Black Widow
10-02-2009, 06:15 PM
Jamie Szantyr could gloat, but she doesn't.
This one-time WWE Diva search contestant has found her niche in TNA Wrestling, helping lead a very strong TNA Knockouts women's `wrestling' division.
``We've proved ourselves enough to the fans that they tune-in specifically to watch our matches,'' said Szantyr, better known as Velvet Sky, one of The Beautiful People, literally and figuratively.
``If you look around at the TNA Knockouts, each one is different. We're all different shapes, heights, sizes, races, hair colors. Each one has a different look. Each one has a different in-ring style. No one looks the same, wrestles the same, moves the same, talks the same. We have variety here in TNA. Elsewhere everyone looks the same, and everyone does the same thing.''
In 2007, Szantyr auditioned for the WWE Diva search contest but did not make the final eight. She was disappointed but continued to pursue a career, working the indies and Women's Extreme Wrestling where she received some syndicated television exposure. Prior in 2005 and 2006, she garnered TV time in a match and a segment for WWE.
It wasn't long after the WWE diva door shut in 2007 that another one opened. TNA announced the creation of its women's wrestling division, and Szantyr, as Talia Madison, competed in a 10-woman gauntlet match to crown the first TNA women's champ at the TNA Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
Sky said: ``When I came to TNA in 2007 and judging by the group of girls TNA brought in for the pay-per-view, I knew immediately we were going to be taken seriously, and we weren't going to be doing bra and panties matches or pudding, jello and whatever else was being done [in WWE].''
That historic gauntlet match in October 2007 also featured Awesome Kong, Traci Brooks, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Roxxi Laveaux, Shelly Martinez (Salinas), Jackie Moore (Jacquelyn), ODB and Angel Williams (Angelina Love).
``All the girls have worked so hard in TNA. We have a good group,'' Sky said. ``When the Knockouts division started, we had six or seven girls, and we've grown. In two years, there's 15, 16, 17 of us. We really worked so hard to get to where we are now -- with that many girls and a women's title and now tag team titles, too.''
• Another step forward
TNA recently created tag team titles for women. A tournament to crown the first TNA Knockouts tag team champs concluded at the TNA No Surrender pay-per-view in September at Universal Studios Orlando.
Sky teamed with Madison Rayne, who replaced Angelina Love, in the finals. Rayne rejoined The Beautiful People, and then Love's working VISA issues forced her to stop working in the United States.
``Madison and I are going to keep The Beautiful People going strong,'' Sky said. ``Angelina helped create it, and the two of us are just going to continue to take the ball and run with it.''
It would have been fitting for Love and Sky to become the first TNA Knockouts tag team title holders.
``I keep in contact with [Angelina]. She is doing OK, and she is going to be just fine,'' Sky said. ``There was a lot of negative stuff that was said about her on the Internet like why she got fired, what's going to happen. You can't always believe what you read on the Internet.''
The incident caught everyone off guard.
``It came out of the blue,'' Sky said. ``We did three TV tapings. She was supposed to go to [TNA's] Germany tour. The travel was booked, and the pay-per-view match was booked. It was supposed to be her and I against Sarita and Taylor Wilde.
``A week and a half after we finished the TV tapings is when I got the phone call, saying this is what happened. `Oh my God.' TNA reassured me that Madison and I were going to keep the group going. They weren't going to let the group die. They said we all worked so hard, and we were so good in that group. So we were excited about that.
``Angelina told both of us to keep it going strong. She said, `Don't let anyone or anything ruin what we built.' We won't let anyone or anything ruin what we've work so hard to build. It's not going to happen. Not on my time. That's real. I mean that.''
Even though Sky is an original member, she treats Rayne equally.
``I don't think there is a need for a leadership role in The Beautiful People. Who's to say I'm better than her, or she's better than me,'' Sky said. ``I don't think The Beautiful People ever needed a leadership role. I view us as equals, 50/50. I think we should have the same amount of promo time, ring time, whatever the case may be. It's a team.''
Rayne and Sky have their eyes on the prize, TNA tag team gold.
``Angelina and I were the very first ever women's faction tag team in TNA,'' Sky said. ``Even before Angelina was gone and Madison was with us, before the belts were even brought into play, we were still the only female tag team in TNA.
``So the belts will come home to the rightful owners now, Madison Rayne and myself. It will only be a matter of time as we'll do whatever it takes to get them.''
In the tag team tournament finals, Sarita and Taylor Wilde defeated Rayne and Sky to become the first TNA Knockouts tag team champs.
``They got lucky,'' Sky said. ``They can do all the flippity do-das. They have the skill. I'll give them that much, but I don't work at that fast pace.
``I like to be a slow, take my time heel in the ring. Do whatever I have to do. It was a challenge to step up the pace against them, but I hung in there. So I'm not complaining.''
No reason to.
• A beautiful partnership
Love and Sky formed the very successful Beautiful People faction in December 2007.
``I don't really think TNA had a specific plan in mind for each of us when we first started,'' Sky said. ``I think they just wanted to put us out in matches, see how the crowds react and see how we would evolve on our own and then go from there.
``When we first started two years ago, there were no plans for any duos or trios as far as the girls went. So Angelina Love and myself had this idea to pitch to TNA where the two of us are together, and we do the whole mean girl gimmick. We talked to TNA about it a few times, and they seemed to bite. They liked it. So they came up with the name The Beautiful People for us and the gimmick, and they just let us have the ball, and we ran with it.''
The Beautiful People did more than just run with the ball. They scored big time, helping bring women's wrestling to new heights.
The Beautiful People added Cute Kip (Kip James) to the group, but Love and Sky ousted him after they lost a six-person tag match to ODB, Rhaka Khan and Rhino. So enter the athletic Madison Rayne.
``TNA liked the idea of having a three-girl stable with The Beautiful People,'' Sky said. ``They were looking for a third member, the perfect fit, and Madison was TNA's choice.
``She is an awesome addition. We didn't have to tell her, `No, don't do this. Do it like this. This isn't how we do it.' She just clicked right away. It was a very good choice because she really came into her own immediately, and I'm proud of her.''
Sky continues to prove why women's actual wrestling actually works on the professional level. Matches with the TNA Knockouts are featured on TNA pay-per-views and are top rated segments on TNA's weekly prime-time show TNA iMPACT (9 p.m. EST Thursdays SpikeTV).
``The Knockouts have been featured in two, three, sometimes four segments on the [iMPACT TV] show. That's how much trust TNA has invested in us,'' she said.
``We're so appreciative of the fans for tuning in and watching us. Millions of fans are tuning in to watch a girls' match in TNA. That's never been done before. I'm so proud of that. Everybody here works so hard, and we get along so well. It shows hard work really pays off.''
Those are key factors when devising future plans.
``TNA having tag team titles is another step up for us,'' she said. ``TNA came out with a women's title, and we all took the ball and ran with it, raising the bar. I just think TNA was so proud of us and so impressed that we were able to get the ratings we were getting and perform at a level no one expected. So TNA had enough trust in us and invested enough into us that they hired more girls to do a tag team division.
``We're really proud of ourselves for being able to work so hard and prove to TNA and to ourselves and to the fans that we are good enough to have women's tag team belts here.''
• Daddy's little wrestling girl
The first born in her family, Sky recalls watching wrestling with her father.
``I hung out with my dad a lot when I was little, like the tom boy, daddy's girl,'' she said. ``I would sit and watch the WWF with him. I had no idea what I was watching at first, but the more I would sit with him and watch it, then I would ask, `Dad, which one's the good guy, which one's the bad guy?'
``The first time I watched it I remember seeing Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth, and I was so impressed by the flashy get-up, the glasses and the voice and Elizabeth and her dresses and just how graceful she was. Then my dad stopped watching it, but the older I got and the more I learned about it, I would watch it on my own.
``The storylines are what got me hooked at first. Then when Amy Dumas Lita got in there, she is the one who really inspired me. I remember watching her when I was in high school and just going, `Wow. She is so awesome.' Even as a person -- I've meet her and talked with her -- she is awesome. The flips and the bumps in the ring, she was pretty; she was cool. I wanted to be just like that. She was my inspiration.''
• Family support
``My parents are so proud of me,'' Sky said. ``My family has been behind me, even when I first started training in wrestling. They saw me suffer, come home with a blowout on my car, with no money, by myself in the car, driving five to seven hours alone for little or no money.
``My mom and dad never once said, `Jamie, what are you doing? Go to college. Why are you wasting your time? Get a real job.' They never, ever, ever said that. For a while, I just wanted to make it so bad in wrestling that I quit my job and moved back home with my parents, and I was well into my 20s at this point.
``A lot of our indie shows were Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I waitressed, and that was the busy time to waitress on the weekends. I must have gone through 13, 14 different job. I'd go to a job. I would explain to them what I do. When the time came to ask for time off, I wouldn't get it. So I would quit. Then, I would find another job, explain to them. I wanted to be there working, but making my indie shows and wrestling was way more important.''
Perseverance
``Finally, I moved back in with my parents,'' she recalled. ``That way I had a place to live and didn't have to worry about paying any bills, and I was able to make my indie shows. I was broke for the longest time, but I knew somewhere down the line something has got to give somewhere. I'm not giving up. I didn't give up. It took me seven years to get where I am now.
``My mom saw the struggles. She saw me living at home sleeping in the bed I grew up in, with no money. My car was a piece of $%#@. The car was on its deathbed. Not once did she say, `What are you doing with your life?' She was always behind me 100 percent as was the rest of my family. I'm lucky and proud.''
Mom's love
``My mom is very protective. She knows I know what I'm doing in the ring, but when she sees her daughter getting dropped on her head, she's like, `Oh God.' She came to one show, but she can't anymore. She said, `I'll watch you on TV because when I watch you on TV, I know you're OK because it's taped. I can watch that, but anything that is live, I can't do it. It's too hard to sit through.'
``It's OK. I don't blame her.''
• Learning the ropes close to home
When Sky graduated from high school, she was fortunate a wrestling school nested five miles from her home. She began her journey in 2003 at Jason Knight's House of Pain Pro Wrestling Dojo in Waterbury, Conn. Jason Knight is best known as Jason The Sexiest Man Alive from the original ECW days.
``God bless Jason for everything he's helped me with,'' Sky said. ``He's the one I started with, and then I went to the Wild Samoans School in Pennsylvania. I trained with them and did shows with them. I almost became a part of the Wild Samoan family.''
Sky learned from those experiences, tough lessons.
``When I started with Jason's school, there were three women -- me, Mercedes Martinez and Trinity Campbell. Mercedes is still active in wrestling, but Trinity is not.''
Equal rights.
``I was never babied. I told Jason I wanted to be treated like the men. He wouldn't have babied me anyway. That's not his style,'' Sky said. ``Jason believes when men and women are in the ring, they're equal. You're going to take the same hit, the same force. I would get in there with the guys. Whatever moves or bumps the guys took, I made sure I took it right after them. That's how I gained the respect from them.
``At first no one really talked to me. `Oh, a girl. OK, a girl,' but once I got in the ring, and the guys would do a bump, I said, `Hey, let me try that.' They were like, `Really?' I said, `Yea.' Then they would do it to me. Then they would talk to me more, and they would respect me more. They realized this girl is serious. She wants to be here. It was a great time.''
Even the first day?
``I remember my first day of training,'' she said. ``I was worked so hard in the ring by Jason that I had to roll out and throw up. I couldn't breathe. My heart was racing, and I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. It was bump, get up, run; bump, get up, run; run the ropes, bump, I dropped down. It was crazy.
``The next day when I woke up, I couldn't move. It's like going to the gym for the first time, and you're powerlifting 500 pounds. Your body is not used to that. You wake up the next morning like a board. You can't move. It was like that.
``The first week of training was &%$#, but then after a while -- like in the gym you get used to lifting -- you get used to bumping. You get used to the slaps and the kicks. We still get hurt, black-n-blue marks. We still wake up sore, but nothing like the first week of training.''
Boot camp, she survived basic training.
``After that, I still wanted to do it,'' Sky said. ``I walked into that school, and I knew that it was going to be hard work. I was ready for it. I've done sports since I was 7-years-old. I was ready to do this. I never gave up at anything I did, and I wasn't about to give up on wrestling.''
• Rayne and Sky share fashion statements.
``When we're home, we'll talk about what outfits to bring to wear,'' Sky said. ``We have cute pants outfits and tops that we wear, but we wear a lot of the bra tops and skirts. That's our signature outfit. She's got a collection. I've got a collection. We mix and match. We borrow each others. We have a set look now.
``The less clothing we wear, the better it fits our gimmick. Less is more. You don't have to necessarily go out there in a singlet and knee high wrestling boots to be classified as a wrestler.
``Wrestling has a lot to do with your character, and each one of us at TNA has a character [a role to play]. So you try to dress and act and move around in the ring as your character.
``The Beautiful People, we're supposed to be snobby; we're better than everybody; you're ugly; we're pretty. In the ring, we won't do big power moves. We'll cheat, raking eyes, pulling hair, chops, mean, nasty, mean girl stuff. We dress to the gimmick, move around to the gimmick, talk to the gimmick -- same as others do with their character.''
• Team player
Roxxi proved to be a team player by having her head shaved, but Sky also took one for the team, passing one of her toughest tests in TNA.
When Tara, formerly Victoria in WWE, made the move to TNA, she introduced her own tag team partner to combat The Beautiful People. A (Tara) Tarantula named Poison.
``Anything that's tiny and moves like the speed of light, fast, if I see it, I freak out,'' Sky said. ``If I see a spider, no. Ants are all right. I still don't want to be near ants, but they really don't bother me. They're harmless.
``Spiders are just ugly, and I hate them. When they told me I was going to have to do the spider thing -- I'm willing to do whatever they ask me to do, and of course, I'm not going to say no -- I let them know of my concerns and how terrified I am of spiders.
``I was concerned about what if it bites me, what if when I'm laying there and they put it on me and it starts to crawl up to my face, I'm not supposed to react. I'm supposed to just lay there. What do I do?
``The trainer they brought with the spider reassured me that it wasn't going to bite me. It moves. Don't worry about it; just lay completely still. They're around lots of people everyday. People are handling them all the time.
``They reassured me, but I still had a fear because it's a big hairy Tarantula on you. Still, it's the same thing as if we were cast into a movie role, and they wanted us to do stunts. If you're part of a movie and the director asks you to do stunts, you do it. You just smile, and you do it, no matter what. Even if you don't want to do it, you contribute to what they want you to do and be a team player.
``I was scared and terrified and disgusted, but at the end of the day, I layed there. I took it, and it was all over with. I was fine.''
• Loyalty
``TNA is where I was meant to be, and I don't plan on going anywhere else,'' Sky said. ``As long as TNA wants me here, I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to go anywhere. Even if I was offered something somewhere down the line with whomever, I'm not going anywhere. The only way I would leave here is if TNA releases me or fires me. This is home. This is my permanent home. I mean that.''
• Velvet Sky?
``TNA came up with the name. At first, it was like, `Velvet Sky, wow, what is that?' It took a while, but then it grew on me. One of the big perks to it is it's such an uncommon name. You can't help but remember it. It's not like a Jenny or a Kelly. It's Velvet Sky. It's a very unique name, an unforgetable name. I've definitely warmed up to it. I like it.''
The name fits the persona and the person.
• The anniversary of the TNA Knockouts Division is at TNA's Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the UCI Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.
• TNA tapes TNA iMPACT! four times a month at Soundstage 21 of Universal Studios Orlando. Admission is free. Wrestlers sign autographs and pose for photos, and some lucky fans go backstage. Seats are first come, first serve. Call 407-224-6000.
The Miami Herald
This one-time WWE Diva search contestant has found her niche in TNA Wrestling, helping lead a very strong TNA Knockouts women's `wrestling' division.
``We've proved ourselves enough to the fans that they tune-in specifically to watch our matches,'' said Szantyr, better known as Velvet Sky, one of The Beautiful People, literally and figuratively.
``If you look around at the TNA Knockouts, each one is different. We're all different shapes, heights, sizes, races, hair colors. Each one has a different look. Each one has a different in-ring style. No one looks the same, wrestles the same, moves the same, talks the same. We have variety here in TNA. Elsewhere everyone looks the same, and everyone does the same thing.''
In 2007, Szantyr auditioned for the WWE Diva search contest but did not make the final eight. She was disappointed but continued to pursue a career, working the indies and Women's Extreme Wrestling where she received some syndicated television exposure. Prior in 2005 and 2006, she garnered TV time in a match and a segment for WWE.
It wasn't long after the WWE diva door shut in 2007 that another one opened. TNA announced the creation of its women's wrestling division, and Szantyr, as Talia Madison, competed in a 10-woman gauntlet match to crown the first TNA women's champ at the TNA Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
Sky said: ``When I came to TNA in 2007 and judging by the group of girls TNA brought in for the pay-per-view, I knew immediately we were going to be taken seriously, and we weren't going to be doing bra and panties matches or pudding, jello and whatever else was being done [in WWE].''
That historic gauntlet match in October 2007 also featured Awesome Kong, Traci Brooks, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Roxxi Laveaux, Shelly Martinez (Salinas), Jackie Moore (Jacquelyn), ODB and Angel Williams (Angelina Love).
``All the girls have worked so hard in TNA. We have a good group,'' Sky said. ``When the Knockouts division started, we had six or seven girls, and we've grown. In two years, there's 15, 16, 17 of us. We really worked so hard to get to where we are now -- with that many girls and a women's title and now tag team titles, too.''
• Another step forward
TNA recently created tag team titles for women. A tournament to crown the first TNA Knockouts tag team champs concluded at the TNA No Surrender pay-per-view in September at Universal Studios Orlando.
Sky teamed with Madison Rayne, who replaced Angelina Love, in the finals. Rayne rejoined The Beautiful People, and then Love's working VISA issues forced her to stop working in the United States.
``Madison and I are going to keep The Beautiful People going strong,'' Sky said. ``Angelina helped create it, and the two of us are just going to continue to take the ball and run with it.''
It would have been fitting for Love and Sky to become the first TNA Knockouts tag team title holders.
``I keep in contact with [Angelina]. She is doing OK, and she is going to be just fine,'' Sky said. ``There was a lot of negative stuff that was said about her on the Internet like why she got fired, what's going to happen. You can't always believe what you read on the Internet.''
The incident caught everyone off guard.
``It came out of the blue,'' Sky said. ``We did three TV tapings. She was supposed to go to [TNA's] Germany tour. The travel was booked, and the pay-per-view match was booked. It was supposed to be her and I against Sarita and Taylor Wilde.
``A week and a half after we finished the TV tapings is when I got the phone call, saying this is what happened. `Oh my God.' TNA reassured me that Madison and I were going to keep the group going. They weren't going to let the group die. They said we all worked so hard, and we were so good in that group. So we were excited about that.
``Angelina told both of us to keep it going strong. She said, `Don't let anyone or anything ruin what we built.' We won't let anyone or anything ruin what we've work so hard to build. It's not going to happen. Not on my time. That's real. I mean that.''
Even though Sky is an original member, she treats Rayne equally.
``I don't think there is a need for a leadership role in The Beautiful People. Who's to say I'm better than her, or she's better than me,'' Sky said. ``I don't think The Beautiful People ever needed a leadership role. I view us as equals, 50/50. I think we should have the same amount of promo time, ring time, whatever the case may be. It's a team.''
Rayne and Sky have their eyes on the prize, TNA tag team gold.
``Angelina and I were the very first ever women's faction tag team in TNA,'' Sky said. ``Even before Angelina was gone and Madison was with us, before the belts were even brought into play, we were still the only female tag team in TNA.
``So the belts will come home to the rightful owners now, Madison Rayne and myself. It will only be a matter of time as we'll do whatever it takes to get them.''
In the tag team tournament finals, Sarita and Taylor Wilde defeated Rayne and Sky to become the first TNA Knockouts tag team champs.
``They got lucky,'' Sky said. ``They can do all the flippity do-das. They have the skill. I'll give them that much, but I don't work at that fast pace.
``I like to be a slow, take my time heel in the ring. Do whatever I have to do. It was a challenge to step up the pace against them, but I hung in there. So I'm not complaining.''
No reason to.
• A beautiful partnership
Love and Sky formed the very successful Beautiful People faction in December 2007.
``I don't really think TNA had a specific plan in mind for each of us when we first started,'' Sky said. ``I think they just wanted to put us out in matches, see how the crowds react and see how we would evolve on our own and then go from there.
``When we first started two years ago, there were no plans for any duos or trios as far as the girls went. So Angelina Love and myself had this idea to pitch to TNA where the two of us are together, and we do the whole mean girl gimmick. We talked to TNA about it a few times, and they seemed to bite. They liked it. So they came up with the name The Beautiful People for us and the gimmick, and they just let us have the ball, and we ran with it.''
The Beautiful People did more than just run with the ball. They scored big time, helping bring women's wrestling to new heights.
The Beautiful People added Cute Kip (Kip James) to the group, but Love and Sky ousted him after they lost a six-person tag match to ODB, Rhaka Khan and Rhino. So enter the athletic Madison Rayne.
``TNA liked the idea of having a three-girl stable with The Beautiful People,'' Sky said. ``They were looking for a third member, the perfect fit, and Madison was TNA's choice.
``She is an awesome addition. We didn't have to tell her, `No, don't do this. Do it like this. This isn't how we do it.' She just clicked right away. It was a very good choice because she really came into her own immediately, and I'm proud of her.''
Sky continues to prove why women's actual wrestling actually works on the professional level. Matches with the TNA Knockouts are featured on TNA pay-per-views and are top rated segments on TNA's weekly prime-time show TNA iMPACT (9 p.m. EST Thursdays SpikeTV).
``The Knockouts have been featured in two, three, sometimes four segments on the [iMPACT TV] show. That's how much trust TNA has invested in us,'' she said.
``We're so appreciative of the fans for tuning in and watching us. Millions of fans are tuning in to watch a girls' match in TNA. That's never been done before. I'm so proud of that. Everybody here works so hard, and we get along so well. It shows hard work really pays off.''
Those are key factors when devising future plans.
``TNA having tag team titles is another step up for us,'' she said. ``TNA came out with a women's title, and we all took the ball and ran with it, raising the bar. I just think TNA was so proud of us and so impressed that we were able to get the ratings we were getting and perform at a level no one expected. So TNA had enough trust in us and invested enough into us that they hired more girls to do a tag team division.
``We're really proud of ourselves for being able to work so hard and prove to TNA and to ourselves and to the fans that we are good enough to have women's tag team belts here.''
• Daddy's little wrestling girl
The first born in her family, Sky recalls watching wrestling with her father.
``I hung out with my dad a lot when I was little, like the tom boy, daddy's girl,'' she said. ``I would sit and watch the WWF with him. I had no idea what I was watching at first, but the more I would sit with him and watch it, then I would ask, `Dad, which one's the good guy, which one's the bad guy?'
``The first time I watched it I remember seeing Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth, and I was so impressed by the flashy get-up, the glasses and the voice and Elizabeth and her dresses and just how graceful she was. Then my dad stopped watching it, but the older I got and the more I learned about it, I would watch it on my own.
``The storylines are what got me hooked at first. Then when Amy Dumas Lita got in there, she is the one who really inspired me. I remember watching her when I was in high school and just going, `Wow. She is so awesome.' Even as a person -- I've meet her and talked with her -- she is awesome. The flips and the bumps in the ring, she was pretty; she was cool. I wanted to be just like that. She was my inspiration.''
• Family support
``My parents are so proud of me,'' Sky said. ``My family has been behind me, even when I first started training in wrestling. They saw me suffer, come home with a blowout on my car, with no money, by myself in the car, driving five to seven hours alone for little or no money.
``My mom and dad never once said, `Jamie, what are you doing? Go to college. Why are you wasting your time? Get a real job.' They never, ever, ever said that. For a while, I just wanted to make it so bad in wrestling that I quit my job and moved back home with my parents, and I was well into my 20s at this point.
``A lot of our indie shows were Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I waitressed, and that was the busy time to waitress on the weekends. I must have gone through 13, 14 different job. I'd go to a job. I would explain to them what I do. When the time came to ask for time off, I wouldn't get it. So I would quit. Then, I would find another job, explain to them. I wanted to be there working, but making my indie shows and wrestling was way more important.''
Perseverance
``Finally, I moved back in with my parents,'' she recalled. ``That way I had a place to live and didn't have to worry about paying any bills, and I was able to make my indie shows. I was broke for the longest time, but I knew somewhere down the line something has got to give somewhere. I'm not giving up. I didn't give up. It took me seven years to get where I am now.
``My mom saw the struggles. She saw me living at home sleeping in the bed I grew up in, with no money. My car was a piece of $%#@. The car was on its deathbed. Not once did she say, `What are you doing with your life?' She was always behind me 100 percent as was the rest of my family. I'm lucky and proud.''
Mom's love
``My mom is very protective. She knows I know what I'm doing in the ring, but when she sees her daughter getting dropped on her head, she's like, `Oh God.' She came to one show, but she can't anymore. She said, `I'll watch you on TV because when I watch you on TV, I know you're OK because it's taped. I can watch that, but anything that is live, I can't do it. It's too hard to sit through.'
``It's OK. I don't blame her.''
• Learning the ropes close to home
When Sky graduated from high school, she was fortunate a wrestling school nested five miles from her home. She began her journey in 2003 at Jason Knight's House of Pain Pro Wrestling Dojo in Waterbury, Conn. Jason Knight is best known as Jason The Sexiest Man Alive from the original ECW days.
``God bless Jason for everything he's helped me with,'' Sky said. ``He's the one I started with, and then I went to the Wild Samoans School in Pennsylvania. I trained with them and did shows with them. I almost became a part of the Wild Samoan family.''
Sky learned from those experiences, tough lessons.
``When I started with Jason's school, there were three women -- me, Mercedes Martinez and Trinity Campbell. Mercedes is still active in wrestling, but Trinity is not.''
Equal rights.
``I was never babied. I told Jason I wanted to be treated like the men. He wouldn't have babied me anyway. That's not his style,'' Sky said. ``Jason believes when men and women are in the ring, they're equal. You're going to take the same hit, the same force. I would get in there with the guys. Whatever moves or bumps the guys took, I made sure I took it right after them. That's how I gained the respect from them.
``At first no one really talked to me. `Oh, a girl. OK, a girl,' but once I got in the ring, and the guys would do a bump, I said, `Hey, let me try that.' They were like, `Really?' I said, `Yea.' Then they would do it to me. Then they would talk to me more, and they would respect me more. They realized this girl is serious. She wants to be here. It was a great time.''
Even the first day?
``I remember my first day of training,'' she said. ``I was worked so hard in the ring by Jason that I had to roll out and throw up. I couldn't breathe. My heart was racing, and I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. It was bump, get up, run; bump, get up, run; run the ropes, bump, I dropped down. It was crazy.
``The next day when I woke up, I couldn't move. It's like going to the gym for the first time, and you're powerlifting 500 pounds. Your body is not used to that. You wake up the next morning like a board. You can't move. It was like that.
``The first week of training was &%$#, but then after a while -- like in the gym you get used to lifting -- you get used to bumping. You get used to the slaps and the kicks. We still get hurt, black-n-blue marks. We still wake up sore, but nothing like the first week of training.''
Boot camp, she survived basic training.
``After that, I still wanted to do it,'' Sky said. ``I walked into that school, and I knew that it was going to be hard work. I was ready for it. I've done sports since I was 7-years-old. I was ready to do this. I never gave up at anything I did, and I wasn't about to give up on wrestling.''
• Rayne and Sky share fashion statements.
``When we're home, we'll talk about what outfits to bring to wear,'' Sky said. ``We have cute pants outfits and tops that we wear, but we wear a lot of the bra tops and skirts. That's our signature outfit. She's got a collection. I've got a collection. We mix and match. We borrow each others. We have a set look now.
``The less clothing we wear, the better it fits our gimmick. Less is more. You don't have to necessarily go out there in a singlet and knee high wrestling boots to be classified as a wrestler.
``Wrestling has a lot to do with your character, and each one of us at TNA has a character [a role to play]. So you try to dress and act and move around in the ring as your character.
``The Beautiful People, we're supposed to be snobby; we're better than everybody; you're ugly; we're pretty. In the ring, we won't do big power moves. We'll cheat, raking eyes, pulling hair, chops, mean, nasty, mean girl stuff. We dress to the gimmick, move around to the gimmick, talk to the gimmick -- same as others do with their character.''
• Team player
Roxxi proved to be a team player by having her head shaved, but Sky also took one for the team, passing one of her toughest tests in TNA.
When Tara, formerly Victoria in WWE, made the move to TNA, she introduced her own tag team partner to combat The Beautiful People. A (Tara) Tarantula named Poison.
``Anything that's tiny and moves like the speed of light, fast, if I see it, I freak out,'' Sky said. ``If I see a spider, no. Ants are all right. I still don't want to be near ants, but they really don't bother me. They're harmless.
``Spiders are just ugly, and I hate them. When they told me I was going to have to do the spider thing -- I'm willing to do whatever they ask me to do, and of course, I'm not going to say no -- I let them know of my concerns and how terrified I am of spiders.
``I was concerned about what if it bites me, what if when I'm laying there and they put it on me and it starts to crawl up to my face, I'm not supposed to react. I'm supposed to just lay there. What do I do?
``The trainer they brought with the spider reassured me that it wasn't going to bite me. It moves. Don't worry about it; just lay completely still. They're around lots of people everyday. People are handling them all the time.
``They reassured me, but I still had a fear because it's a big hairy Tarantula on you. Still, it's the same thing as if we were cast into a movie role, and they wanted us to do stunts. If you're part of a movie and the director asks you to do stunts, you do it. You just smile, and you do it, no matter what. Even if you don't want to do it, you contribute to what they want you to do and be a team player.
``I was scared and terrified and disgusted, but at the end of the day, I layed there. I took it, and it was all over with. I was fine.''
• Loyalty
``TNA is where I was meant to be, and I don't plan on going anywhere else,'' Sky said. ``As long as TNA wants me here, I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to go anywhere. Even if I was offered something somewhere down the line with whomever, I'm not going anywhere. The only way I would leave here is if TNA releases me or fires me. This is home. This is my permanent home. I mean that.''
• Velvet Sky?
``TNA came up with the name. At first, it was like, `Velvet Sky, wow, what is that?' It took a while, but then it grew on me. One of the big perks to it is it's such an uncommon name. You can't help but remember it. It's not like a Jenny or a Kelly. It's Velvet Sky. It's a very unique name, an unforgetable name. I've definitely warmed up to it. I like it.''
The name fits the persona and the person.
• The anniversary of the TNA Knockouts Division is at TNA's Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the UCI Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.
• TNA tapes TNA iMPACT! four times a month at Soundstage 21 of Universal Studios Orlando. Admission is free. Wrestlers sign autographs and pose for photos, and some lucky fans go backstage. Seats are first come, first serve. Call 407-224-6000.
The Miami Herald