Johnnie Robbie hits Persephone with a crossbody off the top rope. (Courtesy of Marc Blair)
“I watched it a little bit when I was a kid,” Robbie said of his start in professional wrestling. “I kind of dropped it. Then my best friend got me into it and then I started watching it again. And then I thought I’d rather do it than watch it. A little bit about Johnnie Robbie, she just doesn’t take anything from anyone.
“I come from Chicano roots, the way I was praised quite a bit. From the sneakers I wear to the way I dress, you can see it’s street style and some people can remember it at home.”
Robbie said he initially started training as a referee before he could receive more cards.
“My best friend, like I said, was like, ‘Oh, figure out how to become a wrestler because you always say you want to be something new every day,’ and this was something that I looked up and tried to find a school because it’s kind of hard to find a school, especially here in Los Angeles because there’s only a handful of them,” he said. “I started training and then I didn’t learn as much as everyone else and my coaches at the time, they suggested that I become a referee until I was ready for my main debut. I think that’s how they did it: in the school where they came from, they would do it. I took the idea from there.”
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Robbie told Pak Gazette Digital that he is trying to amplify his roots when he steps into the ring.
He said the gear he wears from head to toe has something to do with where he’s been and his background.
“I’m here to have a good time and so I’m upset or pissed off and I tend to get angry very easily. I think I tend to show that in the ring. I have a quick temper and if I’m on top, I get a little, I don’t want to say arrogant, but I feel very comfortable,” she said. “I think mainly what you see is someone who is not as big as others or just able to take hits and the way I move in the ring.
“I think that looks good in terms of… One of my best friends, Alan Breeze, tells him, ‘I don’t know what my style is,’ and he says, ‘You’re a little pit bull, you’re a little dog, you’re like a mess.’ Your style is, I think he said, ‘scrappy.’ I think that comes into play when I’m wrestling. You can see that. Like I said, I’m inspired by the way I was raised by a bunch of ‘Cholos.’ Chicano. I think you see a lot of that when I’m in the ring.”
Johnnie Robbie feels the wrath of Persephone in the ring. (Courtesy of Marc Blair)
Robbie emphasized that it is important for her to be able to share her experience with the people who attend her shows and the big difference that it makes.
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“Personally, I love it because sometimes people are like, ‘Oh, you’re kind of cool,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, you just don’t understand it because you’ve never seen it before.’ Unlike when I’m here in L.A. or up north in San Francisco with the West Coast, I have little girls that look like me or I have older fans that are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you remind me of my sister, you remind me of my aunt,'” Robbie said. “Little girls see themselves in me or they see their big sister in me.
“So, I think it’s if you don’t recognize where I come from or if little kids see it or if people who grew up like me see it, that just makes a difference. I’m happy to be that person that you remember somewhere because even if you’re not familiar with the way I was raised compared to a little girl here in Los Angeles, you’re still being introduced to it. So I enjoy the fact that, ‘Oh, this is what they mean by that.'”
Robbie said he will participate in six games during the week, but it was not his initial move.
She said she hoped to do at least three matches and put on quality shows, until more people started calling her to fight on their shows. The busy mindset is a driving force for Robbie.
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“I think we’re all trying hard… But they watched me, a fan made a list of everyone who had games, and I remember thinking, like, ‘Oh, I only want maybe three games this year,’ because last year I think I had that many. I want quality over quantity,” Robbie said. “I didn’t want to be more or less booked. And then I just had these opportunities, big names or people I’d always wanted to fight. I was like, ‘Oh, well, okay, I guess I’m free, so…’ The world is here.
“If you’re not out there having a lot of (matches), or if you’re just not out there at all, I hope you like going out there. I know it’s hard, it’s a full week off. Generally, for me, that rush mentality, are you giving it your all in terms of what you can do? If I could do three fights and all I could do is have those three fights and get to WrestleMania week, that’s good enough… It’s okay to lose it too because the hustle goes on in the other side. What can you do if you don’t show up that week? For me, I take advantage of every moment and every opportunity to pursue whatever it is and at the same time I understand that there are limitations, as long as you do it and you don’t complain and you don’t, to me, you’re pushing.
Johnnie Robbie appears in a Ring of Honor match against Persephone. (Courtesy of Marc Blair)
Robbie will be among dozens of wrestlers taking part in matches throughout the week.
He will begin his week with two matches on Wednesday: one in Pandemonium Pro Wrestling and another with Unapologetic Pro.
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On Thursday night, Robbie will defend the West Coast Professional Women’s Championship in her event and then follow up with a Marvelous event. He will then also go for another belt in PrideStyle Pro, facing Chris Nastyy for the PrideStyle World Championship on Friday night. It will be the first of two games there.
