Dawn Marie Psaltis was born on November 3rd, 1970 in Rahway, New Jersey.
She is a pro wrestler and wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Dawn Marie. She is probably best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) during which she was known as one of the WWE Divas.
As a little girl, Dawn Marie was a fan of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), admiring wrestlers such wrestling stars as Bob Backlund, Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper. She graduated from the New York University Stern School of Business at the age of 23 and went on to work for a real estate consultancy firm in Manhattan, New York, reaching the position of Director of International Real Estate.
After meeting up with an ex-boyfriend who had aspired to play football professionally and finding out that he had been signed by the Chicago Bears, Dawn Marie decided that she would pursue a career in entertainment. She resigned from the firm and moved into the entertainment industry with the goal of becoming either a model or an actress.
While working for Jonathan Gold, a talent agent and professional wrestling promoter, Dawn told Gold that she would be interested in pursuing a career in wrestling.
Gold took her comment to heart and later contacted Dawn Marie, informing her that she was scheduled to appear at a wrestling show in New Jersey. Dawn Marie went to the show and managed Tony Atlas in his match against Jimmy "Super Fly" Snuka. After the event, Dawn Marie stopped modeling and began appearing on the independent wrestling circuit, managing and learning from wrestlers such as Devon Storm, Buddy Landell, Snuka, Tom Brandi and Steve Corino.
She made her in-ring debut in January of 1995.
Dawn Marie spent four years working on the northeastern independent circuit, appearing with promotions such as Maryland Championship Wrestling and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. In 1999, she was told by Jeff Jones that Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) employee Buh Buh Ray Dudley was interested in bringing her into the company. At the behest of Dudley, Dawn Marie travelled to the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where ECW promoter Paul Heyman told her that he would book her for several appearances in a storyline with Lance Storm. Dawn Marie debuted in ECW on August 28, 1998 as the manager of Lance Storm, feuding with Chris Candido and his manager, Tammy Lynn Sytch. Heyman was impressed by the chemistry between Dawn Marie and Storm, and offered Dawn Marie a contract, which she accepted.
Storm and Dawn Marie feuded with Candido and Sytch for several months, during which time Dawn Marie was renamed Tammy Lynn Bytch to spite Candido and his manager. She used a similar tactic during a feud between Storm and Tommy Dreamer in early 1999, After the respective feuds ended, Dawn Marie used the ring name Dawn Marie Bytch, which was eventually shortened to simply Dawn Marie. After Storm formed a tag team with Justin Credible known as the Impact Players in the summer of 1999, Dawn Marie managed both men, helping them win the ECW Tag Team Championship on two occasions. Dawn Marie continued to manage Storm until he left ECW for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in May 2000. Dawn Marie was also offered a contract by WCW, but declined to leave ECW in order to remain with her fiancé, ECW wrestler Simon Diamond.
wrestling
