In any discussion about rising stars in professional wrestling, the names Masha Slamovich and Sam Leterna are sure to be mentioned. The pair have been making major impacts both inside and outside of the ring, respectively, throughout the pandemic, with Leterna earning a reputation as one of the industry’s top personalities, while Slamovich has become one of pro wrestling’s most well-travelled and feared competitors.

Not only are Slamovich and Leterna two of wrestling’s hottest prospects, but the two are good friends after years of training and working together. In recently having the good fortune to chat with Leterna for Love Wrestling, I had to ask the Camp Leapfrog showrunner about her long-time compatriot. After chatting briefly about Clara Mortensen, the muse behind Leterna’s last name, I did so.

“One other person that I did specifically want to ask you about [that’s] a little bit more current is Masha Slamovich,” I began. “Just tell me a little bit about her, because I know you guys are good friends, obviously, from your guys’ social media’s. But, she’s been a huge influence on you from again, your own social media.”

“So again, put somebody over, let’s take some time to talk about good people!”

“I will put Masha Slamovich over any day,” Leterna smiled. “She’s like, my best girlfriend in the industry. We began training together, actually, at Johnny Rodz in Brooklyn, New York. She trained maybe six months before or nine months before me. But [when] I came in, she was like the first girl I locked up with. She was really young at that time. She’s grown up a lot since then. I’m a couple of years older than Masha. But yeah, we kind of lost touch for a couple of years. But then, through a work opportunity that popped up, we wound up working together. I got her a job at a restaurant I was working at, and we got really close through that and started working out.”

Fear Masha Slamovich

As Leterna continued, she described Slamovich’s impact on not only her in-ring career but her current work as one of wrestling’s premier broadcasters and hosts.

“Then, she really helped me through the period where I wasn’t wrestling and I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life at all, because I wasn’t involved with wrestling at that point at all. She kind of pushed me to continue on and see the value in what I do now and what I am good at and how I can apply that to wrestling. I’m really grateful to her for that. Since then, it’s been a crazy year. She’s returned from Japan, she’s doing amazing. She is the hardest working woman in wrestling, honestly. On the indies for sure. She trains every day, two times a day. She does Brazilian jujitsu, or MMA, whatever the case not entirely sure, and she killed my legs yesterday at the gym.”

Leterna laughed before concluding.

“That lady goes in and – fear Masha Slamovich because she’s a force to be reckoned with. But yeah, that’s my put-over of Masha, and we always have good times when we go to Texas together.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes & transcriptions.

In 2011, Alexia Nicole began her wrestling career at Ontario’s Squared Circle Wrestling Academy under the tutelage of Rob Fuego and TNA/IMPACT Wrestling legend Taylor Wilde. Wilde, of course, recently made her return to the ring after a decade-long absence, and I had to ask the Bubblegum Princess about her former trainer’s return as part of our upcoming chat on Love Wrestling. Following some words about Josh Alexander, I asked her about her long-time compatriot.

“Someone else on the IMPACT end that I was really excited to ask you about: how cool is it to see Taylor Wilde back in the ring?”

Nicole beamed.

“Oh my god it’s so cool,” she exclaimed. “I’m so happy for her. It makes me happy to see her again, because the last time I saw her, she was training me when I was starting out. It’s really good to see, and she hasn’t missed a beat.

That’s awesome. It’s just good to see her having fun, still killing it.

It’s cool to see your trainer do things! Really cool.”

“How much do you guys keep in contact?” I asked Nicole of her former trainer. “Maybe graduation isn’t the right way to put wrestling school most wrestlers will continue to go to wrestling school, but how often do you guys keep in touch? How often do you pick her brain on your professional wrestling or otherwise?”

“We’re not talking constantly, but I’d say every few months we’ll just kind of check-in on each other [and] see what’s going on,” she explained. “Again, she’s my wrestling mother, essentially. She’ll give me advice, she’ll tell me what to do, if I have a question I can ask her, so that’s always great.”

“Have you guys ever had an official match?” I asked the Bubblegum Princess. “I’m certain you guys have locked up when you’re training and that sort of stuff, but ever had a one-on-one?

“

Nicole laughed before giving her answer. “We have not and I’ve asked people to do it but no one’s gotten around to it yet!”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes and transcriptions.

Over the past year-and-a-half, Sam Leterna has become one of the most notable names in wrestling broadcasting. Whether it be her work with Camp Leapfrog, hosting her own series of interviews on Wrestle Tea, or her countless hours of work as a commentator and backstage interviewer for IWTV, the former wrestler’s transition to behind the microphone has been seamless.

Whether it be her career inside or outside of the ring, Leterna has always been quick to credit her dedication to learning the history of wrestling as fundamental to her success. Given Calgary’s rich history in professional wrestling, I assumed that her moving here to train at the Storm Wrestling Academy wasn’t just an attempt to learn under the guidance of one of the world’s best trainers, but to expand her own historical knowledge of the business itself. I asked her about that as part of our upcoming interview on Love Wrestling.

“[In] any interview you’ve ever done, you’ve talked about how fundamental that’s not only been for you but should be for anybody trying to get into professional wrestling, right? I’d have to assume, but correct me if I’m wrong, that might be one of the biggest reasons you’d want to go and train with Lance Storm after you trained with Johnny Rodz, right?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Leterna agreed. “I think that the person you train with is very important, because especially now, there are good schools and bad schools with good coaches and bad coaches. Lance was one of the good ones, and I’m not even just saying good wrestling-wise and what he brings to training, he’s a good person.”

“To make that sacrifice, because it was a big sacrifice for me, I saved for four to six months about eight to ten thousand just to go to Canada for three months, so I could live the lifestyle of training and doing yoga every day and working out five days a week, and training five hours a day, five days a week with Lance and my peers, I think you have to invest in yourself, whether you’re a broadcaster, or someone looking to get into wrestling. Particularly with wrestlers, it’s pretty sink-or-swim. You should definitely do Lance’s virtual sessions! But yeah, just go with someone who fits who you are, and move if you have to, don’t be afraid to move I’d say, too.”

Clara Mortensen

After sharing some memories of her time in the home of Stampede Wrestling, I asked Leterna about a story I’d heard relating to her last name.

“You also picked something else up in Calgary, but I’ll let you tell the story. What does the name Clara Mortensen mean to you?”

“Ah, okay, okay. You did your research!” Leterna laughed. “Okay. I had been in transition with a wrestling name at that time. Lance was kind of telling us about different reasons to pick different names from different perspectives, like a business perspective, what honors you and who you are, but also allows that to be marketed and I am Hispanic, so I wanted a name that kind of mimicked that.

“

“I also had been reading – I forget exactly what it’s called, because I have a horrible memory, but it’s that book about the history of female wrestling with Sasha Banks and Natty on the cover, and Clara Mortensen came up. She called herself The Eternal One. I thought that was just so cool. The goal in that was to be “The Eternal One” Sam Leterna, a wrestler at that time. Now, it doesn’t really matter that much because as a broadcaster, we have our role, and I totally understand that, but the name has stuck and I love it.

I think it gives me a little bit of sauce, a little bit of that Hispanic flair that I like to showcase when I can. So yeah, Sam L’eterna, or Leterna.

”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes