Jemma Palmer

Jemma Palmer

Palmer before her debut match
Born 10 April 1986
Tamworth, England
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Jemma Palmer
Inferno
Billed height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Billed weight 128 lb (58 kg; 9.1 st)
Trained by Ultimate Pro Wrestling
Debut 2005

Jemma "Jem" Palmer (born 10 April 1986)[1] is an English model and professional wrestler. She was signed to WWE. She is also known by the name Inferno, which she used in the 2008 British television series Gladiators.[1] In 2011, she became known for taking part in the twelfth series of Big Brother - the first series broadcast on Channel 5.

Modelling

Palmer grew up modelling under the encouragement of her mother,[2] winning the Little Miss Midlands and Miss Littlesea competitions as a child.[3] As an adult she entered a number of competitions, becoming a finalist in the 2006 Musclemania Britain which she later won,[4] Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Ms USA Dream Bikini Body and Miss Maxim UK competitions. She also came third in the Maxim Little Black Book UK modelling competition.[1]

She went on to model in many publications including Loaded,[5] WWE Magazine,[6] FHM[7] and Fabulous Magazine.[8] Her modelling work was compared to video game character Lara Croft by the Daily Mail.[9]

Gladiators

While her mother encouraged Palmer into modelling, her father encouraged her into athletics.[2] She enrolled in the cadets where she began to train in climbing, abseiling and amateur wrestling.[3] She would later gain a purple belt in submission wrestling.[10]

As a fan of Gladiators growing up, when rumours mounted of a revival show in 2008 she began sending promotional material to television companies. Her wrestling manager landed her an audition for the similarly timed American Gladiators revival, but she received a call up for Sky1's British version days later and passed their fitness test. She performed in both series of Gladiators under the name Inferno, sporting red hair and a fiery, flirtatious personality.[10] Despite not appearing on the American version, BBC America aired Gladiators in the United States.[2] As a cadet, she also later appeared on Sky1's Battle of The Forces which pitted the British Army, Royal Navy and RAF against each other.[10]

Professional wrestling career

British circuit (2005–present)

Along with her other exploits Palmer also was a fan of wrestling, particularly the original incarnation of D-Generation X.[11] In 2005, she began to appear for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) mainly as a valet for Doug Williams.[12] This led to her having a try out match with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) alongside Katarina Waters who went on to become Katie Lea Burchill.[11] Although she was not signed, she was later offered a scholarship to train at Ultimate Pro Wrestling.[13] During her time on the circuit, Palmer filmed a reality television show based on pro wrestling as one of the three lead stars.

After much training, she was booked for her debut match against Jetta at Pro-Wrestling: Eve's first show on 8 May 2010 in Sudbury, Suffolk.[14] Before her match with Jetta she suffered an injury in her hand but wrestled the match anyway, with a storyline written in that Jetta attacked her and goaded her into a match while she was explaining the injury to the crowd. The referee stopped the contest and awarded it to Jetta out of concern for Palmer's health.[15]

Palmer Joined the British wrestling company UKW were on season 1 episode 22 she became the UKW Women's Champion, she was introduced to the crowd as "Inferno Jemma Palmer" and was accompanied to the ring by her sister Faye, you can watch the show on My Channel on Sky TV and watch Palmer's matches on youtube.

World Wrestling Entertainment

On 29 June 2009 it was announced that Palmer had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.[16][17] Palmer was released from her contract before reporting to WWE's farm territory Florida Championship Wrestling after she was granted her usa work visa for unknown reasons.[18]

Big Brother

Palmer entered the UK Big Brother house part-way through the twelfth series in October 2011, joining her younger sister, Faye who had been part of the series since the beginning.[19] Palmer voluntarily left the House on Day 48.

Business interests

In October 2011, Palmer invested in a company called Buff Naked Butlers, which provides semi-naked butlers for events in Wales and England. Additionally, there is evidence of connections between Palmer and Palmer industries.[20][21]

Championships & Achievements

UKW (United Kingdom Wrestling)

UKW Women's Championship (1 time)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Gladiator Zone biography". Gladiators. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 MacIntyre, April (3 November 2008). "BBC America Gladiators UK: Interview with Inferno". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Intrigue Management Biography". Intrigue Management. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "2010 Model World Tour profiles". Model World Tour. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "New issue out now". Loaded. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  6. ↑ Melanie (29 June 2009). "WWE signs new developmental Diva in UK Gladiator". Diva Dirt. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Gladiators' goddesses face off in racy shoot". London: Daily Mail. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Astill, Amanda. "Get a Gladiator body (no pugle required)". Fabulous Magazine. News of the World. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "Meet the real life Lara Croft: Inferno leads the new generation of superfit Gladiators". London: Daily Mail. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Mohan, Megha (13 November 2008). "Gladiators Babe Interview". IGN. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Melanie (14 July 2008). "Dishin’ Dirt with Jemma Palmer". Diva Dirt. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Aldrin, Mike (24 February 2010). "Sexy Jemma Palmer set to heat up WWE". London: The Sun. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  13. ↑ "Ultimate University returns to the R1 Center in Los Angeles!". Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  14. ↑ Read, Dann (8 April 2010). "Are you ready? Battle 4 is signed for May 8!". Pro Wrestling Eve. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  15. ↑ Burton, Lee (12 May 2010). "Eve debut is quite a Knight". London: The Sun. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  16. ↑ Aldren, Mike (2 July 2009). "Daily wrestling news and gossip". London: The Sun. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
  17. ↑ "Jemma "Inferno" Palmer contratada por WWE" (in Spanish). SuperLucha. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  18. ↑ "Former WWE Developmental Talent Jemma Palmer Enters UK Big Brother House". Diva Dirt. Black Pants, Inc. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "Maisy gets boot from Big Brother". The Belfast Telegraph. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "Jemma Palmer’s New Business Venture". PR Fire. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  21. ↑ "About Us". Buff Naked Butlers. Retrieved 18 March 2012.

External links