Madusa Reveals Why She Was 'Scared' About Entering WWE HOF

Women's wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Madusa is now viewed as a mentor to many young women's wrestlers. Her frequent appearances on "WWE NXT" in recent years have often been opposite the future stars of WWE's women's division. However, this is a relatively new phenomenon for the former WWF Women's Champion, who had a strained relationship with the company for years leading up to her 2015 WWE Hall of Fame induction.

Madusa was recently interviewed by Lars Frederiksen and Dennis Farrell on "The Wrestling Perspective Podcast," and she spoke about the leadup to her 2015 induction. When asked if she was hesitant to accept the induction, she was quick to laugh at the idea. "Reluctant? No, I was scared!" Madusa clarified. The Minnesota native continued, "I was getting ready for a race, and my phone went off with a text. The first message was 'hey, this is WWE, please call us,'"

Madusa, who assumed she still had heat with the company after dropping the WWF Women's title in the trash on "WCW Monday Nitro." She chalked up the texts from WWE as a fan getting ahold of her number and not the real deal. "He must need my new address for tax reasons or something," Madusa thought before eventually calling them back and having a conversation about her induction. "My first question was, 'does Vince know?'"

Madusa's negative departure from the wrestling industry made her nervous about returning in any capacity, with the question of whether or not people within the company would accept her back. These fears were thwarted when she did reemerge in 2015, saying, "Everybody was so amazing... They were all asking questions, they were in awe... They were so polite."