TV time started Lomberger on the road to wrestling fame
As the youngest child in her family, Ashley Lomberger learned of one surefire way to gain the respect of her father and her two older brothers: watch professional wrestling with them.
“If I wanted to fit in and be cool, I would watch it with them,” said Lomberger, who grew up in Coshocton, a town about 75 miles east of Columbus.
That might be why when she dropped out of college despite a 4.0 grade-point average to pursue her own wrestling career, her parents were largely supportive. Luckily, it worked out for the best.
After spending the better part of the past decade performing as Madison Rayne with Impact Wrestling, in September the 32-year-old signed a one-year contract with Ring of Honor Wrestling, a promotion based in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I’m hopeful that this many years in, I’m still able to bring something that people enjoy watching,” said What: Ring of Honor: Survival of the Fittest Where: Express Live, 405 Neil Ave. Contact: 614-461-5483, www.promowestlive.com Doors open: 5 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $30 to $75 To hear The Dispatch’s full interview with Ashley Lomberger, who performs as Madison Rayne, visit www.dispatch.com/podcasts and scroll down to “Life in the 614”
Lomberger, who lives near Polaris with her husband and 5-year-old daughter.
Lomberger, who will be competing as Madison Rayne this Sunday when Ring of Honor returns to Express Live, recently spoke with The Dispatch. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Q. When you started wrestling more than 10 years ago, was it one of those things where you instantly fell in love with it?
A. Yeah, absolutely. I like to be the center of attention; I always have. I did pageants when I was little. I was in drama club my senior year of high school, so I’ve always really liked performing, and I love to be in front of people. I think that comes from being younger and watching wrestling and remembering some of those larger-than-life characters and how they captivated me as a fan. I like to try to make people feel that.
Q. So you were a wrestling fan growing up?
A. I had two older brothers, and we always watched wrestling together, that was our thing. When I graduated high school, I went to a community college and I started training for a fitness competition, and one day when I was at the gym there was a flyer for a local wrestling promotion. I went to that show, and I went up to the gentleman who was running that show and I said, “I want to come to your school and I want to train to be a wrestler.” It was the next day I showed up.
Q. What do you enjoy most about being in the ring and what do you hope the crowd takes away from seeing you?
A. People who have watched me throughout the years and have followed along on this journey with me, as well as people who are just now realizing and are coming to see who Madison Rayne is — I just want them to love watching me. I want them to be captivated the way I was as a kid.
Q. What’s it like coming back to Columbus?
A. I have been in so many cool places wrestling but nothing quite compares to coming home and being in front of my hometown crowd. My husband will come watch; my daughter will be there, so that’s always an added element of excitement. It really tugs at my heartstrings when I’m able to come home and do what I do in front of the people who I love most.
Q. What can audiences expect from you when you come into the ring?
A. I’ve got a lot of energy, and I’ve learned throughout the years that I’m small so the only way to be successful is to be quick and do some of the high-flying, exciting things.