Brandi Rhodes Says She Has to Work Harder Due to her Last Name

In an interview with The Undefeated, Brandi Rhodes said that she feels she has to work harder than everyone else in wrestling because of her last name. Here are highlights:

On being the first African-American woman to hold an executive position in a North American wrestling promotion: “It’s great because I’ve had a lot of big ‘firsts’ in wrestling and I don’t think a lot of people know that until you have to be the one where you have to let them know.”

On being judged differently because of her skin as a child and how that changed as she got older: “That was a hard, hard lesson to tell an 8-year-old girl. But now, here, as a 35-year-old woman and still making my way as an in-ring performer, it’s something that I hear all the time in my head because it’s not because I’m black that I have to work harder than everyone else. It’s because my last name is Rhodes that I have to work harder than everyone else.”

On the expectations on her after she married Cody: “The moment I married Cody, I was supposed to be very, very elite and strong in the ring, as far as people were concerned. I’ve always had to grin and bear it. … I’ve always known that if a mistake is made, no matter what, it’s my fault. No matter what, it’s my fault. So I should just make sure there are no mistakes made.”