Denise Winkelman Reveals How Karl Anderson Prepared Her For Life As A Comedian

Nowadays, Denise Winkelman is known for providing the people of California with good laughs through her work as a comedian. Back in the 2000s, she was known to the professional wrestling world as Dr. Melvin Winkelman, an over-the-top mad scientist with an affinity for magical potions (that may or may not have been Gatorade) and trash talk. On August 19, both worlds will collide in Denise’s debut comedy special, titled Bougie on a Budget.

Ahead of the special’s premiere on platforms such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube, Denise sat down with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay for an in-depth chat about her ventures in comedy and wrestling. Both will be topics of conversation in Bougie on a Budget, along with other elements of her life as a Transgender woman, Los Angeles resident, and fashion lover.

“It’s a lot of stories about growing up in a small town, conservative family. Try to make it really funny,” Denise said. “We talk about garage sale fashion, my grandma doing a bandage, the small town remedies kind of thing, and then just blending current day. Kind of what’s going on current day, dating, Los Angeles, being trans. I just love to go to therapy is really what it comes down to. We try to make a really, really funny, really topical, really inclusive for everybody. So there’s stuff for everyone. A lot of it’s really silly, but blended with authentic. Really proud of how that came out too.”

Denise Opens Up About Her Background In Wrestling

At the age of 23, Denise moved to Kentucky to pursue work as a professional wrestler. Not too far away in Cincinnati, she then became a regular fixture in the Northern Wrestling Federation, which once served as the home to talents such as “Wildcat” Chris Harris, Abyss, and Karl Anderson. According to Denise, it was the latter that invented the character of Dr. Melvin Winkelman.

“It was actually Karl Anderson, he’d been there like a year longer, but he was really, really good at wrestling. He pulls me aside one day and he’s like, ‘Hey, Winkelman. Can you just go pop the boys and do a promo as a mad scientist?’ And so I did it was promo class and it stuck. It stuck because I did it so well. So originally, it was Doctor Melvin Socrates, the first couple shows I wrestled. Then they said, Dr. Melvin Winkelman, your real last name, because it’s creepy. And I was like, well, thanks a lot.’

As Dr. Melvin Winkelman, Denise embodied elements from the work of WWE’s D-Generation X, namely their blend of intensity and goofiness. “I would say really intense things, but they would be really funny,” she said. “Whoever I was wrestling, I’d be like ‘Karl Anderson, you’re all pretty. You look like a jock. You disgust me. I’m going to give you a potion and turn you into a Billy goat.’ So we would do things like that. Somebody whipped up a potion, there would be Gatorade involved. Somebody gave me a bunch of science stuff, like a lab coat and stuff like that. So we’d carry it all out and it’d be smoking.”

Denise’s Friendship with Karl Anderson

While he’s currently making the rounds a free agent following his release from WWE, Karl Anderson was once the roommate of Denise Winkelman as they both continued to climb through the rankings of NWF in the mid-2000s.

“I met him in ’03, first day of wrestling school,” Denise said. “At the time, we lived in the same apartment complex and his roommate moved out, so I moved in with him. I was so chill at the time, so I was kind of quiet, and he was just out there talking all the time. He had to entertain people no matter what.

“It was a great relationship,” she continued. “And to be honest, I learned so much about how to be a professional from him. The work he put in when nobody was watching, it just blew me away. He always worked the hardest in the gym. He was really the best wrestler in Cincinnati at the time. He was having this great run. He’d always be watching tape. His work was really intense. We just kind of pushed each other, and it really prepared me for comedy in the sense of, okay, this is the work it takes to get to the next level.”

In Anderson’s case, his next level was New Japan Pro-Wrestling. For Denise, it was another creative path, specifically comedy. Eventually, the two reunited as Anderson returned from Japan to be the best man in Denise’s wedding.

Anderson recently completed a second run in WWE. He and Luke Gallows were released by WWE in February. The team has made appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and on the indie scene since then.

Watch our full interview with Denise Winkelman:

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