The second iteration of WWE's all-women's PLE Evolution included the returns of several legends, but not Kelly Kelly (aka Barbie Blank), who has made sporadic appearances since her retirement over a decade ago.
Now, she has revealed the reason for her absence in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. Kelly, a mother of twins, sounded hesitant to leave her kids on her “only weekend” off.
“When I got the call, it was in Atlanta, obviously, and it was the only weekend I had off,” she explained, “and my kids, I think, they had something going on. When I come back, I want my kids to see me there, and they wouldn't have been able to make it.”
She did set the record straight on some of the dirt sheet reports. Some made it sound like Kelly declined because she wanted a spotlighted match. However, this could not be further from the truth.
“I didn't need a match to come back,” Kelly said, refuting the report about her part in Evolution. “If it was in LA, I would've been there, no questions asked. With my kids, I'm very picky about what I say yes and no to right now. Maybe when they're six or seven and they're grown or bigger, then I probably [will do it].”
It also sounds like it was a “last-minute” inquiry on WWE's part, and she didn't want to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, on a whim. Van Vliet asked if she would have done it had WWE asked six months in advance.
“Probably,” Kelly said. “I would've been able to clear everything. I think my husband had to work that weekend, too, so then I was gonna have to figure out my nanny situation. If it was on the West Coast, I could have made it work.”
Will Kelly Kelly ever return to WWE?
Still, it sounds like Kelly is open to a return. She told Van Vliet that WWE understood her decision to skip Evolution, saying, “When we're in LA, you'll be there,” which she agreed with.
Kelly still cares about the business. She told Val Vliet that she misses the crowds, and that is why she has come back for one-off appearances.
“I think that's why I come back for the [Royal] Rumbles and for the Evolutions and stuff like that,” she conceded. “You miss that, and you crave that, and in the back of your mind, you're also worried like, Are they going to remember me? Are they gonna cheer for me? Is my pop gonna be big? So, that's going through your mind, too, and you're just hoping that they remember you.”
Luckily, as Van Vliet points out, Kelly still looks “the exact same” as when she was a full-time performer. WWE fans will have to wait and see when Kelly comes back.
