Layla El appeared as a guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet for an interview covering all things WWE.
The following are some of the highlights.
How does it feel being back out there again? “I’m enjoying it. It’s different, and I think because I was gone for so long, people expect me to look like I did in 2015 when I retired. So it’s been a little bit hard, getting used to social media and hearing, ‘she looks different’ or stuff like that.”
Your break was almost 10 years, right? You retired from WWE in 2015. What made you step away from everything? “If you look back, for me, I started in 2006, so I was there for nine years, and I’ve been traveling. I was never a part-time talent, I was always full-time, and we worked a lot at that time. I just was like, I’m 38, what am I gonna do? My looks, you get to the point, you don’t look the same, and I’m getting tired and worn out from just traveling all the time, stuff like that. Where was there really for me to go? I kind of did everything, and they were coming in with the new girls, younger, fresh. So I just was like, it’s just time to go. Then that’s what I did. I just made up my mind one day, I went in, and I just asked, ‘Can I have my release, please? I just want to go.’”
Had you been thinking about it for a while? “No, I just literally [decided], honestly. Vince actually signed me to a new contract, and I don’t know, I just woke up and I was just like, it’s just time.”
What was the reaction when you asked to be released? “I had to wait because I left. I didn’t even stay that day. I was just like, guys, I’m done.”
What made you come back? “I think I wanted to come back out there and start working again.”
You don’t mean working by having matches? “Oh God, no [laughs]. I meant just coming out there, working events and stuff like that. I left a lot of money on the table when I walked away. Because I still think that it’s nice to go to wrestling events, and like you were saying, the nostalgia and stuff like that. Since I’ve been gone for so long, it’s nice to go back.”
Was there ever an invite for you to be part of the Women’s Royal Rumble or Evolution? “Yeah, actually, I got invited to a couple of [things]. I can’t remember exactly which ones, but the last time I think they invited me was in 2021, but I was pregnant.”
So would you want another opportunity somewhere in the future, if it was a one-off thing, an anniversary show or something like that? “Maybe. Yeah, maybe I think so. If the offer comes in, I probably would say yes.”
Michelle McCool is now a Hall of Famer. Do you ever think that you might get inducted? “I don’t think so.”
Maybe as LayCool? “That would probably be the only way.”
Is it true that around that time in WWE you turned down Playboy? “Yes. Well, actually, it wasn’t just me at first. So, what happened was we were called into the office, and it was Kelly Kelly, Brooke Adams, and myself. I think it was 2007, I think Maria actually did the cover, and they were like, we want to do extreme expose for Playboy, and I was like, no. I’m not too sure what they said, but then because I didn’t want to do extreme expose, they offered Kelly Kelly and myself individually, and I think they’d offered me like $250,000 to do it. I was like, no, I’m not doing it.”
Why’d you say no? “Honestly, I was really scared, because a lot of people don’t know this, I’m Arab. So my actual family, I’m an immigrant in England, but I’m of Moroccan heritage. So I was concerned that my family, who were Muslim. I was always told don’t do anything like that, you can’t, so I was also very scared of what [they would think]. My brother would have been so mad. So that’s why I said no. I was just like, I think that’s going too far. What I’m doing already is a lot with them and all the modeling stuff. I’m glad I said no, because I really couldn’t see myself going through the shoot. But I’m also sad I said no, because I could have probably retired that year.”
Watch the complete interview via the YouTube player embedded below.
