Ivory enjoyed All-Day-Long
By GREG OLIVER -- At WrestleMania
Ivory.
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The success of last Sunday's All-Day-Long WrestleMania special has the WWF
thinking about doing similar all-day events for future pay-per-views.
Early estimates from WWF officials are that 30% of the people that ordered
the PPV also ordered All-Day-Long.
As one of the hosts of the show, Ivory drew raves for her work alongside
Michael Cole. In an interview with SLAM! Wrestling before the Smackdown!
tapings in San Jose after WrestleMania, she said that everyone in the
company is thrilled with the numbers. "We were ultimately shooting for what
we thought would be the huge number of 25%, so we outdid ourselves."
There wasn't really any prep work done between her and Cole. In fact, she
wasn't even approached about doing the All-Day-Long until about a week
before the event.
Doing the broadcast proved to be a great learning experience for the former
WWF Women's Champion. "I learned everything about WrestleMania that there is
to know. I also learned all the inside scoops from the great Hall of Famers
that we talked to -- Sgt. Slaughter, Moolah, Bruce Pritchard did his Brother
Love schitck whenever the cameras would go down, Hillbilly Jim at Home Video
booth. But whenever the cameras would turn off, they would continue on with
their really behind-the-scene stories. It was kind of like the whole
interview would invoke memories and they would sit with us and talk with us
for a little while."
The nature of today's wrestling business leaves little time for exploring
the past. "A lot of us are so busy that no one talks about the past, we're
just barely keeping up with what we're making," Ivory said.
Part of the All-Day-Long show was taped right at the WWF Axxess FanFest in
the Anaheim Convention Centre. "I've learned in this business that anytime
you're doing an MTV-thing, or a any kind of being Ivory, or being Road Dogg
or being Tori, or being whomever with the fans, your bit will always work if
it involves the fans, because they're so hyper. You get them screaming, you
let them know they're on television, that you're excited about WrestleMania,
whatever, and they just make the spot live."
Ivory, who studied public relations in the journalism department at the University of Southern California, hasn't ruled out doing more broadcasting with the WWF. "I feel very
passionate towards our athletes here in the WWF, so I would not have any
trouble talking about them, raving about them, and calling their action."
She said that it's something that they are thinking about doing. "We'll see
if Ivory can pull it off, because you can't become a Michael Cole or a Kevin
Kelly or a J.R. overnight by any means. It's something to learn, and a craft
to hone. We'll see. I certainly still love to sweat. I am an athlete. I sure
hope to they let me go grab somebody's ankles once in a while."
