Just after her 39th birthday, Myra Rivers did a special interview reflecting on plenty of things past, present and future.

Here are some of the highlights.

BEING BETTER THAN EVER AT 39

“It’s crazy because 10 years ago, I effectively considered myself retired…” Myra admitted. “I was set on being a mom and just living out my life away from wrestling but ultimately, being the stay at home mom wasn’t something that was right for me. I felt like I had unfinished business with my wrestling career and it’s easy to say that I’ve fulfilled that and then some.”

Did she ever think she’d be at the peak of her career at her age?

“I honestly didn’t see myself wrestling at all at the age of 39, let alone being as successful as I’ve been. If someone told me 10 years ago that I would return to wrestling and amount to being better than I ever was pushing the age of 40, I wouldn’t have believed it. Coming back? I could believe that. But being a quadruple champion as I was earlier this year, at the age I accomplished that? I would’ve thought they were crazy to say that.

WHY SHE LEFT SIN CITY WRESTLING LAST YEAR

Myra admitted it came down to a number of reasons. Here, she mentions the biggest ones.

“My daughter. Period. Being there was driving a wedge between us” she said with a sigh. “She didn’t like that the other wrestlers were saying the things they were saying about me. All of these criticisms like ‘you’ll never break the glass ceiling’, ‘you’re a choker’, and all of that crap never bothered me, but they bothered her especially when these bigger scale matches weren’t going my way… so in her 8 year old mind, these critics were being proven right and it led to her infamously calling me a failure after the Blast from the Past finals last year. That’s when I began to rethink my wrestling situation to be honest. But it was a nasty comment someone said about her from someone with authority that pushed me to leave.

‘Your daughter is a brat’

Myra would not disclose who made that comment, noting that the comment bothered her more than anything that happened in the ring did.

“I decided then and there, because of that comment, that if I didn’t beat Roxi Johnson for the title, I was out. Under no circumstances was I going to tolerate my daughter being called that. Whatever my daughter says, how she acts, and so on, that’s none of their business. I’m her mother. I’m the one that handles it. Don’t make snide, garbage remarks about her like that. That’s just wrong. Should she have called me what she called me? No. But she’s a kid. Kids her age say things like that when they never mean it because they’re emotional and get caught up in a bad moment.”

Her final match was the final straw, even after she had decided to leave.

“It was a bad experience for me, and not because I lost. It was because of things that were said about me going into that match. I was treated as if striving for their world title and talking about it as a goal of mine was such a horrible thing, particularly by a two-faced hypocrite that was literally doing the same thing the year prior. I spent eight months at that point working on myself, being better, being stronger, being confident, yet said hypocrite acted like those eight months never happened, like I was still the wrestler that treated a failure in a world title match like it was the end of the world even though I had grown beyond that. It’s fine if you don’t want to be my friend, but don’t act like you’re a superhero when you’re literally one of the biggest ‘c words’ I’ve ever met in my career. That’s not me trying to make them the bad guy, because they already are… and were… prior to that match to begin with. The commentary team can screw themselves too for siding with her and making a reference to me having ‘no confidence’ when I had grown beyond any confidence issues I had eight months prior. On top of what was said about my daughter, why stay at that point? Had I won the match that day, I would’ve left the belt in their offices the next day and left the company with my head held up high. One way or another, I was done.”

On those that mocked her for leaving.

“Thanks for thinking about me…” she says with a laugh. “I love how people make assumptions especially when I never came out publicly with my side of the story.”

On whether she’d go back.

“‘Never say never’ is the saying, but I don’t have a reason to.”

THE BEST PART OF HER CAREER COMING AFTER HER BIG CAREER CHANGE

“I am incredibly blessed and happy that things have gone the way that they have of course…” she says with a smile. “I may have changed my place of employment, but I never changed how I approached the business, how hard I’ve worked, or any of that. I never anticipated that I would get to hold four titles at the same time for four months (Myra considers this her greatest achievement, even greater than holding SCW’s Bombshell Internet Championship for 350 days) or that fans in places like 5BW and House of Wrestling would welcome me with open arms the way that they have. I admit that in HOW’s case, it was odd because they’re in the same location as SCW (Las Vegas), but I’m grateful that the fans there know me enough to not hate me for leaving SCW. The real ones know my history in Vegas and why it’s become my home away from home. It’s where I had my breakout moment in that fateful ladder match on March 23, 2008.”

She also made it clear that she much prefers her thirties over her twenties, especially as far as her career is concerned.

“It’s not even close…” she admits. “In my twenties, I was getting hurt too much and I was dealing with people (in her then-company PRW) that didn’t know what the hell they were doing at the end of the day. Yes, what I went through in my twenties built who I am today. Of course. But I don’t ever find myself going back and wanting to be 27 again.”

Ironically, she just won her 7th world title (and her 25th overall)... on her 39th birthday in Chicago, in a match that gave PRW its final closure resulting in her being the last world champion of that company a decade after its demise.

“It definitely healed any final wounds from my twenties that I still had…”

XWF, MADNESS CHANGES, AND THAT NICKNAME THAT SHE HATED SO MUCH

“XWF has been mostly positive for me…” she readily said. “...though the frustrations have been prevalent like with the production delays and such with Madness. I know there’s a new regime going on and some people are skeptical of change. Others may not like that there is a change at all. I welcome it completely. I do think in this case, change is the best thing that can happen. A more frequent schedule and not having to wrestle in random places every month like Kiribati for example, is already a strong, positive change.”

There were other Madness frustrations… and outright confusion…

“Did you know that until recently, I had no idea what ‘IDL’ stood for?” she admits. “I don’t know whether I should be sad or embarrassed by it considering it’s for ‘International Dateline’. XWF Madness International Dateline Champion… sounds… bizarre. ‘International Dateline’ sounds like a sophisticated porn star service. Totally embarrassing! Like THAT nickname wasn’t bad enough…”

Myra further vents about THAT nickname.

“It was jarring and embarrassing when my daughter asks what ‘MILF’ means for one. But the chant that I’d get from sections of the crowd in these off the beaten path locations we’d go to: degrading, hurtful, embarrassing. That idiot… what’s his face… on commentary shoving it down the throat… getting contact request from PORN COMPANIES even… (she rejected them all of course)... it was too much. I remember a time or two backstage where I’d just break down and cry over that horrible nickname. Like, after I won the IDL… um… my title (Myra briefly paused the interview to say that going forward, she was no longer going to say “IDL title” before continuing)... the website updated their title history and when I found my title, I saw “MOM [MILF of Madness] Myra Rivers” To some, it’s a stupid thing to literally cry about, but I did because I felt sexually exploited and harassed and I felt like XWF didn’t take me seriously as a professional wrestler. I’m not a sex object. I never will be. In fact… SHOCK, GASP, AWE… I’m not even single anymore as of my own birthday. But, I am hopeful that with someone new in charge, that derogatory nickname gets put in the trash where it belongs.”

Myra also had the following to say when asked where Madness would be if one of her opponents won the vacant title in the triple threat she won it in.

“The brand would be on life support…” Myra says bluntly. “[Sierra] Silver was just there, not really prioritizing XWF or the Madness brand and she always had her priorities and head somewhere else. Nothing personal against her, but my hope is that with the new regime, the opportunities go to those that ACTUALLY want to be here and put in the effort. Holden Ross… I don’t want to touch a nerve. The controversy that surrounds that guy speaks for itself. If HE won that triple threat and not me, lord knows where things would be with Madness right now. Fortunately for the show’s sake, I wound up winning in the end. Regardless of what my title is called, at the end of the day, I’m starting this new era of Madness as the brand’s top champion and that’s a responsibility that I take very seriously. It’s up to me to be the role model, the positive trend setter, the precedent setter, the leader of this brand. This is an opportunity unlike anything I’ve ever had in my career and I don’t plan on wasting it.”

AND FINALLY… THE FUTURE… AND HOW MUCH LONGER SHE THINKS SHE HAS LEFT

“Life and wrestling are both better than they’ve ever been. I’ve got an amazing thing going with my career everywhere I’m at. My wrestling school that I opened up last year is projected to be in the black. My relationship with my daughter is stronger than ever. Even my love life is doing well… though it’s giving a guy that I dated 20 years ago another chance (which Myra, jokingly, admits is an entirely different interview subject all on its own) and it’s admittedly crazy, but when is love not crazy, you know? Overall, I’ve never been happier with my life than I am right now. I’ve been through so much over the years and I’m not close to done. I’ve got a good few years left in me. I can totally see myself still at this when I’m 45, if I continue to be blessed with the amazing gift of peak health and continue to make the most out of what is truly the best part of my career right now. But even with all the joy and success I’ve experienced over the last 14 months or so… I still feel like the very best is yet to come for me!”