Lady Blossom
| Lady Blossom | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jeanie Clarke |
| Born | April 4, 1960 Southend-on-Sea, England, United Kingdom[1] |
| Residence | Southend-on-Sea, England, United Kingdom[1] |
| Spouse(s) | William Haynes (m. 1986–89) Steve Austin (m. 1992–99) |
| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jeannie Lady Blossom[2] |
| Trained by | Chris Adams |
| Debut | 1979[3] |
| Retired | 1991[2] |
Jeanie Clarke (born April 4, 1960) is a retired English professional wrestling manager. She is best known for her appearances with the American professional wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling in 1991 under the ring name Lady Blossom as the valet for "Stunning" Steve Austin.
Contents
Early life
Clarke originally worked as a model. She travelled to the United States alongside her then-boyfriend, professional wrestler Chris Adams.[1] The couple split up in the early 1980s, and in 1989 Clarke began a relationship with wrestler "Stunning" Steve Austin.
Professional wrestling career
World Class Championship Wrestling (1990–1991)
In 1990, Clarke's ex Chris Adams suggested bringing her to the Dallas, Texas-based promotion World Class Championship Wrestling as a valet for "Stunning" Steve Austin to add an extra dimension to his feud with Austin. During bouts between Austin and Adams, Clarke would catfight with Adams' valet, Toni Adams.[2][4] Clarke also wrestled Adams in a number of intergender tag team matches. The original idea of the angle came about in the beginning of 1986 when Adams began his storyline feud with Gino Hernandez.
In 1991, Austin and Clarke left WCCW to join World Championship Wrestling.[2][4]
World Championship Wrestling (1991)
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. In 1991, Austin was hired by World Championship Wrestling, where Vivacious Veronica became his valet. After several months, Clarke was hired to replace Vivacious Veronica. She was given the name by Dusty Rhodes, who said it was because her "chest was blossoming out of her top".[5] Lady Blossom debuted on 29 June 1991 episode of WCW WorldWide, helping Austin defeating Bobby Eaton for the WCW World Television Championship by distracting Eaton.[citation needed]
The duo did not have a distinctive gimmick, but they tried to portray themselves as being a couple of high society. Austin came down to the ring in an extravagant robe, whereas Lady Blossom frequently donned a luxurious cleavage-baring evening gown. In a sharp contrast to her time in World Class Championship Wrestling, Lady Blossom did not get an opportunity to speak much on camera—she spoke on camera on less than a handful of occasions throughout her WCW tenure. Blossom used her actions instead of her words as she did not hesitate to involve herself in Austin's matches in order for him to retain his WCW Television title. Blossom frequently interfered in his matches, although her interference backfired from time to time, and she occasionally took bumps.[citation needed]
On one occasion, Lady Blossom hopped onto the ring apron in an attempt to distract the referee from the action in the ring. As she was arguing with the referee, Tracy Smothers inadvertently ran into her just as Austin had moved out of the way. Smothers' collision with Blossom jostled her and she fell to the floor mat a few moments later. Also, Lady Blossom constantly interfered in Austin's TV title matches with P.N. News and thus he retained his title again due to her interference. Right when the 10-minute time limit was drawing near, Blossom interfered in the match just as Austin was about to be pinned, thus causing a disqualification. Blossom's most frequent method of a disrupting a match was to jump on the back of Austin's opponent just as he was about to be pinned. She then scratched Austin's opponent's face with her fingernails. Another instance in which Lady Blossom's interference backfired took place in August 1991 on an episode of WCW Power Hour during a TV title match pitting Austin and Ron Simmons. Simmons was on the verge of victory in the match, but Lady Blossom entered the ring and jumped on his back to cause a disqualification.[citation needed]
For a string of weeks in October 1991, both Blossom and Austin did an angle involving a pair of brass knuckles. During Austin's matches, Lady Blossom pulled out of a pair of brass knuckles that was underhandedly hidden underneath her cleavage and tucked inside one of the cups of her bra. When the referee's attention was drawn elsewhere, she pulled the brass knuckles out of her bra and hand the weapon over to Austin so that he could use them on his opponent. Unbeknownst to the official, Austin struck his opponent with the knuckles and then quickly handed them back over to Blossom. Lady Blossom then cleverly concealed the brass knuckles inside of her bra again and behave as if nothing ever happened. Austin then pinned his unconscious opponent for the victory. The couple's shenanigans worked for a few weeks, but they were caught within due time. At the conclusion of a match between Steve Austin and PN News on WCW Saturday Night, Lady Blossom helped Austin cheat to win yet again. After the match, an enraged Dustin Rhodes came down to ringside to explain to the referee that Austin had cheated in his match by striking his opponent with a pair of brass knuckles and that the weapon was hidden inside of Lady Blossom's dress. Both Blossom and Austin egged Rhodes on to prove to the referee that they had cheated in the match, but he reluctantly refused to place his hand down her dress knowing the potential sexual harassment issues his action caused. Moments later, Madusa arrived on to the scene to confront the perpetrators and attempt to verify Rhodes' claims. Madusa then did what Rhodes was much too uncomfortable to do by literally taking matters into her own hands and sticking her hand inside of Blossom's dress. Madusa was quickly able to pull the concealed weapon out of Blossom's dress and show off her discovery to the crowd. Considering that the referee now had visible evidence that Austin did in fact cheat to win the match, he reversed his decision in favor of News.[citation needed]
Blossom retired from professional wrestling in late 1991 after becoming pregnant with her second daughter. She made her final appearance with WCW on 19 November 1991 at Clash of the Champions XVII, accompanying Austin to ringside for his title defense against P.N. News.
Personal life
Clarke had a relationship with professional wrestler Chris Adams for five years, with the couple having a daughter, Jade.[2][1] Clarke and Adams split up in the early 1980s. Contrary to the wrestling storyline, the two were never actually married in real life. In 1986, in order to stay in the United States, Clarke married professional wrestler William "Billy Jack" Haynes, with the couple later divorcing. In 1989, Clarke began a relationship with professional wrestler Steve "Steve Austin" Williams. The couple married in 1992 and had two daughters, Stephanie (born 1992) and Cassidy (born 1996), with Austin also legally adopting Jade. Clarke and Austin divorced in 1999, with Clarke and her children later returning to the United Kingdom.[2]
Clarke is credited with helping Austin develop his "Stone Cold" persona. While he was contemplating a change in ring name from "The Ringmaster," she told him to drink his tea before it got "stone cold," inadvertently inspiring the nickname.[2]
In wrestling
- Wrestlers managed
- Entrance music
- "A Roman Love" (WCW)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth (p.85–86)
