"Yo, where the heck did you come from?" - Paul Heyman's reaction to seeing former WWE Women's Champion for the first time (Exclusive)
Former WWE Superstar Jazz recently opened up about how Paul Heyman reacted when he saw her wrestle for the first time in ECW in 1999. The legendary female wrestler appeared on this week's UnSKripted, where she opened up about her early days in Heyman's promotion.
Jazz attended an open ECW tryout session during one of the company's shows and recalled facing Jason Knight in her debut match.
While she admitted to being nervous throughout the night, Jazz could not have asked for a better first bout, as ECW talent and personnel loved her performance.
Paul Heyman, the head of ECW at the time, was specifically blown away by Jazz's potential in the ring as he even had a word with her in the locker room after the match.
Here's what Jazz told Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Q&A show:
"So the third day, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. And I got in there and got in the ring with Jason (Knight), and we did our thing, and it was so, oh my god, I was so nervous. The entire roster surrounded the ring, and yeah, after the match, I ran out of the ring, found the nearest locker room, and puked my guts out, and Rodney (Mack) comes and finds me. 'Hey, come out here; Paul E wants to talk to you.' So I...went out there, and Paul E was like, 'Yo, where the heck did you come from?' And the rest is history," revealed the veteran wrestler. [13:40 - 14:25]
Former WWE star Jazz on how who informed her about the ECW tryouts
While Jazz spent a year in Extreme Championship Wrestling, she quickly got over with the fans due to her unique persona.
The 49-year-old wrestler said she trained with the highly-respected Junkyard Dog before coming across another former wrestler in Rod Price, who eventually introduced her to ECW.
The two-time WWE Women's Champion continued:
"I had trained under Junkyard Dog for a couple of months. That was really just going on the road with him, learning the business, and then I got with Rod Price. We got with Rod Price. Trained with him for about six to eight months, and he had got his job with ECW at the time." [12:10 - 12:45]
After ECW shut shop owing to bankruptcy, Jazz was signed by WWE, where she went on to have a successful run at the top of the women's division while also feuding with many prominent stars from her era.
Is Jazz one of the most underrated female wrestlers in WWE history? Sound off in the comments section below.
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