The lives and careers of three former WWE Superstars have been celebrated at the inaugural Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame was announced in October of this year, with Angel Orsini, Christopher Annino, “Tex” Green, and Gary “Pitbull” Wolf being considered responsible for the idea.

Slam Wrestling was the first to report that Alundra ‘Madusa’ Blayze, Jazz, and the late Luna Vachon are among the first three inductees.

Blayze and Jazz collected their awards in person at the ceremony this past weekend, while Vachon, who died in 2010, was represented by her ex-husband David ‘Gangrel’ Heath.

Other names reported to be inducted include Cora Livingston, Mildred Burke, Beverly Shade, Marva Scott, and Ethel Johnson.

Babs Wingo, the tag team of Toni Rose & Donna Christanello, Susan Green, ex-WWE referee Rita Chatterton, the entire GLOW promotion, and 2014 Olympic gold medalist Iryna Merleni are also set to be inducted.

Luna Vachon

The niece of Maurice ‘Mad Dog’ Vachon, Luna’s wrestling career began in 1985 and she would join the WWF in 1993.

Leaving in 1994, Vachon would have stints in ECW and WCW before returning in 1997, and would remain until 2000, when she was released over an outburst backstage.

Vachon would continue wrestling on the independent scene until 2007, before her death aged 48 in August 2010 due to a drug overdose.

Jazz

Inspired by Jaqueline Moore, Jazz set out to become a professional wrestler in the late 1990s, and would join ECW in 1999.

Joining the WWF after the collapse of the extreme promotion, Jazz would later capture the WWE Women’s Championship and successfully defended the title at WrestleMania X8.

Winning the title again the following year, Jazz would leave WWE in 2004 and compete for Chikara, Shine and AEW among other promotions, before her retirement in Impact last year.

Alundra Blayze

Alundra Blayze’s wrestling career may be best remembered not for what she did in the ring, but what she did with a trash-can.

After leaving the WWF while still the Women’s Championship, Blayze appeared on WCW programming and threw the title in the trash, saying it is what she thought of the WWF Women’s Title.

In actuality, Blayze was very concerned about the spot, but was forced into it by Eric Bischoff.

Blayze would be blamed for the spot and blacklisted from WWE for 20 years, before her WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2015.

Former WWE women’s champion Jazz will apparently be coming out of her announced retirement to compete in Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament where she will be teaming with Jordynne Grace.

The storyline for her return started last week when Grace made a phone call to an unknown wrestler to see if they would like to tag with her in the competition.

This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling then saw the female star informing backstage interviewer Gia Miller that veteran wrestler Jazz will be her partner for the tournament.

Jazz has been a part of the industry for over two decades. She made her wrestling debut in 1998 and wrestled for companies such as WWE, Chikara and NWA during her time.

• Also Read: Aleister Black Update After Several Weeks Off WWE TV

Her WWE stint included a couple of runs with the women’s championship and she also competed for AEW when she participated in the Casino Battle Royal during the All Out event in 2019.

Though Jazz announced her retirement from active competition during an interview back in October and it’d be interesting to see if she goes back into retirement after this tournament or if the former women’s champion stays around for a longer run.

A true legend of women’s wrestling and trailblazer in the industry has decided to officially retire from in-ring competition. Former ECW and WWE star Jazz spoke with Chris Van Vliet recently and confirmed that she considers her pro-wrestling career over.

“Honestly, I just had my last match this past Sunday. I am done in the ring,” Jazz said. “I was going to do a whole tour in 2020, but with the pandemic happening, that screwed everything up. I’ve been having issues with my knees and my back and a lot more issues physically, mentally and emotionally. That’s why I had to forfeit the NWA title. I have two beautiful daughters and I have to focus on them right now.”

Jazz burst onto the pro-wrestling seen in the late 1990s with Extreme Championship Wrestling. She would mainly perform in inter-gender matches as the promotion never did have an established women’s division.

Jazz was honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club this year and awarded the club’s Women’s Wrestling Award. She is a 2x former WWE Women’s Champion and 1x NWA Women’s Champion.

• Jazz Relinquishes NWA Women’s Title, Will Not Compete At Crockett Cup

The full interview with Jazz can be viewed in the player below:

Former WWE Women’s Champion Jazz has confirmed that she won’t be part of the Evolution event on October 28th.

Jazz responded to a fan question on Twitter where she outright stated “Not Happening!! Sorry.” The fan’s tweet was in response to Jazz confirming that Sasha Banks would be her “perfect” opponent for a WWE return.

Sasha Banks https://t.co/hoBNfnAPHR

— Jazz “Female Fighting Phenom” (@Phenom_Jazz) October 9, 2018

Jazz is currently the NWA Women’s Champion and is scheduled to defend the title on October 21st. The former WWE Superstar will be facing Penelope Ford. The bout will be taking place at the NWA 70th Anniversary show in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jazz had her big start in ECW back 1999/2000. She was part of the Impact Players stable alongside Jason Knight, Lance Storm, and Justin Credible. Following ECW’s closure Jazz signed with WWE and move to OVW to train for 6 months in 2001. Jazz remained in WWE up until late 2004 and began her career on the independent scene in 2005.

Not happening!! Sorry https://t.co/MVFvZ41mZ3

— Jazz “Female Fighting Phenom” (@Phenom_Jazz) October 9, 2018

Current NWA World Women’s Champion and former WWE Women’s Champion Jazz was recently interviewed by Women’s Wrestling Weekly to talk about various topics including women’s wrestling today.

The former WWE star stated that today would be the perfect time for her to actually bring what she brought to the business as she doesn’t believe that they [WWE] were ready for what she brought to the table at the time.

Wanting to go to Impact Wrestling

She also expressed interest in signing with Impact as she noted that if there was one company she would like to be part of right now it would be Impact. She would elaborate on her reasoning for it.

“Because it’s a smaller company, there are not 100 girls in the back fighting for a spot and it seems like they are more family oriented. It reminds me of ECW. It’s not a billion dollar company but everyone there is happy and seems to love their job and love working with one another. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Holding NWA Women’s Championship

She stated that she starts to defend her title in October and that she wants to be remembered for her legacy as she is not going to lay down and give this belt away. Instead, she wants someone to step into the ring with her and take it.

“So, I’m not laying down, I’m busting my a** every day to show the world why I am the NWA Women’s World Champion and why I should continue to be the NWA Women’s World Champion. That’s why I’m not understanding why I wasn’t apart of All In.”

Jazz also talked about her WWE release, Trish Stratus and much more in this interview that we covered earlier this week that you can see here.

Current NWA World Women’s Champion and former WWE Women’s Champion Jazz was recently interviewed by Women’s Wrestling Weekly. Jazz talked about her pending lawsuit against WWE, racism in professional wrestling, being released by WWE, and much more. Check out the highlights here:

Her lawsuit with WWE:

“Yes, I really can’t discuss that right now. There is news. It could be good or it could be bad.”

Racism in professional wrestling:

“I wouldn’t say I had experienced it. But, honestly with my ability and my way of work… if I were blonde hair and blue eyed, I would probably still be on TV now.”

Trish Stratus:

“Trish and I had a phenomenal feud. I mean she was the type of person that no matter what I put on her she got her ass back up and we did our thing. She was great at taking that ass whopping.”

Being released from WWE:

“They called us to the back and said, ‘we were wrestling too much like men.’ I thought, well that’s the end of my career.”

Would she still be with WWE if she had blonde hair and blue eyes:

“If I wasn’t in the company, I would be a part of the company. Because right now today, I still have no clue of why I was released. I’m championed one day and released the next day.”

WWE not knowing how to market African Americans:

“I don’t think they (WWE) knows how to market African Americans. I was a champion and I’ve never had an action figure. They did the screening and scanning and said my action figure is in high demand and I never saw it.”

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

-According to one source, WWE is said to have interest in signing New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Prince Devitt. The company has apparently had interest in Devitt for a while, as William Regal brought a tape of a Devitt vs. Pac match to Triple H, which resulted in Pac getting a job (he’s now known as Adrian Neville). WWE has apparently wanted to sign Devitt ever since, and his name keeps coming up in meetings when the company discusses bringing in new talent.

-WWE Hall Of Fame Sgt. Slaughter celebrates his 65th birthday today. Slaughter was born on August 27, 1948. Also celebrating birthdays today is current WWE Superstar The Great Khali (41) and former WWE Diva Jazz (40).

WWE NEWS

[Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter]

– The official website for The Man with the Iron Fists, featuring former WWE talent Dave “Batista” Bautista in a starring role, has been launched at IronFists.com.

Bautista appears as a hulking character named Brass Body. The synopsis for the film, which will be released theatrically on November 2, reads, “In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.”

– Former WWE Women’s Champion Jazz is now on Twitter at twitter.com/Phenom_Jazz. The former WWE Diva continues to compete years after leaving the spotlight as she appears for multiple women’s wrestling promotions.

– Maryse Ouellet appears at the Frank & Son Collectible Show 19649 San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California. 91748 on Saturday, October 13 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

– Matt Hardy and Reby Sky appear at Park East 3352Rt 35 Hazlet, New Jersey today from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. More information is available here.

– Randy Orton, who is currently serving a 60-day suspension for his second violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, was backstage at Monday’s Raw emanating from his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

– WWE Hall of Famer Edge has been announced to appear at the House of Hardcore’s debut on October 6 at Poughkeepsie, New York. Other talent slated for the show include Tommy Dreamer, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Chris Masters, The Sandman, Daivari, Jazz, Luke Gallows, The Young Bucks, Hale Collins and Sami Callihan.

– The July 21 episode of A.M. Raw draw a 0.34 cable rating, with 377,000 viewers.

– Jim Ross commented on Monday’s Raw via Twitter: “I really enjoyed my time in St Louis..#RAW1000 was a heck of a production. Pleased I got to visit the announce desk. Thx WWE & Twitterverse.”

(source: PWInsider.com)

SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles has earned the number one position in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s fourth annual “PWI Female 50” list, which ranks the top 50 women’s wrestlers in North America from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. She succeeds Michelle McCool, who ranked No. 1 in last year’s list.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated attributes their decision to ranking Eagles as the top women’s wrestler in North America with the following: “This year’s list was unlike any other in the four-year history of the “Female 50.” For one thing, there was no obvious frontrunner in either WWE or TNA. Last year’s number one, Michelle McCool, retired after a few lackluster months. The WWE Divas title dropped in prominence and was held for a significant amount of time by Brie Bella who, while improved, doesn’t exactly conjure thoughts of Sensational Sherri or Trish Stratus.”

Mickie James and Madison Rayne were also considered for the top spot, but for a variety of reasons, were ultimately deemed not worthy.

“So we made a bold decision. We looked to the indies. Two possible candidates were SHIMMER champion Madison Eagles and WSU champion Mercedes Martinez. It was a difficult choice to make,” the magazine explains. “Fortunately for us, Martinez and Eagles faced off in March for Eagles’ SHIMMER title. Eagles managed to win a terrific match, which proved to be the deciding factor in our decision.”

PWI also explains how the “Female 50” was determined: “To determine this list, we evaluated each woman’s innate wrestling ability, accomplishments during the past year, physical strength and conditioning, quality of opposition, charisma, and title success.”

Some women’s wrestlers contracted to WWE and TNA, such as Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Tamina and Brooke Tessmacher, were left off the “Female 50” because PWI felt they did not earn a spot over some of the independent talent listed. The magazine explains, “While being on WWE’s or TNA’s global platform helps your chances, it doesn’t mean you get a free passage onto the “Female 50.”

1. Madison Eagles
2. Mercedes Martinez
3. Mickie James
4. Natalya
5. Madison Rayne
6. Cheerleader Melissa
7. Beth Phoenix
8. Tara
9. MsChif
10. Sara Del Rey
11. Eve Torres
12. Angelina Love
13. Layla
14. Sarita
15. Kelly Kelly
16. Serena Deeb
17. Velvet Sky
18. Ayako Hamada
19. LuFisto
20. Winter
21. Brie Bella
22. Angel Orsini
23. Melina
24. Daizee Haze
25. Nikki Roxx
26. Gail Kim
27. Jazz
28. Maryse
29. Christina Von Eerie
30. Portia Perez
31. Rosita
32. ODB
33. Nicole Matthews
34. Rachel Summerlyn
35. Jessicka Havok
36. Brittany Force
37. Kellie Skater
38. Tina San Antonio
39. Melanie Cruise
40. Cherry Bomb
41. Sassy Stephie
42. Tasha Simone
43. Alicia Fox
44. Amber O’Neal
45. Allison Danger
46. Kacee Carlisle
47. Brittany Savage
48. A.J.
49. Melissa Coates
50. Jessica James

— Former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus filmed a segment last year entitled “How Tough Are These Sports?” where she put her toughness to the test when she tried aerial ski jumping while being coached by professional freestyle skier Warren Shouldice. The segment aired during CTV’s recent broadcast of the Winter Olympics. To view photos of her experience, click here.

— Former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle has posted a blog on her official website updating fans on her pregnancy.

“Pregnancy is going really well, approximately 10 weeks to go, give or take, and I am in the stage where I am getting excited and really anxious to meet her! Her nursery is almost done and preparing for our home birth. I just try and imagine what shell look like…i cant wait,” she wrote. “I’m working on scheduling the photoshoot towards the end of March. We waited a bit longer til my belly was bigger, I think it is ready!”

— Former WWE Divas Jazz, Dawn Marie and Molly Holly were honored for their contributions to women’s wrestling over the years at Women Superstars Uncensored’s Third Anniversary Show this past Saturday at the Ace Arena in New Jersey as they were inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame. For coverage of the event including interviews with Angelina Love, Alere Little Feather, April Hunter and more, click here.