When Sable wrestled the late, great Luna Vachon on Raw on night in Dallas, it led to one of the most memorable moments in my 22 years in wrestling.
Sable needed to be led through her match and Luna did so like the pro she was. But when Sable and Luna came through the curtain, Vince and everyone praised Sable but ignored Luna. Sable did well in her role but Luna deserved all the praise. Was it intentional oversight? Many in the front office and TV writing team during that time would work hard to kiss Sable’s ass but I don’t believe it was done on purpose.
Anyway, to not “praise” Luna for that match, it felt like a slap in the face to the veteran and by the time she got down the bottom of the steps, she was fuming.
Sunny was in the dressing room, not in the best “state of mind” and she said the wrong thing at the wrong time to the now-entering Luna. I hear a shriek from Luna and then a scream from Sunny and I see Sunny fly out of the Women’s dressing room and land on some travel cases. A helluva throw that Fred Beell would have been proud of… Gordon Solie would have called it a “high, high hiptoss”.
Road Warrior Animal was right there as Sunny hit the deck and Luna blew out of the dressing room. Poor Joe stood there as Luna reached out and clawed his chest like a tiger swiping at his trainer. Luna was off, down the hall, crying her eyes out. Sunny was upset, confused and angry.
So, Sunny was only managing LOD 2000 then so why didn’t they book Sunny vs Luna? Because you can’t book “crazy”.
Backstage fights are never reasons to book matches around “real” issues. Bret and Shawn were programmed together long before their hair-pulling scrap in Hartford. Locker room issues never lead to good matches or good business.
When I first read about AJ Lee, who I have never met, firing up at Michelle Beadle, who works as a sportscaster, I thought about my Sunny-Luna memory. For those fans saying this was an angle to book a match at WrestleMania, remember… you can’t book “crazy”.
There was a reason that when Fabulous Moolah used to book girls for the regional promotions back in the day, the girls were always booked as “attractions”, meaning they would come and go, usually a week at a time. Moolah and everyone knew that if the girls were in the promotion full-time, there could be problems. Jealousy, ego, money, etc…
Bret and Shawn didn’t fight over who was better… they fought over Sunny. So many issues within the business happen over girls and when the girls are “in-house” those problems can be exacerbated.
Did AJ fire up at Michelle because she was told to do so, went into business for herself or was truly jealous over something Beadle did or said to CM Punk? I don’t know… I wasn’t there but I can smell “crazy” a mile away.
