Marvez: Jessie 'ODB' Kresa's post-TNA plans include acting

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TNA Wrestling's "Knockout" division doesn't have the same punch without Jessie "ODB" Kresa.

A three-time TNA women's champion, Kresa was released in June. Kresa was one of the company's top female performers from 2007 to 2009. But her saucy character -- ODB's in-ring antics could make even Roseanne Barr in her prime blush -- and public outspokenness about storyline direction caused Kresa to fall out of favor with the new Eric Bischoff/Hulk Hogan management regime.

"I'm not a 120-pound, Barbie-doll-looking girl," Kresa said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "I'm a little rough around the edges. I'm different, which sometimes hurts me a little bit."

As a beer-swilling female takeoff on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, ODB became one of the top performers in World Wrestling Entertainment's Ohio Valley Wrestling territory during the mid-2000s. But she couldn't crack the main "Divas" roster of a company that makes converted fitness models its main promotional focus.

The 5-foot-6, 160-pound Kresa found her niche in TNA, helping the promotion field a women's division that was even better than WWE's at the time. Known for power moves and agility that belies her stocky frame, Kresa also talked trash in her deep-throated voice and swilled from a flask that she says really did contain alcohol.

"(TNA management) didn't really know what was in it so I could fill it up," a laughing Kresa said. "Every time I entered the ring, there was something in there. It depended who I was working against. If I was going against (Amazing) Kong, I would fill it with Jagermeister. That's one big (woman)."

Kresa and the monstrous Kong (real name Kia Stevens) were two of the diverse female characters who struck a chord with TNA fans. But once the Bischoff/Hogan era began, it quickly became obvious that beauty was going to get pushed over brawn. Kresa, Stevens and Nicole "Roxxi" Raczynski are three of the original Knockouts released by TNA this year.

"I'm not dumb," said Kresa, who was a college hockey player at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota before becoming a pro wrestler. "I noticed the change in the Knockouts division with Kong being gone and a lot of girls leaving. I was the next one.

"We were the ones who built the Knockout division. People wanted to watch because we were all so different. That's what guys like. They're going back to the cookie-cutter (performers), I think."

While busy working for independent promotions (bookings can be made through Bill Behrens at showbiz(at)aol.com) and planning the launch of her website (www.odbbam.com), Kresa is preparing for life after wrestling. She is pursuing an acting career and says she already has roles set in several independent films.

"I love wrestling and never want to stop," said the 32-year-old Kresa, a fan from childhood who once auditioned for WWE's "Tough Enough" reality series. "But there's something inside of me that wants to act. I think the character I was in wrestling can probably make the next step in acting. It's going to be a challenge like starting over in any business, but I'm looking forward to it."

Kresa also said she will remember her TNA stint fondly despite its unpleasant ending.

"I'm still trying to figure out why I'm in this business, but for some crazy reason I love it," Kresa said.

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com or follow him via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)