Francine Doesn’t Like the Term “Ring Rat” for Those In the Industry

Dec 3, 2019 - by James Walsh

On the latest episode of the Eyes Up Here Podcast, Francine talked about how she and other women in the business are continually referred to as ring rats on social media, noting that many fans still call her “Shane Douglas’ rat” even though she has never slept with Douglas. Highlights are below.

On how women are talked about in many shoot interviews: “I started to think about all the shoot interviews that guys have done throughout the years in this business, and how they talk about the women in the sport, and it irritates me. And I can’t tell you how many times the interviewer, it’s happened about me, and it’s happened to probably every girl that has stepped foot in the ring, the interviewer will say, ‘How’s it like working with Francine?’ ‘Well, she slept with this guy, and she was hooking up with him.’ That has nothing to do with what you just asked. And so many people have said, ‘Well, she was Shane Douglas’ rat.’ I’ve heard that so many times.”

On the persistent rumors that she had a relationship with Shane Douglas: “Infuriates me. I get so angry, because number one, I’ve never been with Shane. I can’t emphasize this enough, people still to this day, well some people still think we’re married, but a lot of the boys still think I’m lying and I was with him, and I’ve never been with him.”

On feeling bad for Carmella facing backlash for her relationship with Corey Graves: “It just triggered me watching her [Carmella] and her going through what she’s going through, and people calling her names, without knowing the real story. And I don’t know her, I’ve never met her, so I’m not saying she’s telling the truth or lying, but I feel for her because she’s getting all these people calling her names and nobody even knows what the real story is. She’s telling her story but people want to believe what they want to believe.”

On the rumor that she slept with Trent Acid: “There’s so many girls in this business that get a bad rap, like me, there was a rumor going around that I was sleeping with that kid, Trent, the kid who died, Trent Acid. I met him exactly once my whole life, one time, and I went to shake his hands, he leaned in, he gave me a kiss on the cheek, which, OK, you’re in the business, it’s fine. I didn’t even talk to him after that, I kept walking, because we were on the same show. Two weeks later, I go online, everyone is saying we slept together. And I said what? I was just like, it was literally like a five second meeting. And people were texting me, ‘Did you sleep with Trent Acid?’ No, I don’t even know the kid!”

On how she feels bad for the women in the industry: “I feel bad for everybody in this industry who’s a female because these guys, they just don’t care. And it makes me angry because they’re so nice to your face, and then they get a couple of beers in them and they say whatever they want, and there is no remorse, they don’t care, and you’re supposed to be friends with them after this?”

“The more I watch these shoot interviews, and I hear them talking about the females, like me, I think I worked really hard my career, but I’m known as Shane Douglas’ rat to people, which I never even slept with him, I just get so irritated and I know people are going to twist this and they’re going to think I’m trying to, I don’t know, stand up for myself because I’m guilty of something. I’m not guilty of anything. I’m just sick of people talking about me on these shoots when things aren’t even true. And if it even was true, why was it brought up? That wasn’t the question that was asked.”

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