Dana Brooke's Instagram Story Q and A Recap

It's no secret to anyone who has followed us for a while that we are huge fans/supporters of WWE Superstar Dana Brooke. With no disrespect to anyone else in the WWE women's division on Raw and Smackdown Live, we feel that Dana just might be the most underrated woman in WWE right now. For some reason, WWE hasn't pulled the trigger on letting Dana get to be the star we feel she can be. We don't expect any wrestling media to have her back, so we feel being part of the family that gave her a break in the first place (the fitness family), we want to show our support however we can, especially via out social media platforms. While we are aware of the trolls that comment on our stuff saying things like "she is no good", "she sucks", "why don't WWE release her already" and other crap like that, we are thankful for her fans who back her up while not necessarily are fans of OUR industry. Much respect to all the Dana Brooke fans out there.

Photo credit: Dana's Instagram

On March 5th, Dana did a Q and A (question and answer) for her followers on Instagram and she brought up some things we knew and some things we didn't know, so we decided to do a recap of her impromptu Q and A. This is her fifth year as a WWE Superstar (combining both NXT and WWE runs). She was blessed to have a great childhood with her parents and sisters, and the support has been with her ever since. BTW, she loves herself some chocolate. As a kid, she used to wrestle with her dad and stuff animals. Her dad and uncle had wrestling on at the time (wasn't on the Q and A, but I believe she mentioned at one point that Goldberg is one of her favorites. Dana can correct us if we're wrong on that). She was approached to join WWE and doesn't want any "what ifs" in her life, and she feels joining WWE has brought her closer to her dad. Her current favorite moments (memories) thus far is being the first person (male or female) under WWE contract to compete at the Arnold (and doing it twice), Triple H asking her to be Asuka's first opponent in NXT, dressing up at Ric Flair at Extreme Rules 2015, and last year's historic Evolution PPV, the first all-female PPV put on by WWE. Like many NXT alumni, she does miss the brand for the memories she made there, for the late, great Dusty Rhodes, and for simply being "a total badass there". She also would love to compete in the Arnold again and one day step on the Olympia stage. But as of now, her focus is on WWE and hoping to make a name for herself there. Speaking of making a name for herself, she was ask when she would get a shot at the Raw Women's Championship (currently held by Ronda Rousey). She jokingly (but not entirely joking, unfortunately) said that you would need to play as her in a video game (might we suggest WWE 2K19) for her to win it. But she is "hoping and praying after Wrestlemania doors open for her" or she'll "knock them down." (Personally, we hope she goes to Smackdown next month in the Superstar Shakeup and be in the Smackdown Women's title picture. We think she would thrive on Smackdown Live because she is going nowhere on Raw right now with Ronda, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch taking all the spotlight).

Her inspiration was (and we believe still is) Natalya. On Natalya, she said that she's "her biggest inspiration coming into WWE", someone that "always portrayed someone strong and humble". In fact, her first (and favorite) attire (black and pink), was inspired by Natalya and Trish Stratus, another person she looks up to. Trish felt honored when she found that out and give Dana a seal of approval on her Instagram. If Dana had the choice to face anyone at this year's Wrestlemania, it would be current Smackdown Women's Champion Asuka, mainly because she hasn't had her rematch from NXT: Takeover: Respect (yeah, we're not going to mention THAT one time from a couple of years ago that...well, can we even call that a match?!). Prior to WWE, she was a gymnast for 18 years, a diver for 2 years, and a pro fitness competitor for 8 years. She still talks to Tenille Dashwood (her former WWE tag partner Emma) quite a bit. According to Dana, she will always have a special place in her heart. As a matter of fact, she was beside her when she got the news that her boyfriend at the time, Dallas McCarver, passed away. Nice to hear that they still have a tight relationship even after Emma was let go from WWE.

Speaking of Dallas, his passing apparently did affect her more than just the obvious sorrow. She revealed for the first time that she has dealt with body-related self-esteem issues. As mentioned before, she has competed in the fitness division for nearly a decade, and one of the downsides to competing for several people is never feeling good enough. Her end to her fitness competition journey (for the time being, anyways) and the passing of Dallas was too much for her to take, and she did put on weight as a result. She wasn't feeling comfortable in her own skin despite being her heart and soul being the same and her caring for others the same as well. Obviously, she has found herself again as far as fitness is concerned and is looking the best she's had in a long time. Mentally, she has gotten better as well. She was a routine freak (and with her past, you can't really blame her). But she has now adjusted herself to be open for anything and be ready on the fly. She has also found love again, in the form of current NBA star (and aspiring WWE Superstar) Enes Kanter of the Portland Trail Blazers. She enjoys Turkish food and admires his faith, which is something she is deep on herself. In addition to that, they love to workout, do fun sporting activities, eat at healthy restaurants, lay in bed and laugh at silly jokes.

Photo credit: Enes's Instagram

She was asked for advice to give a new wrestler, and she said, "Always try new things! Think of the physiology behind things and story telling of the match! Make the moves mean something" (BTW, she is absolutely correct. Anyone can do a lot of power moves or endless flips, but if they don't push the objective of the storyline, then what's the point?! Make the fans give a damn about what you are going in the ring.) Also she gave advice to those that WANT to be wrestlers: make sure to get an education, which is something she still implements in WWE, especially for training.

What you see with Dana Brooke is what you get with her real-life persona, Ashley Sebera. Strong as they come, mentally and physically with "never ever stop trying" attitudes. The best things that have happened to her have been her toughest moments in life because of what she has learned about herself. In her own words: "Losing someone but learning how strong I was to overcome it! Then giving the strongest love I have in my soul to someone knowing it's ended, but feeling so happy doing it! Being so passionate about a job that sometimes doesn't go your way, but learning perseverance". She was asked in closing "Deep down are you happy" and her response was "I am extremely happy! I'm healthy, I have the best support & living the live God gives me, as long as He wakes me up, we will get through it!"

The fact she has this kind of spirit despite EVERYTHING shows what kind of woman she is and why have no problem supporting her. We do hope that wrestling fans get to know Dana like the fitness world has gotten to know her. To any wrestling sites, if you plan on using any of this article, please credit Dana's Instagram story, not us. We just put it together.

Photo credit: kimberlasskick on Instagram

Don't forget to follow Dana on the following links:

Her WWE Superstars page: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/dana-brooke
Dana's WWE-ran Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WWEDanaBrooke/
Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanaBrookeWWE
Her Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashasebera_danabrooke
Her Snapchat: Asha_danabrooke

The Evolution of Dana Brooke

Dana has EVOLVED...and we couldn't be more proud of her!
Photo credit: WWE.com

Evolution: the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.

This weekend's WWE pay-per-view titled WWE Evolution is exactly that. What felt like a dream for fans of the female superstars in WWE is now a reality. For the first time in WWE history, the female superstars get their own pay-per-view. No, we're not stupid, things could have been a TAD bit better in building the event, but the fact that it's even happening in the first place is a big win for the women. While a lot of people have talked about the evolution of the division and some of its top stars, we want to take a little time to focus on someone who we feel is underrated and underappreciated by the wrestling fans and wrestling world as a whole...someone we consider one of our own, Dana Brooke.

Real name Ashley Sebera, Dana will be competing in the Evolution Battle Royal, featuring former champions (Asuka, Nia Jax, Ember Moon), rising stars (such as Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, the IIconics) and former competitors (such as Ivory, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool) with the opportunity at a future Women's Championship down the line. While obviously we hope Dana wins, we want to take some time to mention why as we focus on Dana's OWN Evolution.

Dana begin her journey to WWE as an aspiring gymnast (part of the Junior Olympics, last we checked) and unfortunately injuries and surguries took her out of actively pursuing that further. She went into diving and was pretty damn good at it, but in her own words, "there was nowhere to go for her" in terms of diving, and let's be real, there wasn't. From there, she discovered the bodybuilding world, more spefically the bikini division. While that was cool for her...she wanted more because of her own competitive nature. From there she decided to enter the fitness division and found her niche. She would end up competing in the National Physique Committee (NPC) for a short time before competing as a pro in the International Federaion of Bodybuilders (IFBB). While she never competed on the Olympia stage, she ended up being good enough to compete on the Arnold stage (which is invite-only) two times. While competing at the Arnold multiple times is an honor in itself, it's the fact that she is the first (and as of now only) person (male or female) to do it while under a WWE contract. She did it in 2015 while in NXT, and she did it last year on the main roster. In fact, it was during her time in the fitness division where WWE would discover her.

Dana began her WWE journey at the Performance Center in July 2013 and would make her NXT debut shortly after. We do have to be honest, her debut was definitely less an ideal, but that was to be expected with most of her class having prior wrestling experienece in the indies and Dana having none before coming to the Performance Center. She definitely posessed one of the best finishers of any woman to come out of NXT up to that point, the Samoan Driver, and it got her quite a few victories, including one over one of the Four Horsewomen, Bayley. During her short time in NXT, she aligned herself with Emma and both ladies benefitted from it for a bit. It would end up benefitting Emma moreso than Dana in a way, as unfortunately Dana would suffer an injury that would limit her time in NXT as a competitor. In fact her last televised NXT match was at NXT Takeover: Respect against the debuting Asuka, who pretty much beat Dana handily that night. Everyone focuses on Asuka while no one seemed to have given Dana any credit for hanging with a Japanese legend, but as Dana would soon find out...it would be the story of her career in WWE thus far.

In May 2016, after healing from her injuries, Dana would make her main roster debut rejoining her buddy Emma, but this time with the name EnD (Emma and Dana). It lookes like they were going to attept to recreate or even surpass their NXT run, but injuries plaged it again, but THIS time, it was Emma would be sidelined, leading to Dana being directionness, until Extreme Rules 2016 where Dana showed up dressed as Ric Flair to distract Natalya and help Charlotte retain the Raw Women's Championship. Dana and Charlotte would end up being a pretty cool duo with Charlotte as the champion (and would begin her Queen transformation during that time) and Dana as the protege/lackey). Their relationship strained to the point where we THOUGHT there would be a breakup at some point but it weirdly disappeared. Then it came back for a bit and then broke up shortly before Wrestlemania 33, where they had one match against each other, Charlotte won, and it didn't go any further than that for whatever reason. Emma would return from injury and thought she would have Dana back as her buddy, but Dana was fed up with alliances so she declined the team-up. It looked like it was going to be a feud between Emma and Dana but once again...nothing came out of it. For some odd reason, at some point, it looked like a partnership was brewing between Dana and Mickie James, but again...nothing came out of it. In 2017, she was used sparringly in matches but showed improvements in her matches. After arguably the most embarrasing match (if you want to call it a match) of her career with a blink-of-an-eye defeat by the hands of Asuka, she joined Titus and Apollo (Titus Worldwide) as their statician. In all honestly, THAT went nowhere for her as she spent most of her time accompnaying them to the ring in secretary outfits holding a clipboard. Not even getting physically involved, just...well...holding a damn clipboard.

For someone with her skills, it was bothersome to see someone like Dana being wasted like this. Hell, up until recent, she was used LESS this year in matches than in 2017 despite, again, making serious improvements since her NXT days. We don't understand the logic of WWE of not using Dana in the best way possible, especially as someone who has not been shy of wanting to be in the ring more and wanting to work with children. But one thing no one, not even her haters and detractors, can deny is that Dana does her best to make due with what she has. She never makes excuses for what the cards bring in her life. That was never more clear than when she lost her boyfriend Dallas McCarver last year and she took minimum time off of WWE to mourn and came back and dedicated her matches for the remainer of 2017 and her matches this year, especially the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania Battle Royal, to Dallas (Click here to check out her touching tribute to Dallas during the Royal Rumble this year) Thankfully she has finally found love again in big-time WWE fan and current center for the New York Knicks, Enes Kanter, who is on his own path to making a name for himself in the sports world.

A thankless individual in the wrestling world
Photo credit: WWE.com

Throughout it all, good and bad, thick and thin, we have seen Dana evolve from to the NPC/IFBB to NXT and Breaking Ground to the main roster in WWE. She has suffered more loss than wins, but it has not lessen her as a person or a performer. In fact, it has made her stronger than ever before. To us, she is the most underrated WWE performer no one is talking about, and that's fine. It will make her eventual rise to the top that much sweeter. We've rooted for you for years, Dana, and we're not about to stop now. In fact, we're more in your corner now than ever before. Which is why a win at Evolution will truly be the defining win of not only her career but her life.

In her own words...PLAYTIME...IS OVER!!!!

Follow Dana at the following links:
Twitter: @DanaBrookeWWE
Instagram: ashasebera_danabrooke

Make sure to buy her merchandise at WWE Custom Tees: https://customtees.wwe.com/collections/raw/dana-brooke?sort_by=

Also, check out videos from UpUpDownDown to get to know the woman behind the character:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCcwZncNVLE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR98S2RtN-Q

Check out our other articles about Dana here:
Our thoughts on her NXT debut: http://fitgems.blogspot.com/2015/04/our-take-on-dana-brookes-debut-on-nxt.html

Why Dana competing at the Arnold is significant: http://fitgems.blogspot.com/2017/02/why-wwes-dana-brooke-competing-at.html

Cydney Gillon Creates Student-Athlete Scholarship

When an athlete uses their platform to provide opportunities to others to succeed beyond just the realm of sports, it's a beautiful thing. As the world already knows, LeBron James recently opened his I Promise School and in the near future, WWE Superstar Titus O'Neil has plans to open up a tuition-free pubic school of his own, which for anyone who has followed the career of the former Tag Team champion and founder of Titus Worldwide, that should come as no surprise. Others from football to basketball to soccer to baseball to hockey have done this, but (to my knowledge) I have yet to hear any bodybuilder do this...unil now. This week, the current number one figure competitor in the world has stepped up to the plate to prove that she is #MoreThanAnAthlete.

Hats off to Cydney on this amazing opportunity!
Photo credit: Her Instagram

Current Figure Olympia Champion Cydney Gillon announced on Monday via her social media accounts that she has launched her own student-athlete scholarship, which began taking applications on Tuesday. Here is what she said about the scholarship from her Instagram:

I am a firm believer in always giving back to the community. I’ve been a Student-Athlete my entire life; therefore, I understand juggling both endeavors can be very taxing. While attending the University of Pennsylvania for my undergraduate education, I worked 2+ jobs, ran Varsity track, joined a sorority and participated in numerous clubs while simultaneously preparing for NPC Nationals (where I received my IFBB Professional Card). I believe having financial assistance, in general, will decrease the amount of stress students have to endure.

Therefore, I am excited to announce the Cydney Gillon Student-Athlete Scholarship.  I will be rewarding 1 high school student-athlete and 1 college student-athlete $1,000. For those who are interested in participating, email me at cydney@cakefactoryfitness.com. The necessary information will be emailed to you directly. Upon receiving the information, review the requirements and submit all materials no later than September 14, 2018. At that time our board will review & the process will commence.

Winners will be announced by December 31, 2018. If you meet the qualifications or you know a student-athlete who is also qualified, #tag them so they can be aware of this opportunity. Also, feel free to #share and spread the word!

To say this is amazing would be an understatement. It's one think to SAY you want to be a role model to people. It's another thing to ACTUALLY back it up, which is exactly what Cydney is doing. And it has not gone unnoticed by the competitors, as not only did several of them congrats her on this, but Pro Physiques (which is run by current Fitness International Champion Whitney Jones) will match Cydney's scholarship amounts, meaning the high school and college athlete will get a $2,000 scholarship instead of a $1,000 scholarship. Personally, I would love to see this from more competitors. Who knows...maybe once FitGems Nation is financially able to...we just might do something like this somewhere down the line!

Check out all the links to view everything about Cydney and Whitney, as well as their respective fitness companies (Cake Factory Fitness and Pro Physiques). We can thank Cydney enough for getting this up and running and for Whitney to join her fellow sister-in-iron and supporting her by action. Good luck to all scholarship participants!

Cydney Gillon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cyd.hunay
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vytamin_c

Cake Factory Fitness
Website: https://cakefactoryfitness.com/
Email: cydney@cakefactoryfitness.com

Whitney Jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhitneyJonesFitnessPro/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhitneyJonesAZ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitneyjones_ifbbpro/

Pro Physiques
Website: https://www.theprophysiques.com
Email: AZProPhysiques@yahoo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheProPhysiques/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheProPhysiques
Main Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprophysiques/
Prep Team Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepros_ifbb_npc/