Daffney - The Original Psycho?

Everyone knows how much I loved the "crazy" Victoria in the WWE.
But before we had the "crazy as a bit coon" Victoria, way back in the WCW we had Daffney, she of the ear-piercing scream (long before Melina's "Primal Scream").
Daffney made her debut in 1999 and was inspired partly by Natural Born Killers' Mallory (Juliette Lewis) and Batman: The Animated Series' Harley Quinn.
She held a few titles during her career, the Anarchy Championship Wrestling American Joshi Championship, the NWA Wrestle Birmingham Junior Heavyweight Championship and most notably, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

Of course later we had Victoria and looking at this picture, I think "Your Soul's Tormentor" MsChif owes more than a little to Daffney's look.
Actually, Daffney managed MsChif in Shimmer Women Athletes back in 2007.

Female Wrestlers Before They Were Stars, Part 2

In the last entry I did the WWE Divas who scored a poor 7 out of 17 as far as wrestling background goes.
Expect the TNA Knockouts to do much better.


Raisha Saeed-Alissa Flash-Cheerleader Melissa
Please, do I even have to list her credits?
Pro wrestling debut in 1999.
Ultimate Pro Wrestling, All Pro Wrestling (APW Future Legend Champion twice), ChickFight (ChickFight Transatlantic Women's Champion), Pure Wrestling Association (PWA Elite Women's Champion), Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Queen's Cup 2007), Shimmer, Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA: Mid-South).
Not to mention the Cauliflower Alley Club's Future Legend Award in 2004.


Angelina Love
Lauren Williams debuted in August 2000 and has wrestled for Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, Full Throttle Wrestling, Impact Wrestling Federation, Old School Pro Wrestling, Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling, PGWA, WAW and IWA Mid South.


Awesome Kong
Kia Stevens made her pro wrestling debut in 2002 and has wrestled for AWA Superstars of Wrestling, All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, SHIMMER, NWA, ChickFight, GAEA Japan, HUSTLE, Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling, NEO Ladies Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 and last year Kia was named number 1 in PWI's best 50 female singles wrestlers.


Christy Hemme
Okay, okay I know she started out as the winner of the 2004 Diva Search.
But before Christy hit the ring in TNA, she faced Trish Stratus, Victoria, Melina, Beth Phoenix and Shelly Martinez in the squared circle, and she has participated in the Queens of Chaos shows in France, Heavy on Wrestling and Women Superstars Uncensored.


Daffney
Shannon Spruill started out in 1999 in WCW.
She has also worked for Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Women's Extreme Wrestling, NWA Wrestle Birmingham and Shimmer Women Athletes.


Madison Rayne
Ashley Simmons or Ashley Lane or Lexi Lane debuted in 2005 and worked for Ohio Championship Wrestling (first ever OCW Women's Champion), SHIMMER Women Athletes, Ring of Honor before ever setting foot in a TNA ring.


ODB
Jessica Kresa debuted in 1998 and worked for Midwest Pro Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling, Steel Domain Wrestling, Texas Wrestling Federation and United States Wrestling Organization before winding up in TNA.
Jessica also did some MMA fighting.

To be continued......

Daffney - Female Wrestling

Ring name(s) Daffney, Daffney Unger, Lucy (WWE, XPW), Lucy Furr (ROH, WEW), Shark Girl (TNA), Shannon (TNA)
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 130 lb (59 kg)
Born July 17, 1975,Wiesbaden, Germany
Resides Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Billed from "Paradise Island"
Trained by Crowbar, Dwayne Bruce, Sugar Shane Helms, Malia Hosaka, Dusty Rhodes, Selena Majors, Leilani Kai, Johnny Slaughter, Madusa
Wrestling Debut: November 1999

Shannon Claire Spruill (born July 17th, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and valet. She is perhaps best known for her appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1999 and 2001 under the ring name Daffney.

A "military brat", Spruill was born in an United States Air Force base in Wiesbaden, Germany where her father was stationed. In 1976 the family returned to the United States, residing first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Savannah, Georgia and finally on the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. They later relocated to Oxford, England for three years, before moving to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany until 1987, when her father, by then a Lieutenant Colonel, retired.

Spruill graduated from Georgia State University in March 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Video production, with minors in Acting and Music. She went on to work in Media Production before becoming an actress. In November 1999 she responded to a World Championship Wrestling contest looking to acquire new talent, and was hired.

In WCW, Spruill played Daffney, the mentally deranged, besotted girlfriend of David Flair, managing him and Crowbar. The gimmick was based in part on Mallory Knox, the character played by Juliette Lewis in the film Natural Born Killers. Spruill's first appearance was on the December 6 episode of Nitro, when she was shown sitting on her bed and chanting Flair's name.

On May 15, 2000 Spruill and Crowbar defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Candido and his girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch in an mixed tag team match and were declared co-champions. The following week on the May 22 episode of Nitro, Crowbar and Spruill faced one another to determine the undisputed Cruiserweight Champion. Crowbar held back during the match, but still dominated the smaller Spruill. After Candido entered the ring and hit Crowbar with a sitout piledriver, Spruill inadvertently pinned him while trying to revive him and thus became the second woman ever to hold the Cruiserweight Championship. Her reign lasted until June 7 when Lieutenant Loco pinned Disco Inferno in a triple threat title defence while Spruill was hurt following interference from Miss Hancock.

Spruill went on to feud with Hancock, who had stolen the affections of Flair, who had allegedly fathered Hanock's unborn child.

Daffney was notable for her constantly changing hair color, wide selection of T-Shirts with slogans on them, and her propensity to scream loudly and shrilly for no apparent reason. She began screaming at the suggestion of WCW writer Ed Ferrara. Though Spruill's somewhat gothic character earned her a small but loyal fanbase, she was released by WCW on February 2, 2001 due to budget cutbacks (WCW itself was purchased by its rival, the World Wrestling Federation, a month later).

Spruill opted to continue wrestling, attending Dusty Rhodes's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling training camp in Kennesaw, Georgia for eight months. She made several appearances for the fledgling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion in 2002 as Shannon and Shark Girl, and worked for Xtreme Pro Wrestling in 2003 as Lucy, the manager of Vic Grimes. She also appeared in Ring of Honor, where she debuted on April 26, 2003 as Lucy Furr ("Lucifer"), the valet of the Second City Saints.

In July 2003 Spruill was signed to a developmental deal by World Wrestling Entertainment. She worked in Ohio Valley Wrestling as the manager of Aaron Stevens until she was released on December 17, 2003. She retired from professional wrestling in 2004 following a knee injury, intending to focus on her acting career, and sold her wrestling boots to her then-roommate, Mickie James. While retired, Spruill worked as a personal trainer. In June 2005 she posed for a website owned and operated by wrestling divas Francine and Missy Hyatt.

In February 2006, Spruill returned to the independent circuit. Spruill debuted in Women's Extreme Wrestling on April 6, 2006 under the ring name Lucy Furr, acting as a lumberjill in a match between Amy Lee and Tai Killer Weed.

On June 2, 2006 in Irondale, Alabama, Spruill faced El Mexico for the NWA Wrestle Birmingham Junior Heavyweight Championship. With the help of her manager, Robert Fuller (who referred to Spruill as his "Million Dollar Baby"), Spruil defeated El Mexicano to win her third wrestling title.

In April 2007, Spruill debuted as Daffney for SHIMMER Women Athletes. She conducted an interview where she revealed her goal was to return to what she did from the beginning of her career, and that was to manage. Later that evening she would appear as the manager of the wrestler MsChif.

Daffney and MsChif together?

Ooooooh man!

Shannon Spruill (Daffney) - Female Wrestling

Daffney (Shannon Spruill)
Ring name(s) Daffney,Daffney Unger (WCW),Lucy (XPW),Lucy Furr (ROH),Shark Girl (TNA),Shannon (TNA)
Billed height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Billed weight 130 lb (59 kg)
Born July 17, 1975, Wiesbaden, Germany
Resides Atlanta, Georgia
Billed from Paradise Island
Trained by Crowbar,Dwayne Bruce,Sugar Shane Helms,Malia Hosaka,Dusty Rhodes,Selena Majors,Leilani Kai,Johnny Slaughter,Madusa
Professional wrestling debut: November 1999

Shannon Spruill was born on July 17, 1975, in Wiesbaden Germany.
She is an American pro wrestler and valet, perhaps best known for her appearances with WCW between 1999 and 2001 under the ring name Daffney.

Spruill was born on an Air Force base in Wiesbaden where her father was stationed. In 1976 the family returned to America, living first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Savannah, Georgia and finally on the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. They later relocated to Oxford, England for three years, before returning to Germany until 1987, with her father, by then a retired Lieutenant Colonel.

Spruill graduated from Georgia State University in March 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Video production. She went on to work in Media Production before becoming an actress. In November 1999 she responded to a WCW contest looking to acquire new talent, and was hired.

In WCW, Spruill played Daffney, the mentally deranged, besotted girlfriend of David Flair, managing him and Crowbar. The gimmick was based in part on the character played by Juliette Lewis in the film Natural Born Killers. Spruill's first appearance was on the December 6 episode of Nitro, when she was shown sitting on her bed and chanting Flair's name.

On May 15, 2000 Spruill and Crowbar defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Candido and his wife Tammy Lynn Sytch in an mixed tag team match and were declared co-champions. The following week on the May 22 episode of Nitro, Crowbar and Spruill faced one another to determine the undisputed Cruiserweight Champion. Crowbar held back during the match, but still dominated the smaller Spruill. After Candido entered the ring and hit Crowbar with a sitout piledriver, Spruill inadvertedly pinned him while trying to revive him and thus became the second woman ever to hold the Cruiserweight Championship. Her reign lasted until June 7 when Lieutenant Loco pinned Disco Inferno in a triple threat title defence while Spruill was hurt following interference from Miss Hancock (Stacy Kiebler). Spruill went on to feud with Hancock, who had stolen the affections of Flair, who had allegedly fathered Hanock's unborn child.

Daffney was notable for her constantly changing hair color, wide selection of T-shirts with slogans on them, and her propensity to scream loudly and shrilly for no apparent reason. Though Spruill's somewhat gothic character earned her a small but loyal fanbase, she was released by WCW on February 2, 2001 due to budget cutbacks (WCW itself was purchased by its rival, the World Wrestling Federation, a month later).

Spruill opted to continue wrestling, attending Dusty Rhodes's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling training camp in Kennesaw, Georgia. In 2001 she toured Europe and Australia with the World Wrestling All-Stars as Scream. She made several appearances for the fledgling TNA Wrestling promotion in 2002 as Shannon and Shark Girl, and worked for Xtreme Pro Wrestling in 2003 as Lucy, the manager of Vic Grimes. She achieved her greatest success in Ring of Honor, where she debuted on April 26, 2003 as Lucy Furr ("Lucifer"), the valet of the Second City Saints.

In July 2003 Spruill was signed to a developmental deal by WWE. She worked in Ohio Valley Wrestling as the manager of Aaron Stevens until she was released on November 8, 2003. She retired from professional wrestling in 2004 following a knee injury, intending to focus on her acting career. While retired, Spruill worked as a personal trainer. In June 2005 she posed for a website owned and operated by wrestling divas Francine and Missy Hyatt, and in February 2006 she returned to the independent circuit. Spruill debuted in Women's Extreme Wrestling on April 6, 2006, acting as a lumberjill in a match between Amy Lee and Tai Killer Weed.

On June 2, 2006 in Irondale, Alabama, Spruill faced El Mexico for the NWA Wrestle Birmingham Junior Heavyweight Championship. With the help of her manager, Robert Fuller (who referred to Spruill as his "Million Dollar Baby"), Spruil defeated El Mexico to win her third wrestling title.