Jeannie Clark

Jeannie Clark is a former professional wrestling manager and the former wife of three professional wrestlers, including Stone Cold Steve Austin. She was also known as Jeannie Adams and later became known as Lady Blossom and Jeannie Clark Williams.

Professional wrestling career

World Class Championship Wrestling

Jeannie Clark, originally a model, was married to professional wrestler Chris Adams in the 1970s and 1980s. She made one appearance on television in his corner in a match broadcast on 28 October 1978, in the country's World of Sport broadcast on ITV. The couple divorced sometime in the early-1980s. In 1983, in order to stay in the United States, Clark was shortly married to Billy Jack Haynes. Clark then got together with Steve Austin in 1989, and the couple got married in 1992. Both she and Austin engaged in a feud with her ex-husband (Adams) and his second wife Toni Adams in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1990. Both Clark and Austin left the promotion for World Championship Wrestling in May 1991.

World Championship Wrestling

Clark, known as "Lady Blossom" replaced Vivacious Veronica as Steve Austin's valet in 1990.^[1] She was given the name by Dusty Rhodes, who said it was because her "chest was blossoming out of her top".^[1] During her debut, Blossom came down to ringside to distract Bobby Eaton in his WCW Television Championship match with Austin. Thanks in part to the distraction of Blossom, Austin defeated Eaton for the Television Championship. From that point on, she accompanied him to the ring until her departure from the company seven months later. The duo did not have a distinctive gimmick, but they tried to portray themselves as being a couple of high society. Austin came down to the ring in an extravagant robe, whereas Lady Blossom frequently donned a luxurious cleavage-baring evening gown. In a sharp contrast to her time in World Class Championship Wrestling, Lady Blossom did not get an opportunity to speak much on camera—she spoke on camera on less than a handful of occasions throughout her WCW tenure—perhaps due to her noticeable British accent. Blossom used her actions instead of her words as she did not hesitate to involve herself in Austin's matches in order for him to retain his WCW Television title. Blossom frequently interfered in his matches, although her interference backfired from time to time, and she occasionally took bumps.

On one occasion, Lady Blossom hopped onto the ring apron in an attempt to distract the referee from the action in the ring. As she was arguing with the referee, Tracy Smothers inadvertently ran into her just as Austin had moved out of the way. Smothers' collision with Blossom jostled her and she fell to the floor mat a few moments later. Also, Lady Blossom constantly interfered in Austin's TV title matches with PN News and thus he retained his title again due to her interference. Right when the 10-minute time limit was drawing near, Blossom interfered in the match just as Austin was about to be pinned, thus causing a disqualification. Blossom's most frequent method of a disrupting a match was to jump on the back of Austin's opponent just as he was about to be pinned. She then scratched Austin's opponent's face with her fingernails. Another instance in which Lady Blossom's interference backfired took place in August 1991 on an episode of WCW Power Hour during a TV title match pitting Austin and Ron Simmons. Simmons was on the verge of victory in the match, but Lady Blossom entered the ring and jumped on his back to cause a disqualification.

For a string of weeks in October 1991, both Blossom and Austin did an angle involving a pair of brass knuckles. During Austin's matches, Lady Blossom pulled out of a pair of brass knuckles that was underhandedly hidden underneath her cleavage and tucked inside one of the cups of her brassiere. When the referee's attention was drawn elsewhere, she pulled the brass knuckles out of her bra and hand the weapon over to Austin so that he could use them on his opponent. Unbeknownst to the official, Austin struck his opponent with the knuckles and then quickly handed them back over to Blossom. Lady Blossom then cleverly concealed the brass knuckles inside of her bra again and behave as if nothing ever happened. Austin then pinned his unconscious opponent for the victory. The couple's shenanigans worked for a few weeks, but they were caught within due time. At the conclusion of a match between Steve Austin and PN News on WCW Saturday Night, Lady Blossom helped Austin cheat to win yet again. After the match, an enraged Dustin Rhodes came down to ringside to explain to the referee that Austin had cheated in his match by striking his opponent with a pair of brass knuckles and that the weapon was hidden inside of Lady Blossom's dress. Both Blossom and Austin egged Rhodes on to prove to the referee that they had cheated in the match, but he reluctantly refused to place his hand down her dress knowing the potential sexual harassment issues his action caused. Moments later, Madusa arrived on to the scene to confront the perpetrators and attempt to verify Rhodes' claims. Madusa then did what Rhodes was much too uncomfortable to do by literally taking matters into her own hands and sticking her hand inside of Blossom's dress. Madusa was quickly able to pull the concealed weapon out of Blossom's dress and show off her discovery to the crowd. Considering that the referee now had visible evidence that Austin did in fact cheat to win the match, he reversed his decision in favor of News.

Blossom made her final WCW (and wrestling) appearance on 19 November 1991 at Clash of the Champions XVII. Blossom's services were no longer required because Austin was joining Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance and thus he did not need her as a manager anymore.

Personal life

Clark initially began her relationship with Stone Cold Steve Austin during their time in the United States Wrestling Association.^[2] He was married at the time to his high school sweetheart.^[2] She has two daughters with Austin: Stephanie, born in 1992,^[3] and Cassidy, born in 1996.^[4] Clark divorced Austin in 1999 prior to WrestleMania XV. Afterward, Clark and the kids moved to England.^[4] She is credited with helping Austin develop his "Stone Cold" persona; While he was contemplating a change in gimmick from "The Ringmaster," she told him to drink his tea before it got "stone cold," inadvertently inspiring the nickname.

She currently lives in her native England. She also had another daughter with Chris Adams: Jade (who was legally adopted by Austin).^[4]

Notes

References

• Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Ross (2003). The Stone Cold Truth. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-7720-0. 

External links

• Profile at Online World of Wrestling