"I would always hope people who don't think they would enjoy a wrestling event would first come to a house show, which is a non-televised event," she says from her home near Seattle.

That's when you get to see the performers in the most relaxed environment, she says. "I think you get a little bit more to see. Sometimes the main character will stay in the ring and do his talking stuff," she explains. They don't have the same time restrictions found in packaging a TV show.

And, if you need help in understanding what's going on, it's a safe bet that someone sitting in your row will be well informed. "They'll be able to fill you in on who to like and who to hate and why and all that good stuff. They'll be able to tell you," Ivory says, laughing.

She adds this warning to those who are "non-WWF addicts." "If you don't want to spend more time in front of the TV set, you'd better not watch at all. It takes about two nights and most of those people get hooked (on WWF)."

The World Wrestling Federation has some facts to back that up. In 1999, WWF held about 200 live events in 100 cities in North America, including 18 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Attendance at live events has increased over the past three years, from about 1.1 million in 1997 to approximately 2.3 million in fiscal 1999.

The entertainment company produces nine hours of original television programming each week of the year. The flagship TV program, "Raw is War," Monday nights on the USA Network, is consistently rated the number one regularly scheduled cable television program.

"WWF SmackDown!" is the top rated program on UPN. It is estimated that WWF programming reaches between 15 million and 20 million viewers weekly.

In addition, the corporation produces 12 domestic pay-per-view events yearly. This April, "WrestleMania," WWF's premier annual pay-per-view event, generated more than 800,000 pay-per-view buys, making it one of the highest subscribed non-boxing pay-per-view programs achieving the highest number of buys.

In fiscal 1999, about 5.4 million households purchased WWF pay-per-view programs, generating retail revenues of about $150 million.

WWF licensing of thousands of retail products, including various types of apparel, toys, video games and music CDs, produced estimated revenues of $400 million in fiscal 1999.

WWF publishes two magazines (WWF Magazine and RAW Magazine) with combined annual circulation of about 5.8 million. Then there are home videos, international pay-per-view events and more.

In February of this year, the company announced the formation of the XFL, a new professional football league jointly owned with NBC, scheduled to kick-off in February of 2001. This year, the corporation is partnering with Toliver Racing to sponsor through its WWF Attitude Racing a team of drivers in the current Championship NHRA Drag Racing season.

Ivory says she is not surprised at how interest in professional wrestling has mushroomed. "I'm really glad, because everyone is doing so well," she says. It's wrestling action combined with a storyline. "It's like our favorite story lines from soaps or the kind we used to remember with 'Dallas,' with cliffhangers. We give great storylines to encourage people to tune in next time. With developing storylines you can have new faces and develop new fans."

A big "for instance," she says is Pittsburgh native Kurt Angle, the former Olympic gold medallist turned WWF star.

"I think Kurt hardly believes what happened to his career. We are all excited about his success. He's so fit and capable, but also so entertaining. With all that stuff coming out of his mouth (in character) he is so righteous you just want to slap him (she laughs). He's such a great guy. He's not a trouble maker."

She also praises the Undertaker as "a really great leader in the lockerroom."

"We love the action," Ivory says. "I love doing all the things they send me out to do. I really look forward to it. When I get out in front of fans, that's when I'm really having the most fun of all. That's true for Jackie (who she often wrestles) too. We love it. We almost feel like we should pay the people for having us (she laughs again)."

The wrestler steps out of her Ivory role a moment to speak as Lisa Moretti (holder of a college degree in marketing), her real name, to explain to people who might be attending their first WWF event what Ivory is all about.

When you see that lime green and black outfit, watch out, because trouble is coming, she says. "Ivory will change the rules and lie. She's nutty enough to go up against a big strong guy and say, 'Come on brother, let's get it on!' ''

She says she doesn't think she would prefer to be "the good guy." "In my past career (as a GLOW Girl -- that's Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), I was a good girl. The nice thing about being a bad guy is you can say whatever is on your mind. You can be really honest. You don't have to bite your tongue. You can make snide remarks." She laughs again.

Ivory says her fan mail is "pretty good." She'll have her own action figure this fall. "It's pretty neat. I don't have any kids of my own, but lots of nieces and nephews. She is my first baby doll. It has the signature purple scarf which drives the fans nuts. They hate that purple scarf because I never tell them what it's all about."

Do people boo?

"I think they learn I entertain them and they like to see what I will do for them," she says.

The women wrestlers always enjoy a non-televised show too, she says. "We don't necessarily have to be in the main storyline. Jackie and I are able to really go out and entertain the fans without the restrictions of television.

"We like to give them something to talk about on the car ride home. I want to be in someone's conversation when they leave that show that night. I want them talking about the Jackie and Ivory match."

The women really are gifted athletes, she says. "We don't have idiots running the show. They know pretty girls sell tickets. But everything at the WWF escalates. The talent of each performer has to escalate. Pretty faxes are a dime a dozen. We could have 20,000 beautiful women come through the shows, but they still would not be to the WWF standards of female performers: have lots of personality, skills and a ton of tricks stuffed down their back pockets. They expect you to pull those tricks out as the years go by. If you just look at it, the female wrestlers certainly have a lot more to offer than just looks."

Ivory says she knows when it is time to hit the gym for more work. "All you have to do is watch yourself on TV, and if I see my buns are jiggling that's enough inspiration right there," she explains, chuckling.

She enjoys the opportunity of meeting fans. "When I really feel connected to my job is when I'm meeting my fans. I never just do an autograph signing. I talk to them and meet them. If I feel like they walk away knowing me a lot better, it's a moment where you get something out of it and they get something out of it. That's why I like going to towns and performing for fans."

It certainly helps that the time seems to be right for professional wrestling.

"WWF wrestling, both on television and in live events, needs to stay in a category of its own. That's what's fun about the show. If you tune in on television, there's nothing else on TV like it. You can get as fired up about it as an NFL football game. You can watch and not know much about it and laugh and giggle at it. You don't have to take it very seriously. You don't have to get depressed watching it, like you might in watching the news every night.

"You can get a laugh watching wrestling. There's so much that is serious in the world today. A lot of professionals and other adults are tuning in because they just want to take a load off. They want to see someone take it out on somebody. Maybe they live vicariously through us."