Lisa Marie Sole, better known by her wrestling monikers of Victoria (WWE) and Tara (TNA) was one of those brutal in-ring strikers that makes you question if she's intentionally trying to hurt her opponents. From Backbreakers to hair-pulling Gory Specials to top rope Superplexes, Tara was and still is known for leaving a pile of broken bodies in the ring after a clean three-count. Sole is a truly fundamentally-sound wrestler that can do it all. She has amazing strength, balance, and poise when she decides to take things aerial. Tara has several signature moves including the Black Widow, A-Rack-Naphobia, Gorilla Press Gutbuster, Spider's Web, and Widow's Peak that are a true testament to her strength alone.
Following a successful bodybuilding career and meeting Chyna, Sole decided to pursue a career in pro-wrestling in 2000. After making an appearance at WrestleMania 2000, Sole's WWE career didn't take off until two years later in 2002. Victoria, at the time, was able to rack up two WWE Women's Championship victories during her tenure on the WWE roster which came to an end in 2009. Her peak popularity came as a member of the TNA roster where she wrestled as Tara where she would become a 5x TNA Women's Knockout Champion and 1x TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion. This year, Sole announced that she would be retiring from in-ring action but will continue to make appearances at various events.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.