SWE Spotlight: In Profile – SLTD Wrestling meets Sammi Jayne

It’s time for another exclusive here at sltdwrestling.co.uk, where I’m bringing you an interview with one of the top female wrestlers in the country. Today’s interview is with someone that’s just at the start of her career in Scotland, Sammi Jayne. Sammi started training in 2010, when she was just 19 years old. She’s 21 now and recently made her debut at the SWE “Hellbound” show in Dundee at the end of July. She’s the only female wrestler that works exclusively for SWE.

Sammi spoke to us ahead of the latest show she’ll be appearing at, which is the “Hell for Lycra” show in Perth on August 25th. Sammi will be going 1-on-1 with the woman who came out on top when they last met, Nikki Storm (who we interviewed last week). WWE legends Roddy Piper, Tatanka and Chavo Guerrero Jr will also be there, so if you’re up in Scotland this Friday, be sure to check out www.hellforlycra.com for ticket info!

Sammi goes into detail about her inspirations, influences and what she hopes to achieve this year. Enough mucking around, let’s get right to it!

What made you want to be a wrestler?

I started watching wrestling in 2000; I came across Smackdown on my television and Instantly fell in love with it. At that time I was inspired by Lita, she was so different from your typical female and I felt I connected with her, I knew then that this is what I wanted to do with my life though I had no idea how to go about it.

How did you get into wrestling?

I never even realised that there was so many wrestling promotions in Scotland, I thought I would have to travel to America how wrong I was, I had been wanting to start wrestling for years but all my friends at the time thought It was stupid so I kept putting it off thinking I would find something else to do but my love for wrestling only grew stronger and then when I cut ties with these friends and starting not caring what other people think , I decided to finally get over my fear and turn up to the SWE Hartland Training school one day and I’ve never looked back.

How would you describe your wrestling style?

In terms of in ring style I try to work a hybrid of styles, definitely like to work a hard hitting Puro style but I throw in the odd lucha inspired offensive move and of course will mix it up with a bit of European style catch.

Which wrestler inspired you when you were growing up?

When I first started watching wrestling I would have to say Lita as I watched more and more I began to admire the technical skills of the likes of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and the charisma and showmanship of Edge and Christian.

Where are we most likely to see you wrestling?

I currently wrestle for Scottish Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) who wrestle mostly in the east of Scotland, I hope to in the future wrestle all over the United Kingdom.

What’s the one thing that frustrates you about the wrestling world right now?

The way women are perceived. I feel that women’s wrestling, especially in the UK is really coming into its own and showing of all different kinds of female wrestlers and styles of wrestling and that they deserve a lot more credit than they get, even if you put on an awesome match there will always be people who will be negative and think that women are just there as eye candy or because they’re ‘rats’. Some men seem to just get away with being sleazy creeps and no one bats an eyelid.

At the end of July, you wrestled Nikki Storm in Dundee at the SWE “Hellbound” show. How often have you wrestled each other and were you pleased with how the match went?

Well that was my debut singles match, before that I had been involved in Battle Royal’s and been a valet for The Syndicate. Nobody’s first match is perfect, so it just motivates me to train harder and makes me want to get better and better but I definitely had a great experience wrestling her. Nikki is extremely talented and obviously one of the best out there at the moment so it was an honour to have my first match against her. We will be facing each other again at the end of the month on August 25th at the Dewar’s Centre Perth at SWE Hell For Lycra!

Who’s been your favourite opponent to work with in your career so far?

Well so far I’ve only wrestled Nikki, so I can’t really answer that but I look forward to working with her again and a whole host of female wrestlers from all over the country hopefully in the not too distant future.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given during your career?

Go out there a no matter whether or not there’s a 8 or 80,000 in the crowd ALWAYS give 110% and give them all you can because every one of those people bought a ticket to watch wrestling and you want to give them every pennies worth. Not to mention the fact you in no way, shape or form do you want to do wrestling a disservice.

Is there any female wrestler in Britain that you haven’t faced yet that you’d love to work a match with?

The Pro Wrestling Eve girls are so talented so facing any of them would be a privilege if I had to pick a few high on my list I would certainly love to work with the likes of Sweet Saraya, April Davids, and Rhia O’Reilly. Also if ever given the opportunity to work abroad I would love to mix things up in the ring with the Ice Ribbon girls and of course the extremely talented roster of girls at SHIMMER.

What advice would you give to any of our readers who might be interested in becoming a wrestler?

Never give up on your dream because there are a lot of things you will have to go through that may break the toughest of people, you may you feel like your confidence and self esteem is at the bottom of the barrel but if you don’t lose sight of where you want to go it will make you stronger. I know I’ve still a long, long way to go but I’ve already had a lot to deal with so far, when I first started training I was the only female and instantly I felt uncomfortable because of how some of them spoke about me. Rumours about me were rife and even it got to the point where I felt I was being sexually harassed but I stuck through it and now none of them are there anymore and I’ve been left with a great bunch of guys who I am good friends with. So just keep your head up and work your butt off and you will achieve your dreams.

Who’s had the most influence on your career since you first stepped inside the ropes?

Ian Ambrose, a fellow SWE Wrestler, has spent so much time training me. The SWE Hartland training school only has 3 official sessions a week, but we go down almost every night and he coaches me and has given me so much more confidence… and this is coming from one of the shyest people you will meet! He is the most supportive person in my life and I give a lot of credit to him for getting me where I am today.

If we were to do another interview in a few years time, what do you want to have achieved?

I try to take each day as it comes but I would hope to be wrestling at different events in the UK, but I know I will have to keep learning and improving to make that happen.

Let’s say that Vince McMahon called you up and said “Sammi, I’ll give you a match against any female wrestler from the recent past or present at Wrestlemania?”, who would you choose and why?

Nattie Neidhart, I think she is so talented and so underutilized and I admire her profound technical ability not to mention she has the ability to take whatever the WWE throws at her and make it work.

How important have Twitter, YouTube and Facebook been to you in terms of growing your fanbase?

It is a great way to connect with your fans and also with fellow wrestlers who have the same passion as you do.

When it’s all said and done, and wrestling fans in the future are reading about Sammi Jayne, what would you want your legacy to be?

I can’t really answer that so early in my career but I am taking things day by day, and match by match who knows what I can achieve and what I can do. As long as I still have the passion and enjoy being out there in front of the fans and they enjoy what I do then that’s all that matters.

And finally, have you got a message for all your fans?

Thank You for all the support so far 🙂

Like I said earlier, Sammi will be wrestling Nikki Storm this coming Friday (25^th August) at the SWE “Hell for Lycra” show in Perth. For more ticket information, check out www.hellforlycra.com. I’m sure that you’ll have enjoyed hearing what Sammi’s had to say about why she loves wrestling and why she got into it in the first place. If you want to get in touch with Sammi, follow her on Twitter @sammiijayne21. She doesn’t bite so there’s no need to be shy! For more information on SWE, visit www.sweonline.co.uk.

That’s gonna wrap things up for the latest exclusive “In Profile” interview here at sltdwrestling.co.uk. We’ll be live on air with the next episode of SLTD Radio on Thursday night at 9:30pm, so we’ll see you then!

George