Sunday could produce the biggest moment in the career of former NXT women’s champion Ember Moon (real name Adrienne Reese). At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view — starting at 7 p.m. on the WWE Network — she has the opportunity to defeat seven other women, climb the ladder and earn a contract for a women’s championship match at any time.
B⛎efore her match at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Moon grappled her way through some Q&A with The Post’s Joseph Staszewski.
Q: How do you view your opportunity at Money in the Bank? Can it be a bit of a coming out party for you and for fans who didn’t see you in NXT?
A: Oh yeah, definitely. I think I’ve had a come out 💝party since I got to Raw [after WrestleMania]. I’ve just been taking that momentum and I’m not slowing down and I’m not stopping💜. I’m gonna take advantage of every opportunity that’s presented to me and this is just one more challenge that I’m gonna overcome.
Q: How well does a match like this fit your style, being a performer known for taking risks and being a high-flyer?
A: I pride myself on being the best all-around wrestler you can find. I can do powerhouse. I can do technical and de꧋finitely high-flying is a big part of my arsenal. I definitely think being in a match like this it works to be v🐠ersatile.
You never know like, I don’t know if you’ve ever lifted one of thoꦺse ladders, but they can grow mentally heavy. But it’s about being versatile and changing according to your climate and that goes for any match in WWE.
So, yeah, I🍨’m definitely looking forward to it. I can’t wait to jump off lad꧋ders.
Q: Where did the genesis of the Ember Moon character come from?
A: To be honest, the qualities about myself that I always … I’ll say used to feel ashamed of. I used to be very secluded. I used to just kind of chill out on my own, but t🎉hen when the opportunity presents itself, I just like fire up and just do it.
I always felt that there was a lot of rejection thrown at me outside of wrestling and I always overcame that every single time and I just won’t be told “No” and I won’t stay down and that’s just amplified through Ember Moon. Man, it’s crazy. It is me times one thousand.
Q: You said you experienced rejection outside of wrestling. Can you give an example of that?
A: When I was younger and I was a kid, I was bullied maliciously for being 🌼different, for liking video games, for liking wrestling. Just no one wanted to be around that. And so, I became like the reclusive person that kind of hung in the shadows and that became me, like I was kind of, for years, afraid to be me and ashamed of being me because so many people disliked me.
And just coming full circle, it’s like now everything that people doubted me on or like bullied me for — and that’s the word for it — I just kind of proved to be stronger than that. I proved to be better than that.
I kept standingဣ up and kept proving that I am not going to follow the group. I am going to follow my own path and it’s OK to do that. That’s kind of what Ember Moon is. I followed my own path.
Q: What would it mean to reach up and grab that briefcase and be Ms. Money in the Bank?
A: It’s just another baby step to the Raw women’s championship for me. Reaching up and g𝓀rabbing that means I’m the fir༺st person from Raw to win Money in the Bank.
Q: You grew up loving wrestling as a kid and would watch with your grandfather in Texas. What do you remember about those days?
A: I reme🌠mber it being you have to do chores or you have to watch wrestling and that꧃’s how it was introduced to me. Like you know what, I’m not doing chores. I’m gonna watch wrestling.
But wrestling back ౠt⛦hen was like religion. I remember the Von Erichs, that’s about it.
I couldn’t tell you one per꧟son who was on there because I was watching it as a disinterested kid. Now when I got bullied later on in life, the person that reintroduced me to wrestling was a massive WWE fan, [my friend Kim]. She’s the one that got me super hooked on it.
This was like when I was 9 or 10, so I was in middle school. I remember just jumping like headfirst൩, gung-ho, there may not be any water in the pool, but I was in. That’s when I really started getting into it. You had Eddie [Guerrero] and Victoria and Trish and Lita. You had Taka Michinoku, Funaki, Rikishi, Too Cool, 🌟The Rock, Kurt Angle, all of these amazing people.
But the reason I was draဣ♉wn to them was because they stuck up for themselves.
They had their own opinions and they weren’t afraid to follow their own path. At that time I was, and t༒hat’s how I got into it.
After I got sucked back into it, I’d go over to grandpa’s house, spend the summer over there and be like, “Grandpa did you see Raw this week? Grandpa,𓆏 you see SmackDown?” One of my favorite things that I remember watching was The Rock versus Hurricane, when Hurricane finally choke slammed The Rock and I remember we just jumped for joy when that happened. It was great.
So long story, when [my grandpa] passed away [in 2006] the last thing he said to me is if I really felt like I could do this and it was something I really loved, I should pursue it. He goes, “I🐻 can see you up there. I can see you doing this.”
Sadly, he never made it to the point where he could see me wrestling for WWE, but that stays with me to t🅘his day, to know he knew how much I love this and that’s what gave me that leap of faith.
Q: After you took that leap, what was it like eventually being trained by Booker T ?
A: He’s kind of the person that started telling me to branch out and to start going to different states and just make a name🍷 for myself on the independent scene. It’s crazy because his knowledge extends well past what you guys have seen of him on WWE TV and I will forever be thankful for that. He’s the reason why the Eclipse is off the top rope.
Q: Were you trying to do it from the middle rope before?
A: ꦅSo, when I first started doing the Eclipse, I’m terrified of heights, I was doing it on the middle rope. And, Booker was the one who ♋talked me into doing it on the top rope and it just worked so much better because I had more time to adjust and spin.
Q: You talked about yourself being kind of a shy person. When you’ve seen the success of Total Divas, is that something that would be hard for you or would you look forward to the opportunity if presented with it?
A: You see e𝓰verything. Me being the reclusive person that I am, I don’t know if that’s something I♚ would do. I’ve been on Total Divas a couple of times in a guest role and I just don’t know. I really don’t. I’m not saying I would say “No.” I just don’t know.
Q: You are a big video game fan. You just did the Super Smash Bros. Invitational at E3. How did that go?
A: They thought it was a good idea to have three celebrities versus a pro [gamer Nairo]. I’d like to think I did a good job, but we totally lost. We just got decimated. But it was a really fun an🐻d cool experienc꧟e.
Q: Is there another game out of E3 you are looking forward to playing?
A: There are so many games. I’m a big Nintendo fan. I grew up on Nintendo, but I’m a big RPG person as well. I just like sitting in a room escap𝄹ing to a whole new world and you don’t see me for days on end. Like, that’s my jam.
There was one from Xbox — I think it was called “We Happy Few” — and then there was another one called “Shadows Die Twice.” Both of them looked good. Sony had “Dying Light [2]” and “Last of Us [Part 2]” looked awesome and Ubisoft “Assassin’s Creed [Odyssey].”
Q: Any quick “Game of Thrones” predictions on who ends up on the Iron Throne?
A: I think by the end of it, Jon [Snow] will be solo on the throne🌌. That is my prediction. As much as I love Dany [Targaryen] and that is my girl, I feel like some stuff is going to happen and Dany will not be around anymore or visa versa. It’s one of the two. I don’t think they will be together.