OhSoDivalicious has been very lucky to get in contact with Shimmer’s LuFisto, real name Genny Goulet. In our exclusive interview with the French Canadian she talks about the people, both male and female who inspired her to become a wrestler as well as her first wrestling experiences, plus who she’d like to face in a match, and of course we included our favourite game: Word Associations! In this enlightening interview, she also discusses the sensitive subject of her stroke with rather pleasant recovery that we’re happy to share on behalf of her. It has been an honour to get to know LuFisto on a much more personal level, we hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as we did conducting it.

Hey LuFisto, thank you for agreeing to do this interview.
Let’s start it off with how are you doing today?
LuFisto: I’m doing great. A little bit tired from my weekend though.

Growing up as a child, were you into wrestling at all? Did you see yourself becoming a full fledge wrestler or did you have other dreams and aspirations?
LuFisto: I was a little bit as a young kid but stopped watchning it completely at 10 years old. I was more into playing music and drawing. I wanted to be a designer or a musician. I was spending most of my time playing bass and sign in a alternative band.

However, by 14, I got interested in wrestling again because the drummer of my band was watching it a lot. Two years later, I decided to join the local wrestling school because I though wrestling was more challenging than music. It had everything I liked: Sport, creativity and performing. Also, everybody was telling me I wouldn’t make it through the classes… I wanted to prove people wrong.

Out of the wrestlers you watched growing up, who was your favourites?
LuFisto:As a kid, I liked of course, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man and Jake the Snake. When I started watching again at 14, my favorites were The Undertaker, Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels… Plus the women, Alundra Blayze, Luna Vachon and Bull Nakano.

Carry on reading our interview with LuFisto, where she goes on to talk about how she got into wrestling, what her training was like, her favourite wrestlers and much more!

How did you get into the wrestling business?
LuFisto: As I mentionned before, I joined a local school to prove people wrong. I liked the challenge wrestling could bring me but it’s when people started to say that wrestling was not for a little out of shape girl like me that it all started. I did my first appearance as the manager of my teacher so I could learn how to interact with a crowd but I was learning so fast in the classes that after 3 months of training, I had my first match…

How long did you train for, and which company was it you that you trained with?
LuFisto: I trained for 3 months before my first match but kept on training after with the local promotion in my hometown of Sorel that was known as Super Action Wrestling.

Then, I trained in Montreal with Len “Kojak” Shelley at Royal Wrestling Ring and the Proulx Brothers at Inter-Championship Wrestling… To finally end up in Japan on 2003 to train with Mariko Yoshida and Akino at the Arsion Dojo.

Tell us more about your experiences with training to wrestle – like what the experience was like, how you came up with a finisher and such.
LuFisto: I was a fast learner and I always wanted to be the first one to take or learn a new move. I remember surprising a conversation between my teacher and a friend of his where he was saying how the only girl in the class was so much better than the boys. LOL

My first finisher was the Jack-Knife… Yes, it was the Diesel days on TV so I was inspired by him to chose my finisher. As for the gimmick, it all started when I was the manager of my teacher. His name was the “Devil’s Machine” so the name Lucifer was easy to come with. It was more inspired by Undertaker and Darth Vader… I was a bad girl walking through the Dark Side. Lol

You’ve had several ring names over the years including Lucifer, Lucy Fer, Precious Lucy, Super Hardcore Anime and your current one – LuFisto. We have a three questions about this!

How did you come up with these names?

LuFisto:Lucifer and it’s slight modification Lucy Fer comes from the gimmick of my teacher when I started. Precious Lucy was given to me by the Mountie Jacques Rougeau without asking my permission to change my name first. I found out about my new name reading a local newspaper in Montreal.

In 2003, I changed my name again because I was asked to by Japanese promoters and I wanted something that sounded cartoonish… And that could be well-pronounced in any language. So, LuFisto comes from Lucy and MacPhisto (Batman) and Jedi Fisto (Star Wars). While training in Japan, I was inspired by all the mangas and animes so I came up with my actually gimmick. Super Hardcore Anime is only my nickname… It’s actually, the Super Hardcore Anime LuFisto!

What made you stick with LuFisto?
LuFisto:It’s a name that is easy to remember and to pronounced… And well, I love my gimmick! It just feels right and easy for me.

Do you still compete under any of them other than LuFisto?
LuFisto: No.

Tell us about your debut match in wrestling. Who did you face, what was going through your mind and did you mess up at all?
LuFisto: The first girl I wrestled was Sophie the Queen. She was nice but she didn’t want to take a lot of moves… So my first match was ok when you look at it but hell to plan. Also, she would stop in the middle of the match saying “no” because she didn’t want to do a move, and I’m not talking anything complicated here… It was hell for a rookie like me to lead a match while I was only trying to do my best and learn at the same time.

I’ve read that in 2002, you were booked for a (Blood, Sweat N’ Ears) main event match against a male wrestler, Bloody Bill Skullion. Apparant rules under Ontario’s athletics commision basically stated that men couldn’t wrestle women. You filed a complaint with the human rights commision of Ontario and the ‘men can’t wrestle women’ regulation got dropped – along with many other professional wrestling regulations. What drove you to do this and what was it like when they removed the regulation?
LuFisto: It was actually a tag team table death match. Bill was scheduled to be my partner. What drove me to do this is simple. Equality. I will never accept to be told that I cannot do something because of my gender. I provided many documents and called the government… It took me 4 years… But in the end, now all the wrestlers in Ontario don’t have to pay a fee to a commission that was not even taking care of their well-being and girls can wrestle whoever they want to.

A reader of the site, Mickey, sent in this question. How impowering does it feel to work hardcore matches being a girl and showing the men you can do it just as good as they can?
LuFisto: I don’t see it as impowering towards the men, but towards myself. Yes, it’s always about proving people wrong but espacially to push my own limits… And when I can succeed, it feels great. I tells me that I still can bring something good and different to this business.

Unfortunately, you recently suffered from a stroke. The team of OSD and one visitor inparticular (MariDiez) wanted to know how are you coping up after that terrible accident? Has anything in your life changed since the stroke?
LuFisto: With no scars on my brain, I just want to say that I feel great. Life is just as it was before since I suffered no damage at all. Actually, I feel better than I used to now. I’ve changed my diet, changed my training and I’m trying to get some sleep too. I’m a workhaolic so I try to slow down a bit on everything I do. I feel lighter and a lot more healthy than I used to.

MariDiez also wants to know, out of everyone you have wrestled in your career, who has been your favourite opponent?
LuFisto: Wesna, Cheerleader Melissa, Sara del Rey, Awesome Kong, Mercedes Martinez, Sami Callihan, B-Boy, Sabian and Joey Ryan… There are certainly others but these are the ones that come to mind first.

Mickey sent in another question for you! She asked what female wrestlers from the past would you have liked to wrestle and why?
LuFisto: Bull Nakano. She was my favorite wrestler when I really got interested in wrestling. Would have been an honor to wrestle her.

Megz would love to know who your favourite current female wrestlers are in the industry? And what about the male wrestlers?
LuFisto: Tough question. I like a lot of wrestlers. For women, I will say Hamada when it comes to TNA, Natalya for WWE (Although she doesn’t wrestle much, she’s the best out there) and in the indies… See above for favorite opponents. LOL

As for guys, Ken Anderson, Kaval, Kurt Angle, Desmond Wolfe and Jay Lethal.

Do you currently watch TNA or WWE?
LuFisto: Mostly only the PPV and the women’s matches.

Pam asked us to ask you if you’d ever consider joining TNA or WWE?
LuFisto: Where there is a challenge, I would like to be. However, I don’t think I have the look both companies are now aiming for… But I believe that a little Anime would be quite entertaining!

If we were to raid your iPod or music library, what kind of songs and artists would we find?
LuFisto: Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Megadeth, Hollywood Undead, Cinderella, Lady Gaga, Lordi, Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Stone Temple Pilots, Three Days Grace, Guns N’ Roses, Alice in Chains, Metallica…

Let’s play one word association!
a) Pierre Marchessault – The teacher I managed when I started – He gave me my first chance

b) Partrick Lewis – The teacher who showed me how to be solid in a brawl

c) Len Kojak Shelley – The man who first believe I was as good as the guys and perfected my skills

d) Jack Damage – Entertaining! It was always fun wrestling with Jack

e) Kacey Diamond – Could have been much more…

f) Princesa Sugey – My Mexican soulmate in the ring

g) Polly Star – Tough and funny

h) Pandora’s Box – Fun matches with great opponents for my first feud at CZW

Well thank you once again for agreeing to do this interview with us, LuFisto! Is there anything you wanna get out there to your fans or something you’d like to plug?
Lufisto: Check out www.lufisto.com for news and LuFisto Merchandise as well as www.ncwfemmesfatales.com for great women wrestling. Come see us in Montreal on October 23rd!