Some rookies get to make their debut on the big stage, coming from a well respected school with ties to some of wrestling’s biggest promotions helps in that regard! And then there’s people like me, who made their debut in a packed high school gym in Miami!
I guess this year has me nostalgia as fuck because I tracked down my first match on YouTube! No, not that Triple Threat against Ms. Evangelista and Alexis Morrison in the middle of summer 2012, my ACTUAL first match! When I made my SCW debut that summer I had already been wrestling for four years having made my professional debut at the age of eighteen in a promotion that’s still going strong but never really made it out of high school gyms or National Guard Armouries,
“Ladies and gentlemen this next contest is scheduled for one fall and is a women’s match!” The announcer informed the crowd and part of me had to chuckle at how far women’s wrestling had come, for one thing women’s matches weren’t announced as such these days! “Introducing first, making her professional wrestling debut, from right here in Miami, Florida, please welcome “Little Ms. Rocker” Jessie Salco!”
No, I don’t know what I was thinking with my initial nickname either, the other thing I noticed was how scrawny I was! Granted, I’m not exactly a tall woman but I’m still well built and I guess this was when I was still recovering from my drug addiction! And no, the fact that I came out to “Master of Puppets” is not lost on me! I made my way down to the ring and hopped on the apron before jumping over the ropes.
“And her opponent! From Parts Unknown, please welcome the Slamazon!” Granted my opponent’s name wasn’t that much better but I am still in contact with her, her real name is Gabby and she seemed destined for the big leagues, or at least would make it that far long before me, but instead she got injured in a match and had to retire, so what did she look like? Well, what do you picture when you hear the word “Slamazon”?
Because if you’re picturing a tall, muscular woman then you are right on the money! She marched down to the ring with a scowl on her face and, well the storyline was that the promoter was putting her against rookies who would never have a chance against her and I she was pissed off about it! And guess who was the latest victim? That’s right, it was me, once she was in the ring she snatched the mic from the ring announcer.
“Is this a joke?! I demanded ACTUAL competition and the best they could muster is some goth who doesn’t even come up to my chest?!” The Slamazon demanded and I didn’t back down from her. “What’s your name?!” The Slamazon demanded before shoving the mic into my face and backing up.
”My name is Jessie Sal…….” I never finished my introduction as the Slamazon promptly kicked my head so hard that it could’ve ended up in a locker! It never really got better for me from there as the Slamazon tossed me around the ring like a ragdoll, I did manage to get some offence in as I managed to hit a couple of dropkicks that never took her off her feet, merely staggering her, I then ran to the ropes and tried to hit a cross body.
Keyword being try because she caught me, hoisted me onto her shoulders and rammed me into all four corners before driving me into the matt with a Death Valley Driver! The foot on my chest for the pin attempt was basically a formality at that point! “Here is your winner, the Slamazon!”
That was it, that was my first match, that was a post-match angle where the Slamazon kept doing that Death Valley Driver combo until the decision was reversed, but it wasn’t like I was awake for that or anything! I would get two more matches against the Slamazon before her retirement, one was a handicap match with the other rookies that she had run over (Toni Keyes, Ava Sanders, Paige Martin and Becky Lopez) where I took the pin (technically because the Slamazon piled us on top of each other and pinned us with her foot) and her last match before retirement which I lost again.
*present day*
“That looked painful!” I looked up from the YouTube vid and saw Shane watching over my shoulder and shook my head.
”That was my very first match, some people on the SCW roster probably find it hilarious that I lost my debut match as well!” I scoffed as I shook my head before hitting the YouTube button to take me back to the homepage. ”I didn’t even realize that thing was on YouTube! It just happened to show up in my recommendations earlier!”
“Everyone has to start somewhere I guess.” Shane commented with a shrug and I nodded in agreement. “You still in contact with anyone from those days?”
”Slamazon mostly, she runs a bakery in Texas these days, she had to retire due to injury.” I explained and Shane nodded in understanding. ”The other girls from that handicap match still wrestle but mostly in Florida, think the last time I ran into them was when SCW was in Miami for the Homecoming tour.”
“Everyone starts somewhere I guess, and you have some girls you can contact to help run your training school if you go through with the idea.” Shane pointed out and I had to admit, that wasn’t a bad idea. “See? Your humble beginnings did have some good in them.”
”Yeah, I guess.” I commented before Shane left the room, on a whim I decided to e-mail them and see if they were interested in catching up at some point, what’s the harm right?”
