ODB wasn’t always the compelling character fans have come to know and love on television and for that, she had some help coming out of her shell from Al Snow — and Walt Disney?
ODB is back with IMPACT Wrestling, making her first appearance on last week’s show. Known for her loud personality and antics, the former Knockouts Champion says she wasn’t always that way and used to be a bit of an introvert. While speaking with Ella Jay of the A Wrestling Gal podcast, ODB said she first figured out she liked entertainment when she worked as a Walt Disney World cast member, but it was Al Snow and Danny Davis that finally unleashed the character you see on TV.
“I actually think the time I really got out of my shell was, I got a chance to work at Walt Disney World. I got a chance to do a college program when I was 19, I believe, and I got to work at some of the parks. One of my favorite rides was The Jungle Cruise, so I got to be the ‘skipper.’ I was your boat [captain] and I think that helped me in front of people, it opened me up more. I had to know the whole schpiel because you’re on the boat for a good 20 minutes with people,” ODB explained, “and if your boat got stuck, you had to keep talking. So that definitely helped me develop, like, ‘Ooh, I like this’, being in front of people and entertaining.”
“And obviously, I wasn’t ‘ODB’ quite yet, because I don’t think Disney would have allowed me to be ODB, so I was just Jessie for a bit there, and once I discovered that I wanted to become a wrestler, it just kinda came out as I traveled. I paid my dues, as they say, and I really discovered that, ‘OK, I’m calling myself ODB but I don’t even know what she is’. Then I got to OVW and Al Snow and Danny Davis were the two that got ODB out of her shell and said, ‘OK, who is ODB? What does ‘One Dirty Bitch’ mean? We haven’t seen her yet, let’s do it.’ So, that’s pretty much when the character got polished up before I went to TNA,” ODB said, “I just let her out and they pretty much said, ‘Do what you want, we’ll tell you if you need to back it off a little bit.’ But they never did, they said to keep going.”
Check out the full episode below:
Related: ODB Is Not Returning Full-Time To IMPACT Wrestling, Says It Felt Good To Be ‘Home’
