Sunny Speaks On RAW, Possibly Returning, More
Posted by Ashish on 12.19.2007
Former WWE star speaks out!
Tammy Sytch - formerly known as Sunny in the WWF - appeared as a guest on Fight Network Radio on December 14th to discuss her appearance at Raw's fifteenth anniversary special, the possibility of a return to WWE, her time in ECW, getting back into shape for television, and more . Fight Network Radio can be heard every Monday through Friday at 3pm EST on Hardcore Sports Radio (Sirius Channel 186) and online at www.hardcoresportsradio.com and www.TheFightNetwork.com. The following is a transcript of that interview.
John Pollock (Producer/Co-host, Fight Network Radio): You know, it's getting very cold up here in Canada as we approach the heart of winter, so I'm doing my part in making things a bit more "sunny" here on Fight Network Radio, as we welcome a real trailblazer when it comes to women in professional wrestling. She is Tammy Sytch, better known as "Sunny" from her days in the World Wrestling Federation. Tammy, how is that for an intro?
Tammy Sytch: Not too bad - I've heard it done better before, though (Laughs).
Pollock: Oh, okay, you're going to have to up my game here.
Sytch: We are on Sirius and anything goes here, right?
Pollock: Absolutely - there are no barriers here on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Sytch: I just want to tell you, you guys have great timing; I was in the bathroom when you called me (Laughs).
Pollock: Oh, my! Most people are usually on the can when they're listening to us, so that's perfect.
Sytch (Laughs): What timing you guys got. So, what's up? How you doing?
Pollock: Well, that's kind of what we wanted to talk to you about. A lot of fans eager to see you back on T.V. as we did this past week: The fifteenth anniversary of Raw. When were you contacted by the WWE for this?
Sytch: Actually, I got the phone call almost two weeks before the show. The person from the office that I'm very good friends with and have been friends with him for years - Howard Finkel - he gave me a call and he says, "Listen, we've got this idea, we'd really like to have you be a part of the show, but it's only ninety-nine percent definite right now." He said the writers still had to work everything out and figure out who was going to do what on the show. So he asked me, he said, "Please do not tell anybody. Don't talk about the show, don't mention to anybody that we've called you because we want it to be a big surprise." So, I said, "Okay, great. Awesome." So, of course it was eating at me like crazy. I wanted to tell every single person I knew. But I'm waiting and waiting and finally a couple days later I get the confirmation call that I was going to be on and I couldn't have been more excited.
Pollock: So how did the secret end up getting out? The WWE did announce it in advance. Was it a case of they just didn't want the Internet sites …
Sytch: I told my boyfriend, I told a couple of close friends that I knew wouldn't leak it anywhere. And then all of a sudden I'm getting a bunch of E-mails the Wednesday night before the show saying, "You're gonna be on Raw!" And I was like, "Wait a minute; how does everybody know? I didn't tell anybody." It worked out that WWE.com actually put it on the website and Howard didn't even know they were gonna do that. He was told they were going to keep it a surprise. But, whatever - it leaked, it got out there.
Pollock: They swerved ya.
Sytch: And hopefully the hype was worth it.
Pollock: Alright, we're gonna hit the phones right now. Adam is calling all the way from New York. Adam, you are on the line with Sunny.
Adam: How are you doing, Sunny? How are you doing, Pollock? Good to talk to you on the radio finally and not just on the phones. How did Mauro miss this interview with such a hot woman?
Pollock: Mauro Ranallo, our regular host, is in Montreal, so you know what? When I see Sunny on the schedule, I just jump in here to do the interview. Do you have a question for Ms. Sytch here?
Adam: No question, I just wanted to get all giddy since Mauro's not there and he gets all giddy around the hot women. How are you doing, Sunny?
Sytch: I'm doing great. You don't have any questions for me?
Adam: You looked really … how do you stay looking so good? You looked so good compared … you looked almost the same as you did years ago.
Sytch: Well, you know what? I actually have to give all the credit to my boyfriend. He's the one who got my butt back in the gym, got my ass in gear, got me back on my old diet. And pretty much got me back into shape, back into "Sunny shape". And it's great, because Monday night I'm walking around the show and seeing all my old friends and co-workers, and they were like, "You look like Sunny from 1997. You haven't changed a bit." Little do they know it took a lot of work like Sunny again (Laughs). But a lot of people who hadn't seen me in a while thought I just didn't change. So I guess I did a good job, I guess my boyfriend did a good job of training me.
Pollock: No, the hard work definitely paid off. We actually did a poll on our website asking, "Of all the people that appeared on Raw Monday night, who was most likely to get a contract offer out of it?" Sixty-four percent - you blew away the entire competition. Steve Blackman was …
Sytch: Really? What was the percentage?
Pollock: Sixty-four percent for you. Number two was Steve Blackman at twenty percent. So, the natural question is …
Sytch: That came out of left field. Where'd they come up with that one? (Laughs)
Pollock: Well … Steve Blackman … don't know where he came out of.
Sytch: (Laughs)
Pollock: But there had to have been some interest there on WWE‘s end. You looked fantastic on Monday night and it seems that Sunny … you go to any of the websites out there … your appearance was the one that really stuck out for a lot of people.
Sytch: Right. Well, I don't want to jinx it, I don't want to say too much, I don't want to put any false ideas out there. But there were a few very important people that I spent some time with on Monday, so you never know. You never know what can happen in the WWE. And you know my old saying: "What Sunny wants, Sunny gets." And Sunny wants another contract. (Laughs) So, we'll see what happens.
Pollock: Is it safe to say that getting back into the industry is something that you do want at this point in your life?
Sytch: Oh, absolutely. I've never been completely out; I've always been in the business in one way or another for the past eighteen years - and yeah, believe it or not, it's been eighteen years. (Laughs) But I just turned thirty-five on Friday, on December 7th - actually a week ago - and I'm still good for one more good run on T.V. and that's what I'm hoping to get out of this whole thing. So, you never know, we'll see what happens. But having that little taste of the limelight and a little taste of the crowd going crazy really brought back to my mind where I belong and what I should be doing, and that's working for the WWE and being on T.V. again.
Pollock: Now, you mentioned that you're thirty-five years old now, and - for fans doing the math in their heads - going on to the national stage with the World Wrestling Federation back in 1995 in your early twenties. How much pressure was that on you at such a young age - and really the company put you on such a huge run at that point to make you one of the faces of the company.
Sytch: Right. When I got the job I was twenty-one years old. In my mind when I look back on it … I mean, I loved every second of it. But I actually was too young and too immature to handle all the fame that came my way. I was twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three at my height, but I still had the brain of a sixteen-year old. (Laughs) So, I think if I was older at the time I could have handled everything a lot better. I did have quite an attitude at times, I did get a little "diva-ish" at times. But that was the amount of fame that came to me at such a quick pace. It was a lot to handle. Like I said, I'm a lot more mature now and I would know how to handle it and be a little bit smarter with my business decisions. But you live and you learn, and everything happens for a reason. So, maybe I had that attitude so I could learn now not to have it. So, who knows?
Pollock: Do you think, Tammy, that there are different standards in this industry where we see someone like you, who says being immature and somewhat "diva-ish" during your younger years. And then we see males on the other side, where it's "Well, they're being a politician." It's not the same stigma, I think, when it comes to males versus females in the industry. Do you see a divide there when management is looking down at people and their behavior?
Sytch: Oh, it's absolutely different. Men and women are all looked upon in different ways. Girls in the business are never going to be looked at like the guys are. You know, a guy can have an attitude and he's being political or a good businessman. A girl can have an attitude and I wasn't a good businessperson, I was a bitch. (Laughs) It really is a lot different. Anywhere you go in the world there's standards on how men and women are treated differently. But, you know what? That's life and you gotta deal with it and try to make the best of it.
Pollock: As you look at the current crop of divas right now - not just in the WWE, but TNA as well - do you see a lot of the fingerprints of what they molded out of your character back in ‘95, ‘96? Because really for a national audience you were really the blueprint for the evolution from Miss Elizabeth character to the females being portrayed in a very sexual way and what we get today on television.
Sytch: Right. Well, what I like to be proud of is that I like to consider myself the first "total package" as far as females go in the wrestling business. There was Miss Elizabeth, who was actually gorgeous and she stood at ringside very well, but that's all she did. And then you had Sensational Sherri, who was a great performer and great in the ring, but she wasn't that great to look at. But then I came along finally - and like I said, I like to consider myself the "total package" - I could do a great photo shoot, my pictures were amazing, I could get on the mic and talk for ten minutes off the top of my head if I had to, I could get in the ring if I had to, I was one of the best managers they've ever seen. So, once I came along and Vince realized, "Wow, we can use the females to do this and this and this and this" and not be so limited as in only looking good at ringside, that's where it all blew up to where he realized he could market me and how much money he could make off me and make me money in return. And that's what started it all. And then I think he figured that down the road he could take other women and do the same thing, and time has show that it really doesn't work with everyone. You can't just take a girl off the street and have her do everything I did. People are pretty one-dimensional and I was pretty much the only well-rounded person they've had in the past.
Pollock: One issue we wanted to bring up - you talked about your time in the mid-nineties. Yourself and Sable: Legit heat?
Sytch: You know what? I'm tired of talking about her, I really am. Every time I do a radio interview, everybody's always asking about me. You know what? She's not worth my time today. You know, yes, we didn't get along; yes, I don't like her; yes, I think she's a waste of time as far as being in the business is concerned. And that's it. She's not a part of my life, she probably never will be again, and just put it this way: She's really not a good-quality person and that was the main reason I didn't like her.
Pollock: Well, that pretty much answers the question right there. As you look back this past Monday night Tammy, being in the WWE locker room. I know you were only there for the one evening, but did you sense a big change from your time with the WWF prior?
Sytch: You know what, it's weird: A lot of people who have been there the past couple years - a couple good friends of mine - were telling me that it's completely different now, it's not like it was when I was there, it's like I'll be in for a culture shock when I go back. But, you know what - I walked around that locker room and it felt like I never left. Everybody was wonderful to me. People couldn't be happier to see me. People that I've never met before couldn't be happier to meet me. Pretty much, I was treated very, very well. And I was expecting a very difficult locker room because of what I've been told by some of my friends, and I didn't see that at all, I really didn't. Like I said, it felt like I never left, it was a really comfortable situation. And my boyfriend can even vouch for that - on the ride up, we were about a half an hour away from the building and I actually started getting nervous. And he's like, "Hon, what's the matter? You've done this a million times." I'm like, "No, no, you don't understand. Walking down that ramp and performing is old hat to me. I'm not nervous about that at all." But I said I was nervous about how the locker room was going to be, because I've been hearing horror stories. But it's completely opposite. I walked in there and within thirty seconds of being in that building, I was made to feel like I was at home and it was a really, really great experience.
Pollock: Fast-forwarding a bit in your career after you left the World Wrestling Federation, you did have a run in Extreme Championship Wrestling with Paul Heyman. And I always recall one of the most surreal moments watching ECW was the famous shoot interview you did on T.V. where you were very open about drug use and a lot of topics that really had never been discussed on a pro wrestling show before. Was there a lot of apprehension on your part to discuss those issues on television?
Sytch: Well … see, I was brainwashed. Paul Heyman is a very good brainwasher … I like to name him "The Hypnotist", because he can make anybody believe anything that comes out of his mouth. And he had this great idea to put me on T.V. and have me talk like that … almost like a Behind the Music thing, or like a True Hollywood Story thing. And he wanted me to go out there and cry and talk about how my dad died, how my niece died, and this, that, and the other, because he wanted that sympathy factor. And what did it do? It blew up in everybody's faces. It didn't work the way … he was swearing up and down how it would work so great and it would get me so over. And, you know - it bombed. Like I said, he's a brainwasher - he can make anybody believe that what he says is the golden word, and everything will be all fine and dandy, and it wasn't. But, what are you gonna do? You can't take back what's on T.V.
Pollock: Do you look at your time with Extreme Championship Wrestling with a bit of a taint to it? Was it a worthwhile experience for you?
Sytch: In ECW? It was a lot of fun but a lot of headaches as well. I lost a lot of money because of that place. I don't even want to go into the whole money story right now, because it just gives me indigestion every time I do. But it was a lot of fun while it lasted. But once the company started having money problems it reflected on my finances as well, and it just really wasn't good in the end. So I'm glad I got out of that situation.
Pollock: We talked about that interview that you did on television, and in the past you have been open about certain demons in your life. What did you find was the turning point in your life that changed things around for Tammy, and what resulted in what we saw on Monday night, which is a person who clearly has her feet on the ground and looked terrific, I thought?
Sytch: I really don't know exactly what the turning point was. Everything changed in my life almost overnight, and I don't know … I just became a different person altogether. And one thing led to another and it caused me to get healthy and get back in shape. So, whatever it was that actually changed my life I'm very grateful for.
Pollock: We're almost out of time here, Tammy. I really want to thank you for being so open with us. But before we let you go, I just want to get some comments … I'd be remiss not to ask about Chris Candido, who passed away unfortunately in 2005. Obviously someone very, very closely associated with you in the wrestling world and outside of it. I can't even imagine how difficult that time period must have been for you.
Sytch: Well, it sucked, of course. Whenever anybody loses anybody they care about, it sucks. You're not gonna be happy about it. But you know what? That's almost three years ago now. Let's try to move on with life. You know, we can't dwell on the past.
Pollock: Alright. Well, Tammy, I want to thank you so much. For listeners out there, how can they reach you online and keep up with the ever-changing world of Tammy Lynn Sytch?
Sytch: Just go to www.tammysytchonline.com or you can on my MySpace page as well, and that's MySpace.com/tammysytch - the only real MySpace for me out there. My webmaster runs it, I read all the messages, and that's the only one - there's a lot of imposters out there, but you have to get to the right one. But, yeah - check out my website, you'll find out where I am locally, where I am overseas - I've got a lot of overseas tours coming up. And you can also buy some merchandise on there.
Pollock: Excellent. That sounds great. And Tammy, we wish you the best of luck with everything that goes down with you and WWE. We'll be rooting for you over here, but we don't want to jinx anything.
Sytch: Yeah, please don't jinx anything. (Laughs) That's the last thing I need. Just keep your fingers crossed and write your letters into WWE.com. Tell them that you want to see me back on T.V. full-time and you never know. Stranger things have happened.
Pollock: Absolutely. Tammy, thank you so much for joining us. We'll be chatting with you at some point in the near future.
Sytch: Alright. Thanks guys, stay cool.
Pollock: Alright, take care. That was Tammy Lynn Sytch, everyone, and she portrayed the role of "Sunny" back in the World Wrestling Federation. Looking great on Monday, I thought, on Raw, and I think a contract's going to be coming her way. That's just my sense of things.
