WH | A new kind of bombshell—girly pop, fully trained.

[Cheryl Stixx]

“I Just Started Moving Differently”: Cheryl Stixx on Strength, Discipline, and Finding Joy in the Grind
The OCW star opens up about her renewed routine, leaning into her passions, and how training with Jubei is her next big step.

 

Women’s Health

It’s a Tuesday in Manhattan, and Cheryl Stixx is exactly where she never imagined herself thriving: in a sun-lit gym, mid-sweat, mid-set, mid-silence. “No cameras, no lashes—can you believe it?” she laughs, swiping a towel across her collarbone. “I’m suffering!” Cheryl says with a dramatic pout, then immediately bursts out laughing. “There’s no Erewhon in NYC. I’m surviving. Barely.”

Known for her over-the-top glam, razor-sharp promos, and Pretty Stixx™ empire, the OCW icon has been flipping expectations since the moment she returned to the ring earlier this year. But now, after a particularly emotional turn at Summercide, Cheryl’s doing something she’s never done before: building from the inside out.

“Everything I’ve done before came from performance,” she says. “Now I’m doing the unsexy stuff. Strength training. Cardio. Flexibility. Conditioning. Like—actual drills. Actual discipline. I’m training harder than I ever have in my life.”

Her weekly schedule is packed: ring work, mobility sessions, weight circuits, acrobatics training, and—when she can fit it in—dance. “I’m really dancing again, which feels insane to say. I forgot how much I loved it! It’s been part of me since I was a teenager—dance and gymnastics were my first ways of expressing anything. Even in my Vegas showgirl days, that physical language was everything to me. I guess I’m reconnecting with that.”

That reconnection is showing up in her body—but not in the way fans might expect. “I didn’t do this to drop pounds,” Cheryl explains. “But I’m leaning out, yeah. I’m moving in ways I haven’t moved in years. My body’s adjusting because I’m pushing it differently. You train like an athlete, and the results show—but not always how people expect. That wasn’t the goal—it’s just the side effect.”

She’s also getting stronger. And not metaphorically.

“I’m still gonna look cute doing it—but I’m lifting heavy, I’m training to hit harder, to fly higher, to land with impact. This isn’t just a glow-up. I’m building something real. I’m training to wrestle at a whole new level.”

A committed vegan since the age of 17, Cheryl says her lifestyle is finally aligning with her workload. “I’ve always been vegan, but now I’m being smarter about it. I’m learning more about how to fuel my training instead of just…surviving on sweet potatoes and oat milk lattes. I still have my little diva meals,” she smirks, “but I’m really thinking about how I want to feel.”

Outside the ring, Cheryl’s schedule hasn’t exactly slowed down. She’s still promoting her debut album Cherilyn—a glitter-drenched pop confessional that’s already generating buzz—and running her beauty brand, Pretty Stixx. “So yeah,” she laughs. “On top of wrestling drills, I’m also rehearsing vocals and making sure the gloss formulas are perfect. My calendar has zero chill.”

One of the biggest game-changers in her recent shift has been her work with OCW’s Jubei Jiirota—a fan-favorite known for his technical brilliance and quiet intensity. “I don’t even know how to explain it. He’s just… disciplined in this way that’s so rare. It’s not loud. It’s not about attention. It’s just this calm, exacting, beautiful violence,” she says. “Every movement is intentional. He’s surgical. Watching him perform made me realize how chaotic I was being with my own body.”

“I’m used to crowds, cameras, and chaos. He’s this very focused, grounded person. But the more I watch him, the more I’m like—oh, I need that. He’s honestly one of the most inspiring people I’ve been around in wrestling. His control. His patience. His technique. It makes me want to earn every single thing I do in that ring. No shortcuts.”

Now, she alternates weeks performing on OCW’s Riot at Madison Square Garden and Turmoil in Brooklyn—but training has become the throughline. “Whether I’m in the ring or in the gym, it’s the same goal: consistency. Showing up for myself. Earning it.”

As for the fans who’ve noticed her transformation, Cheryl hopes they take the right message from it. “I didn’t do this to shrink myself. I did it to expand what I’m capable of. I feel stronger. I feel clearer. And I’m proud of the work I’ve put in.”

She pauses, then adds with a grin, “I just need Erewhon to open a Brooklyn location so I don’t perish in the meantime.”
 

Edited Thursday at 06:24 PM by Cheryl Stixx