Women were utilized primarily as valets or ring announcers in professional wrestling in the 90s. Sunny and Sable are doubtless the reasons why Paige, Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch are currently enjoying the airtime and expanded roles that WWE have come forward to offer their female wrestlers.
Sunny – real name Tamara Lynn Sytch – stepped foot onto the squared circle at a tender age of 20 when she signed up with Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1992, alongside her life-long partner in Chris Candido. In the 24-year wrestling career (and counting), she has earned two Slammy Awards (in Best Buns, and Minds Behind the Mayhem categories in 1996) and one WWE Hall of Fame nomination, thereby establishing herself as a legend in the industry.
Trish Stratus and Lita have all overcome the potential demons of the wrestling industry and currently lead normal lives, with the former looking after her three-year-old son named Maximus while the latter works as a producer at WWE. However, things have not worked even remotely well for Sunny.
Sunny has suffered massive downfalls akin to most successful female wrestlers though the trajectory of her life has dragged her to the rock bottom that most wrestlers, let alone divas, can endure. Courtesy of her battles with drug addiction and numerous tumultuous relationships, she now epitomizes the damage money and fame could inflict.
Currently showing signs of mental disorders such as borderline personality disorder, Sunny resorts to TMZ more than she reaches out to her friends – let us hope she has made some friends in her illustrious career – during times of hardships and finds her life crammed with controversies.
Sunny has gone through and been embroiled in myriad of wonderful, nasty and strange incidents, but TheSportster jots down only the top fifteen unbelievable things wrestling fans should know about the 43-year-old former dream girl.
15 15. She is the First Diva of WWE
WWE brands Sunny as the first Diva in its history, given her undoubted popularity and influence in a period when females were nothing more than eye candy. She defines herself as a well-rounded performer though she had never contested in any match during her WWE stint. However, she managed highly successful stables such as the Road Warriors, the Smoking Gunns, and the Godwinns, besides doing broadcasting and hosting WWE television shows like Shotgun Saturday Night. She managed to pull off more than what the whole current roster could manage with such little opportunities.
14 14. She Idolized Hillary Clinton
Though the wrestling community identifies her only as Sunny, she debuted as Tammy Fytch – after dropping out of pre-medical school – who threatened to file a sexual discrimination lawsuit (as part of her gimmick) against her then-employers in SMW owing to their reluctance to offer prominent roles to females. She came across as an avid follower of Hillary Clinton for reasons unexplained during her three-year spell with SMW. She would be contacted by WWE in late 1994.
13 13. She Wrestled Her First WWE Match in 2009
Despite spending three years under WWE's banner between 1995 and 1998, she never actually wrestled in a match until her surprise return in 2009. She entered the Miss WrestleMania battle royal on the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania only to be eliminated 91 seconds into the bout by Beth Phoenix. It comes across as a shock that the match in which she debuted as a wrestler in WWE was also her last in-ring appearance with the company. It was also a shock that WWE brought back one of their legendary Divas for the match only to barely mention her at all.
12 12. She lies on Twitter for fun
Sunny has earned a reputation for lying about sensitive issues on Twitter. She once claimed to have adopted a Cambodian child, and news outlets reported the same shortly she had tweeted. However, she laughed off the enthusiasm of the press, stating she merely lied. She previously lied about being mugged. She reached an all-time low when she asked her followers to buy her stuff from her Amazon Wish List to 'comfort' her following her cancer diagnosis. Sunny once wrote “For the past two days, I’ve been making up the craziest s*** just to see if they (web sites) post it as factual news without checking the facts first.
11 11. She was in a Bizarre Relationship with Chris Candido
Chris Candido, her lifelong boyfriend (!), introduced her to the world of professional wrestling, and the couple worked together at World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling, besides WWE and SMW. However, she cheated on him with a multitude of wrestlers, including the members of the Kliq.
Paul Bearer stated that he had followed her like a puppy despite her perpetual misdemeanors while Kevin Nash branded him a dumb stooge for turning a deaf ear to the allegations and murmurs in the dressing room. When Percy Pringle finally opened up everything about his sweetheart, he only reiterated his love for her again. Raven, who allegedly had intercourse with her, lauded his character, stating he was a wonderful person.
10 10. She was in a Relationship with Shawn Michaels
While being in a relationship with childhood sweetheart in Candido, she was also dating Shawn Michaels, and she even went as far as claiming that they had embarked on a meaningful nine-month relationship. Going by her words, they had even flown to Jamaica, where they stayed for one whole week together. She revealed that they intended to keep it as a secret in vain. There is more coming, as this story just gets juicier.
9 9. HBK Accused her of Infidelity
Though HBK had actually been dating Candido's girlfriend, he accused Bret Hart of having an affair (!) with her, and that led to a backstage altercation between the veteran wrestlers. She took pride in being the base of the heat between the two icons. Though Sunny maintained that she was only friends with the entire Hart family – she regularly entertained the Hitman's kids. HBK made his infamous "Sunny Days" comment to Bret Hart on RAW, saying: "Even though lately you’ve had some “Sunny days” my friend, you still can’t get the job done”. That implied Hart was having an affair with Sunny, despite being married, which caused friction in the Hart household.
8 8. She Claimed to Date Davey Boy Smith
After breaking up with HBK, she started dating the British Bulldog – let me remind you about the poor Candido again – briefly. Even though she admitted her affair with Davey Boy Smith explicitly, Candido kept his faith in her. Sunny claimed it was an on and off again relationship with Bulldog.
However, Davey's daughter, Georgia Smith came to the rescue of her father, labeling her attempts to gain negative publicity as pathetic.
7 7. She made Damien Darling Cry
Damien Darling, an independent wrestler, moved in together with Sunny after the demise of Candido, and he apparently spent every single moment with her. She accused him of giving her HPV that later mutated into cervical cancer (!). In addition, she also made false sex assault accusations against him. He admitted to shedding tears during a physical assault at the hands of Sunny, thinking about a potential rehash of the death of Chris and Nancy Benoit.
6 6. She has been Arrested Six Times
Cops nailed Sunny in September for missing three hearings for her May arrest for driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and driving on a suspended license. She has previously been arrested for burglary, disorderly conduct and violating a protective order. Much to her dismay, it was not the developmental wrestlers, who played the role of police officers. She has a hearing set for March 28th pending the results of a pre-sentencing investigation.
5 5. She's followed in Chyna's Footsteps
Finding it difficult to fund her drug habits, she signed with Vivid Entertainment (yes, Kim Kardashian) earlier this year and will feature in her first ever adult film that is cleverly named Sunny Side Up: In Through the Backdoor. Sunny declined their initial offer of $100,000, stating she deserved more, for she is a businesswoman; however, she signed on the dotted lines for an undisclosed amount, which she claims is a great improvement from their first offer.
4 4. She did Erotic Skype sessions with Fans
Before signing a contract with Vivid Entertainment, Sunny chatted with her fans over Skype for as little as $10 for every four minutes. She charged $50 for flashing her breasts while she made $100 every 10 minutes for offerings that cannot be elucidated here. Let us just say it would never get a TV-PG rating. As the old WWE intros with Sunny used to say, viewer discretion was strongly advised.
3 3. She Literally Ate Excrement
She ate Sean Waltman's excrement, unknowingly. During her WWE stint, she apparently endured a lot of backstage heat. Paul Bearer revealed that she consumed Chinese food in which Waltman, then known as the 1-2-3 Kid, had earlier pooped during WWE's tour of Germany. The following morning, she was bullied by fellow wrestlers in the bus for the same and was immediately given a week off after the humiliation. Mark Canterbury has also spoken about the same incident.
2 2. She performed 'favors' for Soma
Her drug addiction is well documented, and Sandman revealed this disturbing incident about her. She apparently performed oral sex on Raven, Sabu and Joey Matthews on a single night (!) in Miami for drugs while her boyfriend Candido ran around the very bar searching for his ladylove. Sabu denied the claims of Sandman, stating he only asked her to flash for him (!) in exchange for 35 Somas.
1 1. She tried Auctioning her Hall of Fame Ring
The entire Divas division inducted her into WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, but Sunny does not seem to be having the same regard as the likes of Ric Flair have for the prestigious ring. She tried to sell her Hall of Fame ring for as little as $3,000. She even told TMZ that it was time to let go of the past and added that selling her ring was the right way to get back on track. The auction was eventually pulled from Ebay when Sunny got the offer she did from Vivid.