Source: Barron Sports Management & Publicity
By: Company Press Release
Helen “Ignite” Mei – Future WWE Diva?
Coming from a very strict chinese-american family, Helen Mei knew if she wanted to go after a career “outside the box,” home life wouldn’t be easy.
“My parents wanted me to graduate high school, go to college and work for one of the casinos. I think every teenager or young adult goes through the same thing of maybe wanting something different from what their parents want for them. But there weren’t too many girls in my high school who wanted to be a WWE diva.”
Mei decided to put the petal to the metal in 2012 and began training at XCouture Gym, the gym of actor, retired MMA artist and collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler Randy Couture.
“I think wrestling combines both theatrical ability and sports so it’s the perfect marriage of my talents. I can be a tomboy and a girly girl and make people smile and laugh.”
The 21 year old, 5’10” tall, chinese-american, 34F-25-38 model says she never really felt like she fit in because of her height. “Now, I’ve come to see it as a plus, but for a long time, it wasn’t that way. I felt out of place as the tallest girl in my high school class and certainly one of the tallest asian woman in Las Vegas. People would walk up to me on the street and ask me what nationality I was. It was a conversation starter, for sure.”
Mei is a 2x state champ swimmer who ranked 9th in the nation. “I was obsessed with swimming and I trained so hard that I could barely stay awake in class. There weren’t any vehicles for a teenage girl to train to be a pro wrestler so I figured I’d just keep swimming until I was old enough. I wrote to the WWE when I was 14 and they wrote back saying I was too young. I wasn’t discouraged but my parents didn’t see wrestling as a “real” job. I’m pretty pigheaded. The more somebody tells me I can’t do something, the more I want it.”
Mei is a Promotional Model for Playboy Energy Drink, appeared on the cover of FBM Magazine in December of 2012 and has an upcoming layout in Exquisite Curves Magazine. She has also worked as a promotional model at fitness events for IFBB Bodybuilder and 4x Mr. Olympia title winner Jay Cutler.
Mei will be presenting the awards at the March 2013 Jay Cutler Classic at the Palms Hotel & Casino.
Miss Mei can be found on the web at www.helenmei.com/.
