Quotes from Michelle McCool

Retirement has been wonderful.

Years before 'Tough Enough' came out - and I still have the papers - I filled out the entire application but never sent it in. I was like this is perfect, it's sports, I'm competitive, I could do that.

It's not easy to always be yourself.

Bottom line: People in our business are always going to look to find reasons to see the negative in somebody and to become resentful.

People are always going to say what they want to say and believe what they want to believe, but that's the bottom line.

I think the Divas Champion is the perfect combination of athleticism, beauty and brawn.

It's such a huge honor and compliment when someone tells me I'm their hero... but, why me?

Growing up, I always said I would never go in to education. Both of my parents were teachers - my dad was also a principal and a superintendent. I just didn't want to be part of the school system.

I'm going to prove to the rest of these girls walking around, strutting their stuff, that I am the top Diva and I am here to stay.

Snooki is famous for absolutely nothing.

Not only do I do things so much better than all of my fellow 'Divas,' I make being bad look so good.

Whoever is in that ring, they are not enough for me, and they can't handle me.

You know, I thought seeing Aretha Franklin last year was amazing, and I didn't think anyone can top that. But if someone can, John Legend would be the man. In my mind, he's a legend, no pun intended.

I'm a collegiate All-American athlete and earned a master's degree in education from Florida State University.

You just have to kind of remember that it's just a character on TV. A lot of times people just forgot that and it's easy to do.

Fortunately, the shooting pain in my back masked the pain of my broken sternum.

I think everybody will agree that 'Torrie Wilson' is a name that nobody - no true wrestling fan - will ever forget.

I like to think of myself as a class act, and there are very few guys that meet all of my qualifications.

When I went off to college my dad would call and be like, 'hey did you watch RAW?'

When we can give back to the real heroes, that's what I find rewarding.

People can say what they want to say, but at the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror. I know how hard I fought. I know how many storylines I pitched. I know how hard I worked in the ring.

The higher you climb the ladder, everyone is going to have a reason as to why you're there, why you're on TV, and they don't want to believe the fact you're in the working hard, fighting for storylines.

Sure, Maryse is the Divas Champion, but I find it no coincidence that she supposedly got 'hurt' the week after she stole my title.

That always makes it fun inside the ring when you know you can work with somebody. You can fly off the cuff while you're in there; you can improvise.