During a recent appearance on Noonan Speaks, Jazz talked about Tommy Dreamer and Paul Heyman influencing her pro wrestling career, Paul Heyman advising her not to get a b00b job, Dreamer and Heyman helping her to make it to WWE & more.
Below are the highlights:
On Tommy Dreamer and Paul Heyman influencing her pro wrestling career:
“I was in ECW in ’98 and I had my first pay-per-view match. I was doing house shows and all that and I was part of Justin Credible’s entourage at pay-per-views before the single’s match. I debuted my single’s pay-per-view match against Jason Knight at Heat Wave in ’99. And that was the birth of ‘The Female Fighting Phenom’. That did it.” Jazz added, “I always give props to Paul E. and Dreamer for seeing something different in me and something that I had to offer to the [pro wrestling] business, so I owe a lot of credit to Dreamer and Paul E.”
On Paul Heyman advising her not to get a b00b job:
“I always put Paul E. over in every interview. I always put him over because, first, at the time, there [were not] many African American women in the business, especially on that level. He saw something in little old me and he gave me an opportunity. And he knew I was different. He told me, ‘please, no matter what you do, you don’t need [a] b00b job. You don’t need this and that. Like, you’re totally different and that’s going to make you different. That’s going to set you out and make you look different from any other girls. Never, ever consider getting b00bs or any of it.’
And that’s why he came up with the motto of, ‘my T and A [does not] stand for t**s and a**. My T and A stands for talent and ability.’ So Paul E., he knew what he was doing with me and he set the tone of who Jazz is and he turned me into ‘The Female Fighting Phenom’. Like, Paul E. Heyman, and Dreamer, he had a great mind for the game as well. They still do. Do you know what I’m saying? And this is what they saw in me and they gave me my first opportunity to showcase what I can offer to the business.”
On Dreamer and Heyman helping her to make it to WWE:
“First off, ECW folds, right? The next thing you know, who’s commentating? Paul E. Alright, so Rodney [Mack] and I, we moved to Texas in Fort Worth, and we’re doing indies. Still, we were trying to make it to WWE. That was our ultimate goal. So on an indie show, we run into Dreamer. There he was like, ‘hey, I’m going to talk to Paul. He’s commentating now. He’s over there [in WWE] and I’ll see if I can get you a dark match, okay?’ And I was like, ‘okay! Cool!'”
On her tryout match in WWE with WWE Hall of Famer Ivory:
“Anyway, I get the call for the dark match and I get there. Ivory’s in the locker room. Molly Holly’s in the locker room, which I had met Molly Holly a few times at ECW shows. I think she was in WCW at the time. We [were] near, I guess, her neck of the woods and she would stop by. I got to meet her a few times. And I was told I was going to get to wrestle Ivory for my dark match, so Ivory’s like, ‘hey, lady! How are you?’
I love Ivory – she has the greatest personality I’ve ever met in my life. She’s an awesome, awesome lady. So she’s like, ‘how are you?’ and I’m like, ‘I’m good! It’s good to meet you. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever.’ She goes, ‘yeah, I’ve heard so much about you. Unfortunately, I’ve never watched your work or anything like that, but Molly says you’re freaking awesome and she loves you!
She puts you over all the time.’ I was like, ‘whoa! Really?’ I was like, ‘well, thank you!’ [Ivory said], ‘so tonight is your night and I’m going to make sure that you go out there and shine bright like a diamond and everything we do out there, we’re going to make it all about you.’ And I said, ‘I appreciate that.’ So we went out there and we did our dark match. And we came back and they said that was the biggest crowd reaction they’ve ever had for a women’s dark match ever in the history of WWE.
So kudos to Ivory for looking out. And that’s why, the way she came to me and what she did for me, I did for others. Every female that came in that building for a tryout to get a job, I was the first one to step in that ring and workout with them, so they could showcase their talent, their craft, in front of the agents.”
