Rok-C Talks Starting Out, Becoming Ring Of Honor Women’s Champion
On Sunday, September 12th at Death Before Dishonor, Rok-C defeated Miranda Alize to become the Ring of Honor Women’s Champion for the first time since that title was retired in early 2020. This is the first time Rok-C has won the ROH Women’s Championship.
The Beginning of Rok-C
Rok-C got into wrestling mainly because of The Rock. “I loved his movies before I even knew what wrestling was,” says Rok-C. She remembers seeing him on Raw one time and ever since then she was hooked. She also recalls watching wrestling at her grandparent’s house with both of her uncles.
“I got into women’s wrestling because of AJ Lee.” The first diva that she ever saw was Kelly Kelly. Rok-C was a fan of hers but said she couldn’t really relate to Kelly because they had different styles and she was “much taller” than Rok-C. “When AJ and Paige came along they looked so different and it made it easier for me to see myself becoming a wrestler because I had them to look up to,” she says. Rok-C says she doesn’t look like what the typical diva used to look like.
When she was 13, Rok-C had her first training session. She started training in a backyard under a couple of local wrestlers in Laredo, Texas. “They helped me learn so much,” says Rok-C. Her trainers at the time, George Benavides and Johnny Angel told her that she wasn’t going to have a match until she had at least trained for two years.
” When I was 11 I discovered indie wrestling and local wrestling in Laredo,” says Rok-C. When she discovered this, she recalls begging her mom for a while to let her start training. Rok-C did gymnastics and tumbling prior to training which helped her to get ready to start wrestling. “I picked up things very quickly,” says Rok-C. “I fell in love with it the first day I got to train. The day after I was sore but knew I wanted to go back.” When she turned 16, she started training at Reality of Wrestling with Booker-T.
Rok-C Has Her First Match, Coming Up With Her Name
Ahead of her first match, Rok-C was very nervous. “I have a ritual to this day where I do this prayer before I go out and remember just being so nervous and shaking while doing it,” she says. However, it was good nerves though. “It was everything I dreamt of doing and it was all going to happen at that moment.” Rok-C says that match is nowhere to be seen but it was the start of everything so it will always be special to her.
Rok-C came up with her name with her mom when she was around 10 years old. “I was always brainstorming gear and music and everything,” says Rok-C. “I liked the name Roxy and always loved The Rock. The C in Rok-C stands for my name which is Carla.” However, the “C” in Rok-C also has a deeper meaning too, confidence. “That’s something I always struggled with a lot, especially being so young and coming into a business where everyone knows who and what they want to be.”
Making History at Reality of Wrestling, Wrestling Deonna Purrazzo
Throughout her whole life, Rok-C always wanted to train at ROW. She recalls always being so serious about it. “I remember looking up wrestling schools and finding Booker T’s school in Texas,” says Rok-C. While she was at ROW, she made history becoming their youngest champion ever at 18, winning the Diamonds Division Championship. “10 year old me wouldn’t have thought that would happen at 18. My plan was to only start training at 18.”
Rok-C also had the opportunity of a lifetime at New Texas Pro Wrestling. That is where she got to wrestle Deonna for the Impact Knockouts Championship. “It was amazing. I watched her and studied her so much and it was like a dream come true.”
Rok-C Signs With Ring of Honor
When signing with Ring of Honor, Rok-C recalls being so excited after a lot of doubt she had the previous year. Early last year, before the pandemic hit, Ring of Honor was supposed to have an all-women’s tryout where they would give one woman a contract.
“I was so hyped and so ready, then Covid hit. We got an email saying ‘hey this isn’t happening.’ It was tough and wrestling was completely gone so it got really hard for a while. Fast forward, they invite me to be the first woman back in the women’s division, then I got signed. Full Circle. No matter how hard it gets, you have to keep going and not let all the roadblocks stop you. If I would have, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” says Rok-C.
Throughout her time at Ring of Honor, Rok-C got to wrestle Sumie Sakai. This was a big deal for her as she has loved Japanese wrestling her whole life. Working with Sumi added a lot of pressure for Rok-C but she was ready.
“I think what helped me with that was working on the indies. I had the honor to be able to wrestle so many of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet. I worked with Jazz when I was like 16. That was so much pressure. Me being thrown to the wolves like that at such a young age definitely helped me in this tournament,” says Rok-C.
Rok-C competed in the Women’s Championship tournament to crown a champion at Death Before Dishonor. Her road was anything but easy having to beat Sumie Sakai, Quinn McKay, and Angelina Love just to get the opportunity to get to wrestle for the ROH Women’s Championship.
Everything culminated at the Death Before Dishonor show when Rok-C beat Miranda Alize to become the ROH Women’s Champion. Prior to the match, she recalls seeing Chris Hero at the show and having a conversation with him. “He told me before I went out to make sure I look at everything and take in this moment, it doesn’t happy very often.”
“I made sure to sit down, before my match, and just thought about how far I came, from when I first started, to all the ups and downs, missing all the family occasions, to watching my mom struggling. My mom came into the ring and sharing the moment with me when I won the championship, at that moment she realized that everything I worked for led to this. Having my parents in there with me to share the moment with me made it one of the most special moments ever,” says Rok-C.
What’s Next?
“Now that we do have the ROH Women’s Championship, there’s no door,” she says.
“I want to wrestle anyone, anywhere at any time. Whoever wants a shot gets it. I want to defend and retain this title with honor. I want women to be able to the main event at a PPV as well.”