So her monster truck has a pink paint job and she has no problem posing in a bikini.
Don’t let the femininity fool you. Debrah “Madusa” Miceli has been crunching cars and catching air alongside her burly Monster Jam counterparts since 2000 with a pair of world championships to her credit.
Injecting girl power into a male-dominated world is nothing new to Miceli. As a professional wrestler for 18 years, she won the WWE Women’s Championship three times and was the first woman to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship.
These days instead of pile-driving opponents, she’s driving her Madusa truck in arenas all over the globe, garnering fans of both sexes and inspiring others in the process.
Q.: What hurts worse? Taking a hard bump in wrestling or tumbling in a monster truck?
A.: You've got a 10,000-pound machine with about 1,500 to 1,800 horsepower. The g-force is incredible. So I would say I used to beat people up for a living; now the truck beats me up. I take more of an impact by far with the monster trucks, absolutely. It's not really an opulent job. It's a downright dirty, motor-grinding, dirt-slinging, redneck-loving job. You have to be a gear head or you might as well step right out. It's loud, there's fuel burning everywhere and a lot of testosterone flying around, which I'm used to. … Everybody bows up and you've got these great big, nice Southern boys. … It's a whole different playing field next to the narcissism of men in pro wrestling.
Q.: Did you ever imagine becoming a monster truck driver?
A.: Hell, no. I retired from wrestling in 2001 and a year and a half before, I got a phone call asking me if I wanted to drive a monster truck. I said, "Are you kidding me?" I had never seen one, never been to a show, had never driven one. But they knew I was a gear head and could put (people) in the seats. So they flew me out to meet with Dennis Anderson, the creator and founder of (truck team) Grave Digger. He's just a brilliant, warm, loving man and he's very good at what he does. … I got there and saw the look on his face. His words were, "What are we going to do with this chick? A wrestling girl is coming into our world with our monster trucks?" But he decided to give me a try. … I got on with the truck great and I just kept on practicing. … I got out of the truck [one day] and they said, "Have you ever driven before?" And I said, "No." And they said, "You're hired."
Q.: How has your popularity on the Monster Jam circuit changed the fan base?
A.: I'm a big advocate for women. … After knocking down some doors, sure enough, there were women and children coming to our sport more and more. All of a sudden I had all of these autograph lines longer than Grave Digger's. And (the organizers) are scratching their heads going, "Oh, God. We've just created a monster." … What's really rewarding in my career right now is that I'm a role model for little girls. These girls are dressing up in pink, spray painting their hair pink and wearing tutus. … It's been a great ride.
Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam. 7 p.m. Feb. 16. $15-$75 plus Ticketmaster fees. Georgia Dome, One Georgia Dome Drive, Atlanta. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
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