Lacey Adkisson never gave much thought to following in her late father Kerry Von Erich's footsteps. After all, two of her uncles, Michael and Chris, as well as her dad, committed suicide working in the pro wrestling business.

``I tried to block wrestling out of my head and my life because it reminded me of my dad and my uncles,'' Adkisson, whose uncles Jack and David are also deceased. ``I had a very tragic family.''

A phone call from her uncle Kevin, the only living Von Erich brother, changed her thinking in 2007.

``He told me Vince McMahon was trying to contact me,'' Adkisson said. ``I asked for what, and he said, `He wants you to be a wrestler. He wants you to be a diva.' I said, `What the heck is a diva?'

``I start watching the show, and I call Vince. I told him I'd check it out. He flew me out, and I went backstage at one of their Monday Night Raw events. I smelled the Bengay, and I saw the guys putting tape on like daddy did. I was just like, `Wow. This is where I want to be. It just feels right. It just feels like home.'''

Shortly after, Adkisson, 23, signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment's Florida Championship Wrestling based in Tampa. The blonde bombshell's decision began a third generation of Von Erich's in the business.

A family name synonymous with pro wrestling since 1958 when Adkisson's late grandfather, patriarch and World Class Championship Wrestling founder, Frtiz Von Erich, made his in-ring debut.

``It's a lot different than it was back then,'' she said.

``It was much cooler in my opinion. Everybody thought it was real and being a wrestler was bad %##. However, I don't think I would have been a wrestler back then because Scary Sherri and Naughty Natalie would have tore me apart in the ring. The girls were baby sitters for my sister Hollie and me when we were little. I remember they would baby sit us.

``I remember going to every match daddy was in. I would fall asleep, but when he was on, I would cry because he would be bleeding everywhere. It was hardcore back then. I remember a lot after the matches. . .. We'd get raided in our limo. It was crazy. We had people shaking our limo and chasing after us. It was really scary for a little girl.''

Despite those hectic moments in Texas when her family had rock star like status, Adkisson moved forward with FCW. She debuted as a valet and had her first match two months after signing with WWE against fellow third generation star Nattie Neidhart.

``I didn't know where girls stood in the business,'' Adkisson said. ``We kind of are on the back burner, and we pretty much always will be. It's just a man's world. I went in there with the mentality that I could be just as good as the rest of the Von Erichs, if they gave me a chance.

``So I'm starting to do my backflips off the ropes, and I'm jumping all over the place, and everything felt natural. WWE was saying, `Wait, you are just a girl. You can't do all that stuff.' However, it was really fun once I kind of understood the business today.

``They don't want the women to be super talented. The girl cute wrestlers they want to stay girl cute wrestlers. Not something like a Von Erich who wants to go out and destroy everything, which is what I really wanted to do. But that's not why I left or anything.''

Adkisson parted ways with WWE before the end of 2007. She moved to Los Angeles to continue her career and spend more time being a mother to her 3-year-old son Daniel.

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