Former WWE head of security Jimmy Noonan recently interviewed two-time WWE Women’s Champion Jazz on his podcast, Noonan Speaks. Jazz first talked about getting her start in 1998 in ECW and praised both Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer:
“I was in ECW in ’98 and I had my first pay-per-view match.” Jazz recalled, “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.”
Jazz credits Heyman for being the most influential person in her professional wrestling career. She revealed that Heyman actually advised her against getting breast implants because she didn’t need them to stand out:
“I always put Paul E. over in every interview.” Jazz explained, “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] boob 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 boobs 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 ass.
“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.”
You can listen to Jazz on Noonan Speaks by clicking this link here.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
