Tammy Lynn Sytch
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Tammy Sytch | |
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Statistics | |
Ring name(s) | Sunny Tamara Murphy Tammy Lynn Sytch Tammy Lynn Fytch |
Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
Billed weight | 142 lbs. (66 kg) |
Born | December 7, 1972 Matawan, New Jersey, U.S. |
Billed from | New Jersey |
Trained by | Brian Lee Chris Candido ECW |
Debut | 1993 |
Tammy Lynn Sytch (born December 7, 1972 in Matawan, New Jersey) is a professional wrestling manager and personality. She achieved arguably her greatest success as Sunny for the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s, and is widely considered as one of the first WWE Divas.[citation needed] She also performed under her own name in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and most recently Ring of Honor.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Tammy started out traveling with her boyfriend, Chris Candido. She did some camera work for the New Jersey-based WWA. She first appeared onscreen as Tammy Lynn Fytch in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1993. She played a rich, spoiled brat, who was billed as having come from Wellesley College and who idolized Hillary Clinton. Tammy Fytch became extremely hated by the fans in Smoky Mountain. She managed Candido, Brian Lee, and Boo Bradley. Both Sytch and Candido left the promotion in December 1994 for jobs with the World Wrestling Federation.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation
In late 1993, Tammy was contracted by the WWF as Tamara Murphy, began appearing on "Live Event News" segments during syndicated World Wrestling Federation television shows where she would promote local WWF house show events. Tammy and Chris appeared on a handful of WWF shows as Team Spirit, a short-lived gimmick similar to (but pre-dating) the recurring Saturday Night Live "Spartan Cheerleaders" skit. However, the gimmick never made its way on to television. By the summer of 1995, Tammy and Chris were renamed Sunny and Skip. They began appearing on WWF television as the heel fitness fanatics, The Bodydonnas. In 1996, she became America Online's most downloaded woman thanks to her risque pictorials that were offered exclusively from AOL. In 1996, she won two Slammy Awards, "Best Buns" and "Best Manager". She also won Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Manager of the Year Award. Sunny was also featured on Entertainment Tonight on one occasion where they highlighted her popularity at the time. Sunny then began an angle where she manipulated Phineas Godwinn, of the World Tag Team Championship duo The Godwinns, into believing she was interested in him. However, she then turned on The Godwinns and helped The Smokin' Gunns win the WWF Tag Team Championship. On a June 1996 edition of WWF Superstars, The Godwinns would get their revenge when Phineas dumped a bucket of "slop" on her.
Sunny began a short career as a guest ring announcer, referee, and t-shirt model after briefly becoming the manager of Faarooq Asad. At the same time, she began having legitimate off-screen problems with Sable. Candido left the WWF for ECW without Tammy, and it wasn't long before Sunny began making guest appearances in ECW with him as well. In 1997, Playboy approached Tammy in regards to posing nude for the adult magazine. Tammy declined the offer as she felt she wasn't ready for it at the time. Rena Mero (Sable) later said that, in fact, Playboy never contacted Sytch for a possible photo shoot.[1]
In 1998, Sunny briefly became the manager for the reformed Road Warriors as "LOD 2000". This was her final position with the company before her release in mid-summer 1998. The company released her after repeated no-shows and questionable excuses, particularly when she told Linda McMahon she had miscarried after missing a weekend of shows. She couldn't produce any medical documentation, and they insisted she check into rehab. She refused and was subsequently released from the company.[2]
[edit] Extreme Championship Wrestling
Once released from the WWF, she officially made the announcement at Heat Wave '98 that she was now a full-time ECW employee. Now billed as Tammy Lynn Sytch, she assisted Chris Candido in his win over Lance Storm. As their feud moved forward, Storm introduced his own valet "Tammy Lynn Bytch". The quartet had several very well received mixed tag team matches against each other. Candido being a member of the Triple Threat stable (where Shane Douglas was being managed by Francine) eventually led to a Francine/Sytch feud that caused the group to break up. In October 1999 on an episode of ECW on TNN, Paul Heyman got Sytch to talk openly about her past drug issues and reformation. Candido and Sytch left the promotion in December 1999.
[edit] World Championship Wrestling
In between a brief stop for Xtreme Pro Wrestling in early 2000, both Tammy and Candido signed on with World Championship Wrestling. Candido debuted in March of that year, joining the New Blood, and Sytch debuted one month later. She debuted in WCW at Spring Stampede 2000; she distracted The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea, while dressed in a chicken suit, during a six-way bout for the vacant WCW Cruiserweight Championship, enabling Candido to win. She then feuded with Iaukea's valet Paisley, with the two having several catfights. The short-lived feud came to a conclusion at Slamboree 2000 when The Artist and Paisley stripped Tammy's dress off to reveal her undergarments following Candido's singles victory over Iaukea. Sytch and Candido then dubbed themselves "the first couple of wrestling" and briefly feuded with Crowbar and Daffney. Candido dropped the belt when Daffney pinned Sytch in a Mixed Tag Team Match with the person scoring the fall winning the title. Candido and Tammy were then released from WCW.
[edit] Indies
After being released from WCW, the duo landed in Xtreme Pro Wrestling where she managed Candido to a title (the XPW World Heavyweight Title) once again. Candido and Sytch parted ways with XPW and started touring other independent wrestling promotions. In the meantime, Sytch formed a business relationship with Missy Hyatt, and the two created the adult website Wrestling Vixxxens in July 2001. Along with a few other women loosely affiliated with wrestling at the time, they posed nude for the website and charged people to view the pictures.
In the spring of 2003, Sytch & Candido moved to Puerto Rico and were set to work for Victor Quinones' International Wrestling Association promotion. However, Sabu convinced them to work for Carlos Colon's rival World Wrestling Council promotion instead. After six months, the couple quit the promotion and headed back to the States. Upon their return to the States, both Sytch and Candido briefly lived with former ECW wrestler Hack Myers in his home in Florida.
[edit] Death of Chris Candido
On April 24 at TNA Lockdown 2005, Candido fractured both his tibia and fibula and dislocated his ankle during a steel cage match.[3] He underwent surgery the next day to have steel plates and screws inserted into his leg. Later in the week, Sytch picked Candido up from the airport, and was told he was given only pain medication but no antibiotics, which are normally given after surgery. By Thursday, Candido wasn't feeling well and his condition worsened during the day. Sytch had difficulty convincing Candido to go to the hospital, but when she did, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Doctors wanted to drain Candido's lungs, but he didn't want to be sedated. The doctors eventually convinced Candido to go under while they drained his lungs. Twenty minutes later, doctors told Sytch that Candido had died. According to his brother Johnny, Candido died on April 28, 2005 due to a blood clot, a complication from surgery.[3]
[edit] Indies after Candido's death
After the death of Chris Candido, it did not take long for Sytch to become regularly involved in the independent circuit again. Sytch made appearances as a referee for NWS Wrestling in May 2005 and attended a Chris Candido Memorial show on June 4, 2005. Also, Sytch was a part of Hardcore Homecoming on June 10, 2005. She first came out with Johnny Grunge and Pit Bull #1 to do a tribute to former ECW wrestlers who had recently died. Among those honored were Chris Candido, Pit Bull #2, and Rocco Rock. They were interrupted by Danny Doring and Roadkill, but 911 cleared them out of the ring. 911 then proceeded to pick up Sytch and place her on his shoulder, but 911's knee buckled and they both toppled to the canvas. Sytch proceeded to laugh off the incident. After the show, a Q & A session was held and donations for the Chris Candido Scholarship Fund were taken. A donor contributed $700, and Tammy stated that she would flash her breasts to anybody who topped the amount. Another donor paid $800 and Tammy flashed him.[citation needed]
During this time period, Sytch appeared at the New Jersey-based NWA Cyberspace promotion. Soon after Sytch's departure from NWA Cyberspace, the New Jersey-based National Wrestling Superstars (NWS) became her new primary wrestling promotion. She appeared on a handful the promotion's shows in the summer, and on June 3, 2006, she managed Lex Luger to victory over Johnny Candido. Prior to the bout, a presentation was held from The Manasquan Elks Lodge to the Chris Candido Memorial Fund. The Elks Lodge donated $500 to the fund, with the money being used towards a scholarship for a Manasquan High School student.
In spite of the prior ruling, Sytch returned to NWA Shockwave (formerly NWA Cyberspace) in 2006 as a featured headliner. On December 1, 2006, Sytch was appointed the new commissioner of NWA Shockwave.[4] Immediately following this announcement, Commissioner Sytch declared all NWA SW championship titles vacant, and informed fans that a new Heavyweight and Internet champion would be crowned on January 13. The promotion temporarily stopped promoting shows due to the death of NWA Shockwave owner Billy Firehawk in July 2006.
Sytch won her first championship belt on December 22, 2007 at a Women Superstars Uncensored show in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey. She defeated Alicia to become the new WSU Champion.[5]
Recently, Tammy Sytch ranked #4 on Yahoo.com's sports buzz.[citation needed]
[edit] Return to WWE (2007)
Sytch made an appearance on the 15th Anniversary WWE Raw show on December 10, 2007 in a segment with Vince, Stephanie and Shane McMahon. On December 19, 2007 Sytch was featured in a video on WWE.com that hinted a possible return to the company.
[edit] Ring of Honor
Tammy Sytch made an appearance at a Ring of Honor show on December 29, 2007 held at New York City, seated at ringside during a non-title three-way match where Daizee Haze defeated fellow ROH regulars Lacey, and then-SHIMMER Champion Sara Del Rey. Upon the conclusion of the match, Lacey verbally assaulted Sytch and accused her of denigrating women's roles in professional wrestling, which supposedly resulted in women's wrestlers not being taken seriously in the industry. She also threatened to assault Sytch, but Haze made the save on Sytch's behalf.
Sytch would subsequently make a few more appearances for ROH in 2008, where she repeatedly offered her services to Austin Aries but was turned down. On the April 12 ROH show, Larry Sweeney announced that he had opened a "Diva School" and invited Tammy Sytch to be the "trainer", an offer she claimed she would consider.
[edit] In Wrestling
- Finishing and Signature Moves
- Wrestlers managed
- Entrance Themes
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- I Know You Want Me (WWF production)
- As part of the Triple Threat in ECW, Sytch used Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple
- Sytch has used Chris Candido's theme, Back in Black by AC/DC, in ECW and at indy shows in tribute to Candido
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Women Superstars Uncensored
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- WSU Championship (1 time)
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- Slammy Award winner (2 times) - Best Buns and Brains Behind the Brawn (1996)
[edit] In-ring and out of the ring incidents
- Sytch reportedly passed out after the October 23, 1999 ECW show. Sometime after 1:00 A.M. that evening, she was seen unconscious in a chair in the locker room. Witnesses say that Sytch vomited, urinated on herself, and threw up all over her makeup kit.[6]
- On August 27, 2005, Sytch appeared at WrestleReunion II - which featured a reunion of wrestling legends and a fan convention. Sytch wasn't booked to perform, but rather, was brought in as a guest for the NWA Cyberspace merchandise table - the wrestling promotion she was primarily affiliated with at the time. Sytch was acting unusual at the event and it was believed that she was either intoxicated or high. She interrupted a Q&A session featuring Team 3D to greet them, as she hadn't seen them since her tenure in ECW. They seemed somewhat leery of her. Also, Sytch saw Bret Hart for the first time in several years. She spoke with Hart for a few minutes, but there were no problems or issues as it was simply a friendly hello. She also tried to talk to Matt Hardy at his stationed table while he was occupied signing autographs. Later on, Sytch was seen crying very hard at the convention, sometimes uncontrollably, for undisclosed reasons. Eventually, police officers came to the table Sytch was stationed at and escorted her off the premises because it was believed that she was being a nuisance.[7]
- On October 22, 2005, Sytch was noticeably intoxicated during her in-ring appearance at the Jersey All Pro Wrestling 8th Anniversary show. Sytch was booked as a guest referee for a women's tag match between Talia Madison and April Hunter against Krissy Vaine and Alicia. Sytch was given the microphone before the match to talk about Chris Candido, but her speech was slurred. Also, Sytch messed up counts and seemed lost in the ring. Though she didn't outright call her by name, April Hunter derided Sytch in a blog on her MySpace page a few days later for ruining her match. Hunter believed that it was the worst match she had performed in two years. Sytch would later apologize to Hunter, citing emotional stress. Sytch also claimed that she has no recollection of the match.[8]
- TNA was thinking about bringing in Tammy Sytch. There had been talk within TNA about using Sytch in a major role, but a few of their wrestlers did a wrestling convention with her, and came back with a negative report on her. Due to the report on her, Sytch is no longer under consideration from TNA.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Greg Oliver (January 11, 1999). Sable looks beyond wrestling. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
- ^ Dave Meltzer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, May 9, 2005
- ^ a b Jason Clevett (April 25, 2005). Chris Candido dead at 33. SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-06-20.
- ^ [1]
- ^ PWPIX (December 22, 2007). [WSU 12/22 Results from Lake Hiawatha WSU 12/22 Results from Lake Hiawatha]. Pro Wrestling Pix. Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
- ^ 1999 Updates - Tammy Lynn Sytch
- ^ Dave Meltzer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, September 5, 2005
- ^ More On Tammy Sytch/April Hunter; Will Ref Again
- ^ TNA Looking At Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, Updates On Payton Banks and Daizee Haze. Rajah.