  Krissy Vaine on December 4, 2004 at a show in Lenoir, N.C.
-- photo by Chris Schramm |
CHARLOTTE, NC -- Big lights, fireworks and rousing cheers are the
dreams of Krissy Vaine. Vaine, a female independent
wrestler out of North Carolina, has been working her
life to make it to the WWE. She will not be satisfied
with her career until that dream is reached.
Vaine took a step closer to that dream last
Tuesday, December 7, when she was booked in a dark match
prior to the Smackdown! taping in Greenville, S.C. Her
match with fellow independent wrestler Jenny Taylor
might have been her first view into the crystal ball.
"It was awesome," Vaine said following the experience.
"It was overwhelming and everyone went out of their way
to be helpful."
Vaine was also backstage the night before for RAW in
Charlotte, N.C. There she was able to meet the head of
the company. "Vince McMahon was so nice. He didn't come off as
intimidating. He was pleasant and very open to talking
to me and wishing me luck."
It's hard to believe that Vaine has been wrestling for
under two years. She started as a valet when she was
only 19 under Ken Spence's North Carolina promotion.
She is always thankful to Spence for giving her that
first break.
She always wanted to be a wrestler. Her parents held
her back. They did not want to see her get hurt --
emotionally or physically -- when it did not work. They
were trying to help her. After two years of valeting,
she proved that she had her heart in it.
"Most of the other people training only came once or
twice a week. I was coming five times a week. I really
wanted to be a wrestler, and I showed it by spending
more time in the ring than at home."
She did most of her training at the CWF Mid-Atlantic
training school out of Burlington, N.C. Vaine often
got some surprise visitors to the school. Lita, Matt
Hardy, Don Kernodle and Shane Helms had shown up on
various occasions to give some pointers.
But she will always be a fan at heart, just as she
started. When not training or wrestling, she enjoys
the actions of John Cena, Trish Stratus and Randy Orton.
She has respect for Stratus because she feels they
followed a similar route. Both started as models, both
then went into valeting and lastly they both trained
to wrestle in the ring. She was very excited to meet
Stratus at RAW this past Monday. When Vaine told
Stratus how she followed her career from the
beginning, Stratus was very flattered and gave her
some good tips to help her in her career.
"I was a fan since her fitness modeling days," Vaine
said of Stratus, "and when I heard she was
training to a wrestler, I wanted to train too. She
sort of broke that stereotype of how lady wrestlers
looked like. She showed you can look like a beautiful
lady and still be physical in the ring."
One of Vaine's favorite moments of her career was
during a recent Elite Pro Wrestling Training Session
(www.epwt.com). She was able to work three
days with Ricky Steamboat, Les Thatcher and Tully Blanchard.
"Do you know who those guys are? It was just amazing
who I was training with, and I walked out so much
better because of it. I have talked to Thatcher and
Steamboat since, and I can't say thanks enough for
what they showed and told me."
In his Wrestler's Eye View column from Nov. 27th on Pro Wrestling Insider, Thatcher raved about Vaine. "Krissy Vaine wrestled Venus in Spindale and both of these young ladies attended our camp as well. If I were giving a trophy for best technical indie match on the program it would have gone to these two hard workers. It was the best women?s match I had seen since last April in Vegas when Melissa The Cheerleader squared off with Ms. Natural. If you are a promoter looking for girl wrestlers please give Krissy and Venus a try. They are nice to look at and can work as well."
She recommends the camp for anyone interested in
wrestling. Even if you have been working 10 years,
Vaine thinks you can learn a lot from the camp. She is
even going back for a three-day camp in January.
If she thinks Steamboat was a big name to be in the
ring with, she has an even bigger match coming at the
end of January. She is scheduled for the Wrestle
Reunion (www.wrestlereunion.com) show in an
6-woman tag team match. She is going to be in the ring
with lady wrestling legends Sherri Martel and Wendy
Richter.
"I actually worked Martel this past weekend," Vaine
said. "It was her first match in, like, seven years. She
was so awesome about the experience. I was nervous
about the January match, but Martel made me feel so
good about the opportunity."
Vaine takes a lot of pride in her web site, which is
located at www.krissyvaine.com. She has hundreds of
pictures, movie clips, wallpaper, schedule and bio
info. She tries to keep it updated a few times a week.
Vaine is still only 23, and has a bright future in
front of her. She is training just as hard as she did
when she started. She is training twice a week and
wrestling twice a week. She is being booked all over,
and her weekends are packed each week with long drives
and loud crowds. Maybe that view inside the crystal
ball this past Tuesday is a sign of things to come.
Visit the SLAM! Wrestling store!
See Krissy Vaine in action!
Order CCW (12-04-04) DVD-R
Christopher Schramm has been writing for SLAM!
Wrestling since 1997. He has a degree from the School
of Journalism at the University of Kansas.You can
email Chris @ kidjayhawk@yahoo.com
