Shannon Spruill

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Shannon Spruill
Statistics
Ring name(s) Daffney [1]
Daffney Unger
Lucy [1] [2]
Lucy Furr [3]
Shark Girl
Shannon
Billed height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) [3]
Billed weight 130 lb (59 kg) [3]
Born July 17, 1975 (1975-07-17) (age 32)
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
Debut November 1999

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

Contents

[edit] Early life

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.[1]

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.

[edit] Wrestling career

[edit] World Championship Wrestling

In November 1999, she responded to a World Championship Wrestling contest looking to acquire new talent and was hired.[4][5]

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 World 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 World 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 defense while Spruill was hurt following interference from Miss Hancock.[6]

Spruill went on to feud with Hancock, who had stolen the affections of Flair.[7] Spruill defeated Hancock in the promotion's first ever Wedding Gown match after Hancock removed her own dress. Spruill then became solely the valet for Crowbar. She had a brief feud with Shane Douglas's valet, Torrie Wilson, but was rarely used as a wrestler.

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.[1] Though Spruill's somewhat gothic character earned her a small but loyal fan base, 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' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling training camp in Kennesaw, Georgia for eight months.[7]

[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

She made several appearances for the fledgling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion in 2002 as Shannon and Shark Girl (valet of Shark Boy),[5] and worked for Xtreme Pro Wrestling in 2003 as Lucy, the manager of Vic Grimes.[1]

Spruill remerged in TNA on the June 5, 2008 edition of TNA iMPACT! as Daffney. She was planted in the audience along with fellow wrestlers Amber O'Neal and Becky Bayless. The three women volunteered to wrestle Awesome Kong in the 25,000 dollar challenge. Daffney was selected and subsequently, easily defeated by Kong.

[edit] Ring of Honor

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.[5]

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment

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 of the same year.[5]

[edit] Independent circuit

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.[2]

In February 2006, Spruill returned to the independent circuit. Spruill debuted in Women's Extreme Wrestling on April 6 under the ring name Lucy Furr, acting as a lumberjill in a match between Amy Lee and Tai Killer Weed.[3] 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.[2]

In February, 2007, she began making appearances with Georgia Wrestling Promotions both as a manager and a referee.

[edit] SHIMMER Women Athletes

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 appeared as the manager of the wrestler MsChif. In April 2008 she began to wrestle as her Shark Girl character.

[edit] Personal life

She was previously married to guitarist Rich Ward. [7]

She has been romantically linked to WWE superstar CM Punk.

Shannon is good friends with WWE wrestlers The Hardy Boyz and attended their 2007 New Year's Eve Party.

[edit] Wrestling facts

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Flimography

  • Insignificance (1985)
  • I Surrender All (2001) as "Gina"

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Exklusiv-Interview mit Daffney. GenickBruch.com (2003-01-18). Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  2. ^ a b c Walsh, J. (2006-07-15). "Scream Queen" Daffney Unger. WrestlingEpicenter.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  3. ^ a b c d Lucy Furr at WExtremeW.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  4. ^ Shannon Spruill - She of Many Names. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  5. ^ a b c d Shannon Spruill - She of Many Names: How it all Started. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  6. ^ a b Shannon Spruill - She of Many Names. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  7. ^ a b c Schramm, C. (April 1, 2001). Catching up with Daffney. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  8. ^ Daffney Unger of G.L.O.R.Y. Wrestling. GloryWrestling.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.

[edit] External links

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