WWF.com: You've been to WWF New York before, haven't you?

Lita: Yeah, the first time I was here was for the Divas New York shoot. Actually, I think I might have been here one time before. I missed the grand opening. I was with the company, but I wasn't on the road yet. But the grand re-opening was my first time and then for the Divas New York Web site shoot.

WWF.com: So what dish do you recommend?

Lita: I usually just get something light. The boys, they get filet mignon when they come here -- they get like four steaks. But I kind of hang with some lighter fare.

WWF.com: I was reading about you on various Web sites, and you have some unusual interests that I wanted to ask you about. For example, you've mentioned that you're obsessed with one day riding a mechanical bull.

Lita: Yeah, and I've come like, this close so many times. And Bradshaw was going to take me out because he knows where they are all across the country. But we never quite got on the same page. I've had offers. I've actually seen a sign in the audience before, "I know where the mechanical bull is." Which is cute. I've never done it yet though.

WWF.com: How did this become an obsession?

Lita: It seems fun. I always see people bouncing around and it looks fun. And also, I remember "Urban Cowboy." The movies make it look real cool. I want to ride it like the guys ride it, not when they put it on extra-slow speed for the girls just so they can hoot and holler at them.

WWF.com: WrestleMania is in Houston this year, so maybe you'll get a chance to do it sometime during WrestleMania Weekend.

Lita: Oh yeah. I never thought about that. I'm sure I wouldn't have to do too much research to figure out where a mechanical bull is there.

WWF.com: I also read that you love Pamela Anderson and her show, "VIP."

Lita: Yeah, I love her. I think she's so great, for a lot of reasons really. First of all, she's been really successful against the odds, just because the media is always hounding her. They're trying to corner her and say, "Well, you said this." And she'll say, "You know I did. And I messed up. And actually I don't mean that because now I think this way." They always try to corner people in the media, and people try to be so stern about saying, "What can I say that won't get me in trouble and can never be taken the wrong way?" Even though it might not be what they mean. And she'll say something and she kind of bites her tongue sometimes, but you get over it, and she's still successful. And I love that about her.

WWF.com: And you really want to guest star on "VIP?"

Lita: I would love to. Actually I heard -- it could be rumor, it could be false or something -- that it just got on TNN. So maybe that will increase my chances.

Lita: I might do it if it sounded like a fun role. But "VIP" is really the only show that I want to be on, because I haven't really ever aspired to be an actress or a model. I'm really just into wrestling and the WWF, at least at this point. You ask me in six months, my answer might change. But I'm into hanging out in the WWF. They definitely keep us busy.

WWF.com: You list "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Big Top Pee-wee," "Barb Wire" and "The Wedding Singer" among your favorite movies. Is this just a coincidence or do you have a preference for silly-type comedies?

Lita: I love quirky, goofy comedy. At times you have to, but people in general take themselves so seriously. It's fun. That's the type of humor that people are almost afraid to laugh at because they feel like a dork for laughing at it, because it's so silly. But I love that type of stuff. Chyna's a big fan of that too, and we'll always pass each other in the halls and we'll just recite lines back and forth just to kind of keep our minds off the stressful day that TVs can be sometimes.

WWF.com: Have you seen "Dude, Where's My Car?"

Lita: No, I haven't. We usually wait until they get into the hotels where you can buy them that way, just because we never have any time. But it looks like something I would like.

WWF.com: You've also said that you like the city of New Orleans "in small doses." So do you have big plans for Royal Rumble weekend?

Lita: I love the idea of a party -- going out and stuff. But usually after an hour I'm going, "OK, (I'm) over it!" I get all psyched up and ready and fired up, and then once I get there, I'm going, "Hey, a bunch of drunk people falling all over each other and throwing up. Let's go home." But, you always have fun and you end up having a good story to tell afterwards. That story can stick with you long enough that you don't have to go back there too soon.

WWF.com: You play bass guitar. Do you sing too?

Lita: I pretend to. I'm not any Lilian Garcia (the Federation ring announcer) or anything. I just played in rock 'n' roll bands and stuff like that, where if you play the guitar loud enough and sing, just turn the guitar up if you're off-key.

WWF.com: The World Wrestling Federation recently launched its own record label, SmackDown! Records. Would you be interested in doing any recordings?

Lita: I'd love to. I'd love to give it a try. At least I have that opportunity to possibly do it, and then they have the opportunity to say, "You suck." (laughs)

WWF.com: Just after you turned 23 (in 1998) you went to Mexico by yourself to learn to be a wrestler. Weren't you scared?

Lita: I was a little scared. I was more scared upon my return when I actually stopped and thought about what I did, going, "Whoa I could have got killed down there." Everyone I ran into was going, "What are you doing down here? Who do you know?" (And I'd say), "Oh, no one." (And they'd say), "No seriously, who do you know?" No one could really believe it because it really was dangerous. I thought it through enough not to be blind going into it, but didn't over-think it because I knew I'd get scared.

WWF.com: You also went to Europe by yourself.

Lita: I had done a little bit of college (at Georgia State University in Atlanta) and I said, "I need to take a break from this." You're conditioned that college is the next step. I felt like I was still in high school. I took a break, and it ended up being a little bit longer than I thought it would be. For six weeks, I went to Europe with the Eurailpass and just kind of hung out down there.

WWF.com: That's two long-distance trips that you took by yourself. Where does this independent streak come from?

Lita: I've always been like that. I've always been close with my mom. She's always been there for me when I need her. Even in high school, I always came home with good grades and the cops were never calling the house, so she kind of left me alone, in a nurturing way. As long as I did what I needed to do, she trusted me enough to explore.

WWF.com: I was going to ask you how your family felt about you going to Mexico.

Lita: My mom was nervous about it. She's real cool. She'll talk to me like a friend, but then every now and again, she'll throw in, "So, have you ever thought about going back to school?" I'm going, "We were having such a good conversation, too, and you ruined it!" She knew for maybe a couple of months that I wanted to go while I was saving up money, and we'd be talking and she'd go, "Have you re-thought that Mexico thing yet? Ok, well, just be safe."

WWF.com: They say traveling is a great learning experience. Did it change your perspective?

Lita: Definitely life down there (in Mexico), it really grounds you. I'm out there having "Lita's Excellent Adventure," but this is their everyday life and they're never leaving. That was definitely a thing that will always keep me grounded -- having traveled and seeing how different people live, and knowing that they're not going to have the luxury and the opportunity to travel.

WWF.com: Where did the name Lita come from?

Lita: I don't know.

WWF.com: They just dropped it on you?

Lita: I actually, to be honest with you, found out on the Internet. Essa (Rios) and I weren't supposed to debut that day (in February 2000). It was impending, but they didn't know. They were going to have Christian get the title from Gillberg. And for whatever reason -- some (storyline that Christian) was involved in; they didn't want to take away from whatever he was doing -- they say, "You, kid, get your tights. You and your sidekick there, you're going out there." And we're going, "Ok, what are are names?" And they're going "Um (snaps fingers three times), I don't know, just go out there." And so we went out there, and we thought they were just going to tell us the next week at TV because it was Sunday Night HEAT -- it was a Tuesday taping -- and I thought they (the announcers) were just going to be like, "Whoa, who are these kids?" Because Gillberg let out an open challenge. I thought they were just going to say, "We don't even know who they are!" And then think about it. But then I saw on the Internet, for the spoilers, it said, "Essa Rios and Lita defeated Gillberg." And I was going, "Well, that's not right because that ... Oh, that's us." Still, that name doesn't quite click with me. At first, I was almost embarrassed. I was going, "Oh my God, my name is Lita." I'm fine with it now. We've grown together as a unit, my name and me.

WWF.com: Like just about every person that aspires to be a wrestler, you went through some times where you had very little money. Have you splurged on anything since you arrived in the Federation?

Lita: It's still really, really hard for me to that, because I feel like you never know what might happen. A big goal to me was, every month when I would get my check, or anytime I would make money, I'd always go, What are my bills? Here's my money. What portion can I pay of these to keep this on and this on? And what portion of my credit cards can I start to pay off? I would do that when I started with the WWF, still trying to slowly pay it off. And I remember when I had my money -- my check sitting in one hand and my bills (in the other) -- and it came out to zero. That was a really, really good feeling. I remember calling my mom and being excited. I want to buy a house this next year, maybe just something really tiny, because we're never there; we're never home. But that'll be a big splurge. That's a scary thought.

Lita: I'm asking you! I don't know. They give us some small doses. Hopefully we can maybe do something that stands out that would make them want to give us some more mic time. We're ready. The three of us travel together. We're shooting promos in the car, driving from here to there, going, "Oh, we should say this, and that."

WWF.com: Are you concerned about all the daredevil maneuvers that Jeff Hardy does taking their toll on his body?

Lita: I worry about him like I worry about everybody else. I worry about all the guys, but there are definitely certain ones that I worry about more. Jeff is such his own person; he's going to do what he wants. No one has ever pressured him into any of the stuff that he's doing, such as all the crazy bumps. If he does have to retire from it -- which I pray to God he doesn't have to -- he'll be happy that he did what he did. He gets the biggest rush out of doing all those big moves; that's why he does it. I worry about him, but he lives by the theory, You could get run over walking across the street, so I want to do this and have fun. And I agree with that to an extent. He's happy because he's making his own choices. He'd rather regret something that he did, and have done it, then to wonder.

WWF.com: You've said that two of your main goals were to have your own action figure and appear in a video game. You've got an action figure by now, right?

Lita: No, but actually last time we were in California, I did this scan, but I think they just do those and have them all on file and decide who they want to put out later. They said they're going to have one coming out of me. They're releasing the action figures in a series. And you'll collect the whole series and you cut out something on the back of the box and you send it in to JAKKS (Pacific, the maker of Federation action figures), and then you'll get my figure. I'll have go buy action figures and cut out the things to send them in so I can get my own.

WWF.com: I think they'll probably be able to give you one.

Lita: No, they don't! Fans will bring stuff up for you to sign, and you're going, "What is this? Can I have this?" And they're going, "No it's mine, just sign it." And you're going, "I've never seen this before."

WWF.com: But I know you're on a video game.

Lita: We just did the ones for SmackDown! 2 and No Mercy, that came out pretty much at the same time -- one was for PlayStation and one was for (Nintendo) 64. I just played No Mercy, and it's all based around the Ladder Match. That was really fun to play. Jeff will play as Jeff and I'll play as me, or Matt will play as Matt. We'll play each other, or we'll play our friends. That one's fun too because it has run ins, just random run ins. So we'll be playing and I'll go, "Yeah, look, Christian's come to help me out! Yeah, look at that!" That was awesome actually. I have some of the more advance video games where you can make your own character, and I've made myself. And friends have told me, "Oh yeah, we make you and play you." But to be able to go there and pick myself out and play, and doing all the moves that I do -- and it does them -- that was so fun. That was really cool.

WWF.com: Now that you've got an action figure and a video game, is there another goal that you've set for yourself?

Lita: Actually, I thought about that recently. Obviously I'm not going to say, "Ok, time to hang up the boots and retire. I've got my action figure and my video game." I'm going to have to think about that. Those are definitely things that stuck out, just because those are things that you'll always have. That T-shirt (the new Hardy Boyz and Lita long-sleeve T-shirt) actually meant a whole bunch to me coming out, especially with the three of us, being so tight with both of them. Also, it was originally my idea -- the concept of it, the graffiti-type style drawing of us -- and for it actually come into being ... Once they got the prototypes out, which still didn't mean it was going to happen, I was going "Oh, yes" because they give you one to sample. I was going, "I have this forever, even if they decide to break us up tomorrow." It's great to have those permanent things that you can look back on.

WWF.com: I heard you visited the doctor today. What's your status?

Lita: I don't really know what's going on with that. It's probably like that with all of us. Stuff ends up being a lot worse because we ignore it. Because of what we do, we're going to experience discomfort and pain all the time, and you learn to ignore it pretty quick. This is something I probably should have taken care of a long time ago, and I didn't. Hopefully it's still OK to where it's not going to be too bad. I did talk to the doctor, and he was talking his doctor jargon, and I really didn't understand it too much. Hopefully it'll be OK. I consider myself really lucky to have gotten by -- knock on wood -- as lucky as I have been. I just feel like your back is something you're always landing on; you're always going to have discomfort. That's why it's hard to hone in on it and decide when you need to see a doctor and when you need to just put some ice on it and take some Advil and realize this is what you do for a living.

WWF.com: So what was the official diagnosis?

Lita: They didn't give me an official diagnosis. They said they still had to print it out and look at it. He just said that, from what he could tell, there's cartilage that's missing between one of my vertebra, and some herniated and inflamed discs. But that could be blowing it out of proportion. Those were quotes from him, but I don't know what that means, or how inflamed or herniated. It could have just been really mild. He said it in such a mild tone. I guess because he deals with it all the time. And we had to go, so I didn't really get to ask about it.

WWF.com: Are you going to miss any TV time?

Lita: I don't know. I would really, really hope not. But I can tell you right now, if I were to take a bump it would kill me. But sometimes just a day or two makes all the difference in the world. Because we are constantly going. If they even give you an easy week on TV, that can be enough. Because we are going all the time. We haven't had as many house shows (non-televised events) right now because of the holidays. That's probably doing more good.

WWF.com: Actually, you don't have to worry about TVs this week because you're filming a Chef Boyardee commercial in California, right?

Lita: We go straight from TVs, we fly out the next morning. We work an indy (independent) show (an Ultimate Pro Wrestling event on Wednesday, Dec. 20) that night and then film the commercial all day (Thursday) and take a red eye out to get back to TVs (Friday and Saturday).

WWF.com: It's your first commercial, right?

Lita: Yeah, it's my first commercial. When they told us about it, that was really exciting. We got to see the ones with Big Show and Mankind and (Chris) Jericho's. That's something else we'll record or we'll always have.

WWF.com: Do you know the premise of the commercial? Can you give us the inside scoop?

Lita: I don't know. After I left and already packed, they told us, "You're going to be in the mountains, it's going to be cold." Well, I got a couple of T-shirts and I just picked up my WWF New York fleece sweatshirt.

WWF.com: So you'll be wearing your new fleece sweatshirt out there.

Lita: Right, until they go, "Ok, but we're going to act like it's really warm, and you're going to be wearing bikinis." And you have to put your sweatshirt on until you go out there.

WWF.com: You still get nervous before you go out to the ring?

Lita: Every time. I think everybody does. It definitely does depend on what I'm doing. If I'm just going out there and I'm basically a backdrop, and I'm maybe just doing one really minor interference, or just not doing anything at all, I'm still nervous to go out there. But it definitely heightens. The real killer was, I remember, the cage match (at September's Unforgiven). It was the most nervous I've ever been before. I was scared of what I was doing -- the huricanrana off the ladder to Christian. And I'm always scared whenever the guys are out there in a higher-risk match. Regardless of whether I was sitting in the back and I wasn't even with them, I'm going to be going nuts. And on top of that being nervous about what I was actually doing, I never felt that nervous before.

WWF.com: Do you think you'll get less nervous as the months go on?

Lita: I think a lot of it's just that you're excited nervous. I mean I would hope that you would always be nervous. Everyone has their own ritual before they go out -- whether it's jumping around or stretching or whatever. I have to do that, but I have to breathe deeply and slowly. I have to calm myself down before I go out there instead of amp myself up.

WWF.com: Have you thought about WrestleMania, where you'll be performing in front of more than 60,000 people?

Lita: I can't think too far in advance. I live by the day. I'll sit there and I'll fantasize about, "God it would be really great if I can do this or that at WrestleMania." But I really won't start thinking about it until probably a month before.

WWF.com: But that'll be the largest crowd you've ever performed in front of, right?

Lita: Oh, absolutely.

WWF.com: What advice do you have for young women who want to follow in your footsteps?

Lita: Right now it's so much easier to get at least started in the business than it was before. There are so many reputable schools you can research. It's just a really good, safe way to get your foot in the door. There are enough of them out there. Some of them cost quite a bit, but it's a costly investment. Whether it's driving to go somewhere, you're always going to incur costs. That's a good way to start. But also, go to the indy shows, and look and just kind of hang out. The best way to learn is by observing.

WWF.com: You're 25. Where do you see yourself at 30?

Lita: I don't know. I couldn't tell you what I'm going to be doing in six months, two months. Thirty. As all of us are growing older that doesn't sound old to me, but it always has. It doesn't sound too old to me anymore, but maybe I'm just preparing myself. But I have no idea. I would hope to still be here and involved with the WWF in some capacity, especially with the women's division growing. I hope that it grows -- we're creating a base. A lot of us, Molly Holly and Trish (Stratus), are also very young, in their early 20s. Hopefully, we're creating a base for the future to make this not just a phase, as women's wrestling has been in the past. So I hope to still be a part of that.