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TNA News: Transcript of Trenesha Biggers's TV interview with her claims of domestic abuse, fearing Angle would kill her, TNA's role in the dispute
Nov 11, 2009 - 4:41:54 PM |
By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor
ABC Ch. 4 in Pittsburgh published the complete TV interview with Kurt Angle's ex-girlfriend, Trenesha Biggers, going in-depth into her accusations and claims against Angle of domestic abuse and feeling threatened that Angle would kill her. The interview was conducted on Tuesday, November 10 with ABC's Michelle Wright prior to the court hearing where all charges against Angle were dropped. VIDEO Link.
Wright: First of all, let's talk about what happened yesterday in court. You were satisfied with that, why?
Biggers: The reason why I was satisfied with settling was because we were able to come to an agreement where he would actually admit that a physical altercation that occurred.
Wright: And, before, he said that nothing happened?
Biggers: He stuck to his guns that nothing has ever happened; that I had no reason to be afraid of him; that there's been no physical altercation. But, now, he has come forward and he has indeed admitted to that - that there was a physical altercation.
Wright: And why was that so important to you?
Biggers: (deep sigh) That is very important to me because, as I have stated before, I haven't really spoken very much about this or done very many interviews, but justice for me is for people to know the truth. That's what justice for me would be. I want people to know that domestic violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. And for someone to commit acts such as what he did toward me and to just deny them outright was very disheartening. That hurt just as much as what happened. There's so many women out there that don't think that anybody will believe them - they won't come forward. This is one of the most under-reported crimes that our country faces today. So many people - as we speak right now - are being abused by somebody who they think that they love or loves them. And that stops them from reporting it.
Wright: Talk about what happened that night then.
Biggers: (deep sigh) Well, that day, I really don't want to go into too many specific details, but I was attacked once again. It wasn't as vicious of a beating as I received before.
Wright: When you say beating, what does that mean?
Biggers: Um, by beating, I just mean like a mauling, an attack - anything that somebody would use in combat. Husband used against me before by this individual. At this time, I was trying to call 911 when this attack happened. I was prevented from doing that. He did what he needed to do to stop me - physically - from calling 911.
Wright: So what happened next? You weren't allow to call 911. Did something spark the attack?
Biggers: Yeah, it was sparked by some comments that he was, uh - a conversation that he was trying to engage in with me in reference to a domestic violence situation against another individual which had accused - I didn't really want to discuss that with him being that I was a victim myself. To me, it was kind of confusing and a little bit like another blow for him to come to me for comfort (laughs) on that issue. I know first hand.
Wright: So what happened? How did it end?
Biggers: The actual incident?
Wright: You weren't allowed to call 911.
Biggers: I wasn't allowed to call 911. I don't want to go into too many specifics, as we will be discussing this in great detail before the judge (on Tuesday afternoon) actually. This wasn't the first time that it happened, so it wasn't like "Oh my gosh, again." This was probably the seventh time something like this has happened. It's almost like an out-of-body experience every time and you don't want to believe that it's happening. You've believed this person so many times and he's apologized to you so many times and promised you it would never happen again and you want to believe. Then, when it happens again, you - you almost want to lie to yourself and convince yourself it's not happening.
Wright: Were you frightened?
Biggers: Terrified. At this point in time, because I saw there was no control over - (pause to collect thoughts). The first few times that it happened, I believed that maybe it won't happen again, but at this point in time, I was like, 'The next time this happens, I could die.' He could kill me. He has a lot riding on me reporting me. His reputation is one of the things that is most important to him, as everyone can tell. But what's really important is that I'm safe; that I don't put myself in a situation where I have to fight back to the point where I could be killed.
Wright: Did you fight back?
Biggers: I would -
Biggers's attorney (off-camera): I don't know if you should answer that.
Wright: Okay, that's okay. A lot of people are going to watch the interview and they've seen you dressed up in wrestling gear and they've seen you fight in the ring and maybe they're going to see you as someone who could be aggressive - a woman who can take care of herself. How would you respond to their thoughts?
Biggers: Well, what it boils down to is that first of all - outside of the wrestling thing - this is still a man and a man who is accomplished in fighting on an Olympic level. So, there's no comparison physically - if we were to get into a fight - who was going to win. Okay, so I don't think that should be taken into consideration first and foremost. It's a man and a woman and I'm a person who likes to say, 'Yeah, women are strong and this and that,' but when it comes down to it, a man is always stronger than a woman. It's never a fair fight. Secondly, as a wrestler, we are physical, we are athletes. We are coordinated to perform basically a live action movie. We're not trained to actually hurt people. We're trained to entertain crowds; we're trained to perform moves that - if we're in a stadium where there's 50,000 people there, we're trained to let the people that are all the way up in the nosebleed section be able to see what we're doing in the ring. So, what we do is more of a performance-based type of job rather than a combat job. It's not as if we're UFC fighters - I'm not a boxer, I'm not a UFC fighter. I'm a trained stunt actress; a trained performer.
Wright: Do you think that persona (Rhaka Khan), though, is being held against you now publicly?
Biggers: Well, I'm not sure. I really don't know if it is or not. I just know that I'm a human being and people may see me as this person that's on television and that's a pro wrestler herself; I was a college athlete and all that stuff is great, but what it boils down to is I'm still a human being when this happened to me. And it happened to me. That's another thing that people need to understand is that I didn't do this to myself. When this happened to me, I was really hurt physically and emotionally. I was really ashamed because of that persona that I'm held to. I'm supposed to be this person that's confident and strong. People would say, 'Yeah, right, why would she stay around and take that?' What it boils down to is that character you see on TV is not the person you're talking to right now.
Wright: Why did you stay around and take that?
Biggers: I don't know. Looking back on it, like, I have no answer. And that's another part of the shame that comes into this. The very first time that he did attack me should have been the very last time that he did attack me. Maybe now, if there is some spotlight put on this - he's been talking so much and I've been talking so little that it's got to the point where maybe I felt like I need to say something because I don't want his bullying in the media to be something another woman can sit back and watch and say, 'I'm not going to talk now because they can just deny it.' The shame of what he can pretty much say in the media has actually helped me to be able to talk to you (Wright) today because he's said everything falsely that you could say about me to this point. So, I really don't have any reason not to come forward and to be an example for now. I'm not going to stop fighting this. Just because we settled yesterday - I don't want anyone to be confused - he agreed to stay away from me for three years in that settlement. That three years was very comforting for me. If she granted six months, I may have been a little more terrified. Six months isn't that long. Three years - all the language in our agreement was identical to what she would have ordered. Same exact language. Same exact rules apply. Third party contacts - I don't have to worry about his family or any of his friends contacting me or there will be consequences for that.
Wright: Did anyone put any pressure on you because of this case because Kurt Angle is very popular here (Pittsburgh) and in the wrestling world? Did you feel pressure to not bring these charges forward?
Biggers: There were some comments made. Again, that's another thing I don't want to get into too much. There were comments made if I was sure I wanted to do this because I would be forcing individuals (in TNA management) to choose and make a choice. At this point, the worst possible thing has happened and choices have been made. But, then again, I'm also safe and I don't have to pull behind those gates every day - ya know I'm pulling up to a beautiful home (Angle's house) in the middle of a preserved forest, but I'm terrified and scared and sick to my stomach. I'm much happier where I am right now and I just want everything and all of this just to be settled, the truth to be out, and everything to be behind me.
Wright: One more thing. What do you do now? You're still in wrestling?
Biggers: Well, actually, that's another thing I'm not going to be able to comment on too much. This whole case has affected my wrestling career greatly, as I assumed that it would. That's another reason - if you were wondering or if people were wondering - that I had to a make choice to pretty much know that I would be putting my career on the line to come forward. Most women that come forward for domestic violence don't have to worry about being fired from their job if they tell. There's a lot more factors that came into play when I had to make this decision. The day that I actually went in for that hearing - and when I went to police (on August 15), I was only going to document the incident. I told the officer who took the report, 'I want someone to know what happened in case I'm not alive and no one knows what happened to me because I hadn't told anyone what was going on, not even my own mother until the day of the report.
Wright: What date was that? August - something?
Biggers: It was about a week later (after the incident).
Wright: But, in August? It started in August?
Biggers: The date that I went to report what happened, I had to be in Orlando to perform (at the No Surrender PPV the next day). I was debuting again and I was ready to be in the women's tag team championship (the tournament started at the TV taping following the PPV). Since I went to the police, I can say that none of that ever happened.
Wright: So, you're not going to talk about your future, but do you have plans? Are you working on something?
Biggers: Oh, I have plans. I'm not going to let anything derail me from my dreams. This was a little bump in the road that I experienced.
Wright: When you look back at it, how upsetting is it - the bump in the road?
Biggers: (pause) I think that sometimes when you hit a bump in the road, it knocks you back onto the right path. Maybe I wasn't going in the right direction in the first place.
Wright: Anything else that you want to say that you really wanted to get across?
Biggers: I just want it be known there's no possible motive that I could have for making frivolous charges. There's no motive for me; there was no benefit for me in coming forward except for the #1 benefit of safety and creating awareness for domestic violence. Again, it's so important for women out there who are going through this to come forward. You can watch my life and watch what I'm going through with this powerful individual who's able to go on every radio outlet and every media outlet that he can affect my career directly and he can do many things based on his fame and he's able to push that around and use it. But, at the end of the day, the truth will still be out there. And I'm still alive and I'm here today talking to you (Wright) and I haven't been attacked or beat up. Every time that happens (pause), it does something to you on the inside. And so, I haven't experienced that since I left.
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