Kandi Krush is one of the most fearsome competitors on the Women of Wrestling (WOW) roster.
Krush, Coach Campanelli and Gloria Glitter (the group known as Top Tier) once held the WOW World Trios Championship. But as with everything else in pro wrestling, Krush and Campanelli turned on Glitter and kicked her out of Top Tier.
Krush’s rise in professional wrestling was far from smooth.
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The powerful puncher was once an Olympic hopeful in synchronized swimming. But injuries and what she described in a recent interview with Fox News Digital as a "toxic environment" left her dreams of a gold medal drowned.
"My dreams were essentially kind of stripped from me," she said. "But at the same time, I took control over my own future and decided to just pivot. Anytime something bad has happened in my life or, you know, ‘bad’ because, really, it's just like a lesson and maybe like a sign to switch gears, but I pivoted. I pivoted to boxing."
Krush said she was able to tap into her work ethic to go undefeated in professional boxing. But not long after she put on gloves, another obstacle was thrown in her way – COVID-19.
"I worked my way up in boxing, turned pro, undefeated as a pro and then COVID hit and like it hit all of us like a like a punch from Mike Tyson," she said. "It shut down all the boxing gyms and so it gave me a lot of time to reflect and like what do I want to do? I love being under the bright lights on the big stage which is why I turned pro in the first place for boxing. I love to put on a good show. The crowd's energy just invigorates me, excites me, and I just want to go harder."
Krush was inspired by a movie with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and thought pro wrestling was an avenue she could pursue. She said she was going to put her whole heart into the endeavor, despite never watching pro wrestling when she was younger.
She saw an advertisement for a pro wrestling tryout with WOW and decided to put her time and energy into making it in the squared circle despite the real possibility she may never make it to a match.
"Even if they call me to tell me that I'm cut, like not to show up the next day, I'm going to show up. Like, you can't tell me no. Tell me I can't, I'll show you I can. And so, I was the first one there. I was there before (WOW co-founder) David McLane even showed up at tryouts. I was the first one in, last one out. And that's my mentality. And I think that's why I've made it so far and been able to like rise the ranks in WOW so quickly. And, of course, I went back and did my due diligence and studied wrestling from the past and I had to kind of download the whole encyclopedia into my brain and body, but I never looked back. I love it."
Krush said she cultivated her resilience from her never-say-die attitude and the desire to prove people wrong as well as what her mother instilled in her throughout her life.
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"Failure is part of the journey, but in general, I don't like to lose by quitting," Krush told Fox News Digital. "I will never do that. You fail, you learn. No losses, only lessons. That's what we say in boxing. And I hold that true in everything I do. So, I learn, I get better, I move on, and I move up."
Now, "The Heavy Hitter" is determined to keep inspiring those who are watching her compete in the ring.
She recalled having a title shot early in her career at WOW and knew she probably wasn’t ready to carry the belt. However, she saw a girl in the stands begging for her to get up off the canvas to continue her fight.
"I had that shot and I remember laying on the canvas with my arm essentially broken. She had just been going hard on my arm so that I couldn't knock her out with my KO Krusher. And I remember laying on the canvas looking out into the crowd and there was a little girl that said, ‘Get up, Kandi Krush. You can do it. You can win,’" she said. "It makes me emotional thinking about it right now, honestly. And I was like, you know what? I can do it. And this is why I do it. She believes in me. I gave her a reason to believe. And if she sees me get up and keep moving forward, then she'll remember that too, that moment, and somewhere down the line when she's essentially laying on the canvas in life, she'll hopefully find the strength to get up and keep fighting.
"And so that's why I do what I do. I've always, you know, hoped for a platform where I can inspire the world to move mountains, one person at a time, even. And so, it means everything to me. This has been what I've worked towards. I didn't do it in the Olympics. I'm doing it now through wrestling, through WOW. So, I'm blessed. I'm thankful."
Los Angeles Lakers minority owner Jeanie Buss co-founded and co-owns WOW. Each episode streams on Tubi and Vice TV. The shows were taking place in Las Vegas, but Buss recently announced that Season 5 will take place at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
"Season 5 is personal for me in a new way," she told Variety. "I’m taking on a bigger, more visible role, and fans are going to see a side of WOW they haven’t seen before. I’ve spent my career fighting for women to be seen and respected in spaces that weren’t built for us, and WOW exists to give women that platform, in the ring and beyond. Women’s sports are having a real moment, and this season delivers on everything we’ve been building toward."