(http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-traci-brooks/index.html)
Today she’s one of wrestling’s most glamorous stars, but Traci Brooks is just a small-town girl at heart. In fact, the native Canadian spent her childhood in rural Ontario growing up on a farm. “I was covered in pig shit until I was 19,” she says with a laugh. After winning a calendar contest in Toronto, Traci revealed in a local paper that her life’s aspiration was to be a professional wrestler. She soon hooked up with a trainer, and in 2003 she got her wish when she was hired to be part of the sexy stable of Knockouts on the Total Nonstop Action wrestling network (TNA), which airs on Spike TV.
Between the hair pulling and body slamming, Ms. Brooks found time to pose nude before Playboy’s cameras. She also snuck in some time with Playboy to divulge a few little-known facts, including how it feels to battle her fellow Knockouts and why big guns and big breasts don’t always mix.
PLAYBOY: How did wrestling become a hobby for you?
BROOKS: I used to watch Maple Leaf Wrestling with my dad when I was little. I grew up in Canada so that’s what we watched out there. It made me an instant fan—I lived it and breathed it. I used to get mad watching it, though, when girls just sat there with their men and clapped. I was a firm believer in “Whatever a guy can do, a girl can do better” and I wanted to prove it by getting in the ring.
PLAYBOY: Your job requires you to battle it out with your fellow Knockouts on a daily basis. Is it harder to body slam one of your friends?
BROOKS: Actually, you have a habit of hitting harder when you know the person. It’s like that for the guys, too. You know you can get away with hitting them extra hard and you just buy them a beer later. You have to be able to trust them with your body because you’re giving it to them.
PLAYBOY: While you were in Iraq, you had an awkward injury. What happened there?
BROOKS: [Laughs] Yeah. I was in Iraq entertaining the troops and I got to shoot an M240, which is basically a big-ass gun. I had a low-cut shirt on and the bullet shells fell back and down into my shirt. I thought I melted my implant, but I didn’t. It burned my nipple, though. Burned the damn thing right off! The poor medics out there didn’t know what to do.
PLAYBOY: What should viewers expect from your fights this season?
BROOKS: A lot of athleticism. The talent these girls have in this company is incredible. We’ll bring sex appeal and tell a story, the good and the bad. What we do is sports entertainment and, holy crap, the girls do some really cool stuff. People will be surprised at how hard we can hit.
PLAYBOY: What’s been the hottest wrestling costume you’ve worn thus far?
BROOKS: I did this thing, while I was managing another wrestler, Robert Roode. I was Ms. Brooks, the “CEO.” I did the suit, the glasses, the hair tied up tight, stuff like that. It was a lot of fun.
PLAYBOY: What’s the best part about having sex with a female wrestler?
BROOKS: We’re pretty feisty. My fiancé has a few bruises on him. [Laughs] We’re always out to prove something. Women are usually very passive people. Women wrestlers are very aggressive.
PLAYBOY: What’s your Achilles’ heel?
BROOKS: I have a condition called Erb’s Palsey. When I was born, I was a large baby, and my mother was petite. They had to yank me out and all the tendons in my right arm snapped. It’s been a huge disability in my eyes. I can’t lift more than five pounds with my right hand and I used to hate looking at myself in the mirror. Working out is frustrating, and there are days I don’t want to go back to the gym. But the people I work with are great with me. Now that I’ve done Playboy and am on TV, I feel like people look up to me, so I see it as something cool I’ve overcome and can be proud of it now.
