Lita's Fight: From Punk Roadie to WWE Icon

Most people know her as Lita, WWE’s wild, high-flying star, but Amy Dumas is just as compelling outside the ring. She left home to learn Lucha Libre in Mexico, clawed her way up the indie scene, became one of the first women in a cage match and a four-time WWE Women’s Champion, all while dealing with tabloid heat. She stepped away from WWE at a tough moment, but never really left wrestling, and her story still pushes others to chase big goals.

From Punk Shows to Lucha Libre Training

Music was Lita’s first passion, not wrestling. She lived the punk scene, worked as a roadie, and said punk shows were like church to her. A boyfriend watched wrestling and one night she peered in and thought, 'It’s like being a rockstar and a martial artist in one job.' That led her to Mexico, where she spent weeks convincing trainers to take her seriously, went home broke, saved up and came back to train hard.

Breaking In: Aerial Moves and Fame

She signed with WWF around 1999 and soon became Lita, managing Essa Rios before rising as an in-ring star. Teaming with the Hardy Boyz as Team Xtreme turned her into a household name and let her show off a wild, acrobatic style. Her signature hits included the DDT Lita-style, head-scissor takedowns, one-legged monkey flips and the famous corner backflip moonsault. Those moves and her fearlessness helped her grab multiple Women’s Championships.

Storylines, Backlash, and Walking Away

WWE often blurred the line between script and life, and that cut both ways for Lita. A mid-2000s storyline tied to real-life drama with Matt Hardy brought heavy public backlash and people yelling at her in public. She pushed back on writing she didn’t agree with, but the office shrugged it off as business, and she felt like a byproduct of decisions she couldn’t control. The pressure and fallout led her to step away from WWE in 2006 to protect herself.

New Chapter: Producing Women's Stories

Being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 made her reflect and want to shift the narrative. Lita teamed with Gail Kim and Christy Hemme to build KAYfABE, a project meant to tell women’s wrestling from women’s eyes with live crowds and real matches. Production paused because of the pandemic, but a teaser has fans excited and the aim remains clear: open doors and show the honest side of the business. She still preaches the same lesson she lived by, that the path might change but there’s always a way to make your dream happen.

Finishing Touches

Lita built up quite a reputation for all of her trade moves during her matches, but it was always those classic finishing touches that would win the fight once and for all. One of her most famous finishing moves was the intense, “almost-too-painful-to-watch”, backflip off the ring corner to the ground, known as the “Moonsault”. It takes confidence, precision, stamina, and some intense strength to be able to pull off all of the moves that Lita has been able to perform ‘til today. So how exactly did she get started with it all?

An Ambitious Dreamer

As a child, Lita and her family moved around a lot, and her parents separated before she graduated high school. But none of that ever stopped her from dreaming big and feeling ambitious about it. In fact, speaking of ambitious, she even graduated from high school six months earlier than the rest of her class! So, while Lita’s education and experience might seem to be all thanks to her street-smarts, she’s clearly quite book-smart, too. However, college didn’t seem so appetizing to her after her freshmen year. Soon enough, she would find a new dream that didn’t require a degree at all.

Lita’s Original Passion

Growing up, wrestling never really was anything that Lita found interest in. In fact, she barely knew anything about it until her late teen years. Her passion growing was always music – more specifically, Punk Rock. “I put more value on going to Punk Rock shows than I did [anything else]. Like that was my church, my school, my everything. Not having internet, Maximumrocknroll [magazine] was your guide every month,” Lita shared in her 2015 interview with Party Smashers Inc. Little did she know though, that her passion in music would lead her straight to the boxing ring to shine in a different kind of way.

From the Streets to the Road

Nowadays we have all sorts of sources to educate ourselves on music at the tips of our fingers like YouTube and Spotify and the myriad of music blogs, magazines, and reviews online. However, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Lita didn’t have this luxury, so her education in music and the punk rock scene all came from what she calls “street learning”. She picked up her knowledge for music through other people’s experiences and influences, mostly reading articles by reviewers who shared a similar taste in music as her. And once she was old enough, she decided to jump into the scene as a roadie, traveling around with bands on tour to help with the band’s or production's needs.

A New Interest

Originally, Lita’s heart and soul were focused on music. Not only did she spend her time involved with the scene as a young adolescent, but her boyfriend was in a band, as well. However, his side interests suddenly sparked a new interest of her own, too. “I was in the Punk scene playing bands, [and] I was also taking martial arts. I was never a wrestling fan growing up. But then my boyfriend at the time would watch it,” Lita shared with Party Smasher Inc. Little did she know just how much that would influence her.

A Rockstar and Martial Artist in One Job

At one point, Lita caught a glimpse of the action on screen while her boyfriend at the time was watching a wrestling show. “When I went in there and started watching it, I was like ‘Oh, it’s like being a Rockstar and marital artist in one job,'” Lita shared with Party Smasher Inc. How exciting! As Lita started to get more into it, she started to form a love for a very specific style of professional wrestling – Lucha Libre (which is the Mexican freestyle wrestling form). But becoming a wrestling fan wasn’t the only thing Lita was excited about once she discovered a new love for the sport.

A Career Path with High-Level Training

Remember how we mentioned that Lita was an ambitious dreamer who would soon find a career path with no need for a degree? To become a professional fighter, there’s no need for a formal diploma, however, you do without a doubt need a whole lot of high-level training. Lita was set on becoming a professional wrestler, and decided to get her intense, high-level training from the people who she thought could teach her best – the OGs of her favorite style.

A Plan to Get Trained by OGs

Just like searching and discovering new music is at the edge of our finger tips nowadays, so is the access to strength train and learning new sports and hobbies from the comfort of your own home. But even before that, there were many gyms that specialized in wrestling. So why didn't Lita start with one of them? Well, Lita wasn’t your average person and when it comes to achieving her dreams, even though she had access to gyms to learn wrestling, she decided to go to the point of origin.

Going to Mexico

“I was really drawn to the Lucha Libre side of stuff, like where the Mexican wrestlers came from. And my boyfriend’s band went on tour for six weeks, so I thought I would go down [to Mexico] for six weeks, and try to figure out how to become a wrestler,” Lita revealed to Party Smasher Inc. Even today, traveling all the way to a different country just to get training, something that she could’ve done within an hour from her home, seems a bit overzealous right? But for Lita it all just felt right and meant to be, and she didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity that she felt so strongly about.

“Nobody Really Believed Me”

In hindsight, we can see that Lita clearly was right in following her heart and becoming a fighter. But meant to be or not, it doesn’t mean that climbing to the top was easy. “In Mexico, everyone I’d run into, they’d would be like, ‘What’s your deal? Why are you here?’ I was like ‘I’m here to be a wrestler.’ And nobody really believed me, or they always thought I was joking,” Lita shared with Party Smasher Inc. It turns out that walking in and asking to be trained was just as difficult in real life as it was in the movies. And just like a passionate protagonist in fighting films, she wasn’t going to just give up and walk away.

Spending Six Weeks Convincing She’s Worthy

It turns out, the reason why she spent a little over a month in Mexico – at least her first time around – was because she literally spent that entire time trying to convince the other wrestlers to train her. “They were like, ‘Why don’t you be a beer model or Green Card girl or something?’ So, I was like, ‘If that’s a position that needs to be filled, I’ll do that, but I want to train to wrestle,” Lita revealed. So finally, after several weeks of proving to them how serious she was, they finally decided to train her! No matter how excited she was to finally be accepted, though, her training couldn’t start right away.

“I Was Broke, Had to Go Home”

We’re sure you can imagine how emotional, exciting, and thrilling it must’ve been once Lita heard the words, “Okay, if you come back, we’ll set you up with training,” from the wrestlers in Mexico. Finally, a chance to see if she has what it takes! But remember how we said she couldn’t start training right away? The reality was she needed to make some changes in her life to make wrestling her new reality. But that didn’t stop her – she was willing to do whatever it takes to get back to Mexico to train.
“I was broke, had to go home. Went back, saved up money, came back [to Mexico], went to train,” Lita shared.

The Start of Angelica’s Journey

And so her journey to become a wrestler began in the late ‘90s. Her basic training took place in Mexico, and from there she just tried to work her way up to be the wrestler she had always known she could be. Starting out with the ring name of “Angelica”, she even got to be out on the ring with her trainers, too! Not long after, she jumped on the independent circuit, reaching out to any and all resources, trying to get into matches and find the right people to get her onto a more professional path. After winning the Memphis Championship Wrestling competition, she ended up landing a job with WWE’s Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1999 for six months.

Angelica to Lita

With her combined background as a roadie, a martial artist, and now a wrestler, after six months of working with ECW, WWF wanted to sign her on as a fighter and performer, as well. What can we say? It was clear that Lita was a natural and was proving to the wrestling realm that she wasn’t just a great fit as a fighter, but she was one of the first fierce female fighters that had a real knack for the industry itself. She signed on with them around November 1999, and then made her transitional appearance from the amazing “Angelica” to the legendary “Lita” in early 2000.

One of the First Divas of the Decade

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the World Wrestling Entertainment, it’s all about scripted performances with an extra spicy addition of actual fighting. “Divas” were the female performers in WWE, and their positions ranged from being backstage interviewers, to managers, to ring announcers, to sometimes even wrestlers making an appearance on the show. What makes Lita’s achievement so impressive is that she was one of the first Divas in the industry to have a signature as a fighter and paved the way for future wrestlers who were focused on the sport alone.

Getting Her Own Storyline

Lita’s dreams of becoming a wrestler went far beyond just fighting in the ring – she wanted to be a shining superstar. Her inner Rockstar wanted to perform in front of thousands of people, and she found a way to do that through her passion for fighting. While she started out as a manager on the show, her character went viral and her fame spread like wild fire once she joined forces with the Hardy Boyz. Her success and distinctively fierce personality ultimately landed her a storyline on the show as an edgy, alternative female fighter on Team Xtreme with fellow fighters Matt and Jeff Hardy.

There’s Always Ups & Downs

Remember how we mentioned that every hero has an interesting backstory? All of their ups and downs throughout their adventure is all part of what makes their story so powerful, too. And as a female fighter, there’s no doubt that Lita went through a lot during her initial years with WWE. From physical injuries to heavy criticism and judgment from the media and fans, there’s no doubt that Lita endured a lot. And after a successful six years with WWE, some of these issues led her to make an incredibly big decision about her future.

Taking a Break from Wrestling

In WWE’s 2005-2006 season, Lita went through all sorts of ups and downs. The show was affecting her personal life outside of the ring, and ultimately within the ring, and it started to show. Although she was still able to successfully win her third Women’s Championship against one of her biggest rivals, Trish Status, she succumbed to several devastating losses, too. Ultimately, the effects on her personal life and backlash from her character, led her to make a decision to walk-away and retire from WWE – for the time being, at least.

Taking Time to Explore New Things

While she didn’t give up wrestling entirely, she parted ways with WWE on good terms, and still made appearances and returns over the following decade. Ultimately, she chose to listen to herself, her needs, and her desires. She was ready to explore and commit to new ventures in her life that she wasn’t able to while she was professionally wrestling. However, it wasn’t until several years later that she really would take the time to reflect on and realize everything she had been through in her career.

WWE Hall of Fame

“Now is the time to try new things for me, and to not regret things I didn't do later on… I'm just going to roll with it and see where this new direction in life takes me, and I'm open to whatever possibilities do or don't come my way," Lita shared with WWE in 2006 after her break. Yet, almost a decade later, when Lita was honorably inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014, something else was triggered inside of her. She realized that she never really gave herself the chance to take a step back and access everything she’s built and done over the years or reflect all of the things she compromised on just to get the job done.

A New Goal in Wrestling

There’s no doubt that Lita was incredibly proud of all her accomplishments and achievements. After all, she’s one of the founding female fighters when it comes to pro women’s wrestling and the WWE. And until today, her legacy is inspiring a countless number of female athletes, anxiously excited to follow their dreams in the sport of fighting. But in recent years, Lita’s ultimate goal has been to help bring out a female perspective to women’s wrestling and open even more doors and roles for females in the industry. With that said, she’s shed some light on some of the things she’s overcome as a female fighter in the industry.

Some Good Things and Some Bad Things

“I still ultimately love the path that I took, I enjoyed all my experiences, but there were things that were tough to swallow," Lita shared with Party Smasher Inc. Interview. Although she worked with WWE for six years straight from her start in 2000, in the beginning of it all, there were some issues she encountered. “From the get-go, one of [the issues] was, I was a vegetarian before I started. And then I thought, you know, to build muscles and to be on the road and in shape, that I had to start eating meat, that was like, a pretty big deal for me,” Lita explained.

Standing for What She Believed to Be Right

Lita realized she was making compromises with her own beliefs during her time with WWE, and that included doing things to keep the job that she enjoyed so much. And as we revealed earlier, one of the main reasons why Lita felt the need to walk away from WWE was based around her character’s development and storyline on the show. However, she didn’t just walk-away because she didn’t agree with them. In fact, she did whatever she could to try to change the writing and plot of the show if she felt like something wasn’t sitting right with her.

Playing with Politics

Lita isn’t the type of person to just walk-away without a fight. While every competitor needs to know when to pick their battles, Lita did her best to stand her ground, even though she never enjoyed playing around with politics. Unfortunately, though, that didn’t mean she would always win those battles. Whenever Lita spoke up to the WWE admin and office, sharing that she didn’t agree with their ideas and didn’t want to partake in it, sadly, the office just wasn’t having it. According to them, they were just trying to protect the business – and after all, that’s what the network is, an entertainment business.

Feeling Like a Byproduct

What makes the storylines and show so intriguing, though, is that the WWE writers use real events in the wrestler’s lives to incorporate into the script, along with live action-packed fighting. As fascinating and amazing as that sounds, it also takes a toll on the performers outside of the ring. And when Lita would try to advocate for a change for something she didn’t agree with, the office would just end up getting mad at her, and at the end of the day she still ended up doing it. “It was like a byproduct of something I had to do to continue to do what I loved,” Lita expressed.

“Thank You” and “Sorry”

Lita is known for being a daring Diva willing to try all sorts of new wild things to win a fight. In fact, she was one of the first female fighters to start using props in her fights like stools and chairs – yikes! But considering that she was written in the script as a heel wrestler, she was constantly put in a position of “ask for forgiveness, not for permission” type of situation. Still, though, she personally took it upon herself to say “Sorry” and “Thank You” to her co-stars, before or after specific stunts the show wanted her to pull off.

The Biggest Issue of Them All

As we revealed earlier, fighters know when to pick their battles – the good ones, at least. So, Lita wasn’t battling for something small. One of the biggest issues she started to experience in her real life outside of the ring, was some verbal harassment and heavy backlash and criticism from things her character did during the show. In the mid-2000s, her character was in relations with a fellow wrestler named “Kane”, however, she had a supposed rated-R rendezvous with her former lover and wrestler Matt Hardy (from Team Xtreme). The drama on the show had people judging her for things that were happening in real life, causing her to feel all sorts of emotional destruction and disturbance.

Not a “Bad Guy” in Real Life

On the show, Lita was considered a heel wrestler, one of the “bad guys”. But that didn’t mean she was a bad person in real life – in fact, she’s far from that. However, sometimes it’s hard to really know what’s real and what isn’t when you know that the show is based off real experiences happening in WWE’s characters off-camera. Lita revealed to WWE that "it felt like even if I was walking the dog there was going to be someone yelling ‘You screwed Matt' out the window…It really took a toll on me; it affected every aspect of my life. Although that's passed now, the weight of that situation stays with me every day.”

Knowing When to Walk-Away

Just like knowing when to pick your battles is important, knowing when to walk-away and take care of yourself is just as crucial. When parting ways with WWE in 2006, Lita further explained, “I feel like there is no way for me to escape the whole feeling that I have from being involved in such a public affair. There's no other alternative for me than to walk away." So, why would Lita have kept coming back or continued her career in wrestling for so long if the backlash was so harsh?

The Secret to Lita’s Successes

“We [as female wrestlers], had really difficult journeys in wrestling, but ones we wouldn’t change…It made us who we are,” Lita shared with Sports Illustrated. It’s common for fighters to end up with some battle wounds, but it’s the strong warriors like the legendary Lita who doesn’t let that stop them from following their dreams. The secret to Lita’s successes all comes down to her mentality and attitude. Because of that, she’s been able to try out and accomplish all sorts of dreams she’s had over the years. During her interview with Party Smasher Inc., she recalled a fellow wrestler that shared some words of wisdom with her: “If you’re not willing to quit over what you’re gonna go to bat for, don’t even going to bat for it.”

Lita’s Words of Wisdom

It’s so easy to get your dreams kicked down to the ground when you don’t think that you’re capable of making something happen. But if you truly want something bad enough, then the key is to overcome all of those voices, obstacles, and struggles to make it proudly to the finish line. Lita further enlightened her fans by explaining that sometimes, the way you get to the finish line isn’t always as it seems. “Just because something gets thrown in front of you, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Or the original way you thought you’re gonna make this thing happen, might not be the way it ends up happening. But there’s still a way that make it happen.”

Dream-Chasin’ & Go-Gettin’

Until today, Lita is an inspiring dream-chaser and passionate go-getter. Within the past couple of years, a new wrestling related dream has come into vision. As a young adolescent, Lita’s dream was to become a wrestler on-camera – which she clearly achieved in ways she never would’ve imagined – and now it’s her dream to tell the story of it behind the camera. In order to continue opening doors and breaking the glass ceiling for females in the industry, Lita and other female wrestling icons Gail Kim (La Felina) and Christy Hemme, had decided to band together and start up their own passion project.

“KAYfABE”

“Women have been getting so many more opportunities in the ring, and that’s been beautiful to see… But it’s still all run by men, and we want to present our world and our journey through the lens of women. We want to give a realistic approach of what it’s like through our eyes,” Lita shared with Sports Illustrated. Together, the three women are working on creating a brand new wrestling show titled KAYfABE. Lita further revealed, “We’re going to have a live crowd with live wrestling with real wrestlers and real matches, not a camera person saying, ‘Do that again.’ And we’re very proud of the stories we’re going to be telling.”

Inspired by Others

The three former WWE Divas have gotten all sorts of support for their passion project – both from men and women! In fact, they’re not the only ones inspiring people. All of them, especially Lita, have been incredibly inspired by the change that’s been going on the past few years. “Women have been so brave to speak up. We want to build on that courage. We want to put it out there in this racy, edgy way that is fun to watch. You don’t have to agree with us, but you’re going to love the wrestling, and hopefully you’re enthralled with the stories, as well,” Lita shared with Sports Illustrated.

Where There’s a Will, There’s A Way

While production has been put on hold due to the pandemic, all three women are still enthusiastic about this project and have already released a teaser trailer to get fans pumped up! Lita clearly still has so much she wants to share with the world, but she’s already inspired and enlightened both female and male athletes on the importance of inner-strength and passion. From a manager to a performing wrestler to now a writer and producer, Lita’s entire career with wrestling just further proves how where there’s a true drive and will, there’s always a way.

A Surprise Return Shakes The Ring

After years away from regular action, Lita unexpectedly popped back up in a big WWE spot, reminding fans she still has that spark. She charged into a marquee multi-woman match, scored a notable elimination, and eventually exited after a hard-fought sequence with one of the top stars. The moment felt electric, like a veteran dropping into a new chapter. It proved Lita can still command attention when she wants to.

Tag Team Gold, A Milestone Moment

Not long after that comeback, Lita teamed with a current top star and captured tag team gold, a title run that surprised a lot of people. It was her first championship since her earlier career highs, and also a rare moment for a Hall of Famer to win active gold again. The win was nostalgic and validating, a reminder of how her name still matters in the locker room and on television. For fans who grew up with her, it felt like a passing of the torch and a full circle beat all at once.

WrestleMania Highs And A Clean Win

Lita and her allies followed that momentum onto wrestling's biggest stage and walked out with a major victory against a dominant faction. For Lita it was a rare WrestleMania moment that finally produced a win on that stage, and it felt like a personal high after years of ups and downs. The night brought big cheers and a genuine sense of closure for that chapter. It also reminded viewers why she was so beloved in her prime.

An Odd Ending And Backstage Drama

The title run came to an abrupt, strange end when Lita was unexpectedly unavailable for a scheduled defense, and another veteran stepped in. Reports surfaced that Lita had been harmed backstage before the match, and that twist led to a storyline and real tension among the performers. The incident left the run feeling unfinished for Lita, and it sparked a heated on-screen feud that followed. For viewers it blurred the lines between what happened in real life and what was crafted for TV.

Where Lita Is Now And What's Next

Since that whirlwind return and the odd finish to her title run, Lita has mostly stepped back from regular on-screen life and taken time to regroup. She still shows up in special spots, pursues projects outside the ring, and keeps supporting women who want in on the business. The KAYfABE idea and other creative ventures hang in the background, waiting for the right moment to grow. The bottom line is this, she keeps choosing projects that let her shape how women's wrestling is seen.