 Daffney in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shannon Claire Spruill (1975-07-17)July 17, 1975 Wiesbaden Army Airfield, West Germany |
| Died | September 1, 2021(2021-09-01) (aged 46) Norcross, Georgia, U.S. |
Spouse | |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Daffney Daffney Unger Draculetta The Governor Lucy Lucy Furr Shark Girl Shannon |
| Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Billed weight | 130 lb (59 kg) |
| Billed from | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Badstreet, Atlanta, Georgia Charlotte, North Carolina Paradise Island Sybil,Texas Transylvania Unknown parts ofAlaska |
| Trained by | Johnny Slaughter Leilani Kai Malia Hosaka Selina Majors WCW Power Plant |
| Debut | 1999 |
| Retired | 2011 |
Shannon Claire Spruill (July 17, 1975 – September 1, 2021), better known by herring nameDaffney, was an Americanprofessional wrestler andwrestling manager.
Daffney began her professional wrestling career atWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999. In WCW, she was known for her association withDavid Flair andCrowbar, and became the second woman (afterMadusa) to hold theWCW Cruiserweight Championship. She was released by the promotion one month before it was purchased byWWE in 2001. She subsequently appeared on theindependent circuit until she signed withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2008. Injuries forced her to retire from wrestling in 2011, but she continued to appear in non-wrestling roles for variouspromotions until 2018.
As amilitary brat, Shannon Claire Spruill was born on July 17, 1975,[1] at theWiesbaden Army Airfield inWiesbaden-Erbenheim, West Germany, where her father was stationed. In 1976, her family returned to the U.S. They resided first inSalt Lake City, Utah, then inSavannah, Georgia, and finally on theScott Air Force Base inSt. Clair County, Illinois. They were then relocated to England, where they lived inOxford for three years before returning to West Germany to live at theRamstein Air Base inRhineland-Palatinate until 1987, when her father (by then alieutenant colonel) retired.[2]
In 1985, Spruill had an uncredited bit part in the filmSanta Claus: The Movie.[1][3] In March 1998, she graduated fromGeorgia State University with aBachelor of Arts in film and video production alongside minors in acting and music.[1] She worked in media production before pursuing full-time acting.
In November 1999, Spruill responded to aWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) contest looking to acquire new talent and was hired.[4][5] In WCW, under thering nameDaffney, she portrayed the deranged and besotted girlfriend ofDavid Flair and managed him andCrowbar. One of Daffney's hallmarks was a piercing scream when she was lurking at ringside.[6] Thegimmick was based in part onJuliette Lewis' character in the filmNatural Born Killers. Spruill also citedHarley Quinn as the original inspiration for the character.[7] Spruill's first appearance was on the December 6 episode ofNitro, when she was shown sitting on her bed and chanting Flair's name.
On May 8, 2000, Daffney was appointed by Vince Russo to wrestleMiss Elizabeth in her first wrestling match. On May 15, Daffney and Crowbar defeatedWCW World Cruiserweight ChampionChris Candido and his girlfriendTammy Lynn Sytch in amixed tag team match where Candido's cruiserweight title was on the line. Daffney scored the pin on Tammy to make she and Crowbar the co-champions. The following week on the May 22 episode ofNitro, Crowbar and Daffney faced one another to determine the undisputed World Cruiserweight Champion. Crowbar held back during the match, but still dominated the smaller Daffney. After Candido entered the ring and hit Crowbar with areverse piledriver, Spruill inadvertently pinned him while trying to revive him and thus became the second woman ever to hold the Cruiserweight Championship.[8][9] Her reign lasted until June 7 whenLieutenant Loco pinnedDisco Inferno in athree-way title defense while Daffney was hurt following interference fromMiss Hancock.[10] Daffney went on tofeud with Hancock, who had stolen the affections of Flair.[11] Daffney defeated Hancock in the promotion's first everWedding Gown match after Hancock removed her own dress. Daffney then became solely the valet for Crowbar. She had a brief feud withShane Douglas's valet,Torrie Wilson, but was sporadically used as a wrestler.
Daffney's gimmicks included frequently changing hair color, t-shirts printed with bizarre slogans, and her loud screams, the latter which was the suggestion of head WCW writerEd Ferrara.[2] She was released by WCW on February 2, 2001, due to budget cutbacks. WCW itself was purchased by its rival, theWorld Wrestling Federation, a month later.
After her release from WCW, Spruill opted to continue wrestling, attendingDusty Rhodes'Turnbuckle Championship Wrestlingtraining camp inKennesaw, Georgia, for eight months.[11] She also worked forXtreme Pro Wrestling in 2003 as Lucy, the manager ofVic Grimes.[2] She also appeared inRing of Honor, where she debuted on April 26, 2003, as Lucy, the valet of theSecond City Saints.[5] In July 2003, Spruill was signed to a developmental deal byWorld Wrestling Entertainment. She worked inOhio Valley Wrestling as the manager ofAaron Stevens until she was released on December 17 of the same year. Spruill decided to retire from professional wrestling.[8] Intending to focus on her acting career, she sold her wrestling boots to her then-roommate,Mickie James. While retired, Spruill worked as apersonal trainer.[5]
In June 2005, she posed for a website owned and operated byFrancine andMissy Hyatt.[12][8] In February 2006, Spruill returned to the independent circuit. Spruill debuted in Women's Extreme Wrestling on April 6 under the ring name Lucy Furr ("Lucifer"), acting as alumberjill in a match between Amy Lee and Tai Killer Weed.[13] On June 2 inIrondale, Alabama, Spruill faced El Mexicano for the NWA Wrestle Birmingham Junior Heavyweight Championship. With the help of her manager,Robert Fuller (who referred to Spruill as his "Million Dollar Baby"), Spruill defeated El Mexicano to win her third wrestling title.[12] In February 2007, she began making appearances with Georgia Wrestling Promotions both as a manager and a referee.
In April 2007, Spruill debuted as Daffney forShimmer Women Athletes. She conducted an interview where she revealed her goal was to return to what she did from the beginning of her career and that was to manage. Later that evening she appeared as the manager of the wrestlerMsChif. In April 2008 she began wrestling as her Shark Girl character. However, she returned to wrestling as Daffney after only a couple of months. On November 8, 2009, Daffney teamed withRachel Summerlyn against theInternational Home Wrecking Crew at Volume 27, only to turn villainous by abandoning Summerlyn during the match, causing a loss to the IHWC. Later in the night on Volume 28, Daffney got disqualified in a match with Summerlyn, after she did not release an illegal hold off her opponent.[14] On April 11, 2010, at the tapings of Volume 31, the evil Daffney defeated Summerlyn in a No Disqualification match.[15]
On June 27, 2010, Daffney won her only Women's Championship defeating Rachel Summerlyn in the 1st round of Anarchy Championship Wrestling's 2010 American Joshi Queen of Queens Tournament. She lost the title in the 2nd round to Jessica James.[16] On April 6, 2013, Daffney returned to Shimmer Women Athletes at the promotion's first ever internet pay-per-view, Volume 53, where she appeared as the manager of Regeneration X (Allison Danger andLeva Bates).[17]
She made several appearances for the fledglingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestlingpromotion from 2002 to 2003 as Shannon and Shark Girl (valet ofShark Boy).[5][18]
On the June 5, 2008, episode ofTNA Impact!, she appeared as aplanted fan in the audience along with fellow wrestlersAmber O'Neal andBecky Bayless. The three women volunteered to wrestleAwesome Kong in a $25,000 Challenge. Daffney was selected and subsequently defeated by Kong.
In December 2008, Spruill portrayed Alaska governorSarah Palin in skits involving theBeautiful People.[8] On the January 15, 2009, episode ofImpact!, it was revealed byTaylor Wilde andRoxxi that "Sarah Palin" was indeed fake, and it had all been a big joke by Roxxi and Taylor to get revenge on The Beautiful People. The next week she was seen in an interview withLauren, where they made fun of the Beautiful People. The Beautiful People then proceeded to viciously attack "The Governor" before being pulled away byCute Kip as Spruill lay injured. On the February 5, 2009, episode ofImpact!, she made her return by attacking the Beautiful People, this time complete with entrance video and theme.[19] She made her PPV debut atDestination X in a winning effort when she teamed with Roxxi and Wilde to defeat The Beautiful People andMadison Rayne.
As a result of having her hair cut by the Beautiful People on the March 19 episode ofImpact!, Spruill transformed into her old Daffney ring name and gimmick on the April 2 episode ofImpact!, when she appeared in on-screen psychiatristDr. Stevie's office for a therapy session.[8] On the April 16 episode ofImpact!, she teamed with Stevie's other patientAbyss to defeat the duo ofODB andCody Deaner in a mixed tag team match. She competed in theQueen of the Cage match atLockdown against ODB, Madison Rayne andSojournor Bolt, but failed to win the match. On the May 14 episode ofImpact!, Daffney turnedheel by assaulting Taylor Wilde, because she did not save her when The Beautiful People cut her hair.[8] AtSacrifice Wilde defeated Daffney, who had Abyss and Dr. Stevie in her corner, in the first everMonster's Ball match.[8] After she and Dr. Stevie began associating themselves with the returningRaven, Daffney defeated Wilde with their help in a rematch on the June 4 episode ofImpact with her swinging fisherman suplex named theLobotomy. The following week she assaulted Wilde backstage after provoking her by attacking her on-screen best friend, backstage interviewer Lauren, earlier on the same night. Daffney and Raven were defeated by Abyss and Taylor Wilde atSlammiversary in a Monster's Ball mixed tag match. During the match Wilde slammed Daffney onto a pile of thumbtacks.[8] The following Thursday onImpact!, she and Wilde faced off in the first ever "Match of 10,000 Tacks", which she lost.
AtBound for Glory, she interfered in a Monster's Ball match between Abyss andMick Foley, who had assigned Abyss' rival and Daffney's associate Dr. Stevie as the special guest referee of the match. During the match, Abyss chokeslammed Daffney from the ring apron through a barbed wire board, although reports indicated she had suffered a broken arm,[20] it was later reported to be inaccurate although she had instead suffered a concussion.[21][22] On the November 12 episode ofImpact!, Raven once again returned to TNA to reform the group of himself, Dr. Stevie and Daffney.[23]
Daffney spent the next couple of months mainly managing Stevie and Raven, before making her in-ring return on the February 18, 2010, episode ofImpact!, losing to theTNA Women's Knockout ChampionTara via disqualification, after hitting her with a toolbox. After the match, Daffney continued her assault, before being dragged away by Dr. Stevie.[24] The following week onImpact! she annihilatedODB in similar fashion as it was noted that she had her eye set on the title.[25] On the March 8 episode ofImpact!, Daffney cost Tara and her tag team partnerAngelina Love theKnockouts Tag Team Championship by hitting her with the Women's Knockout Championship belt during a match for the vacant titles.[26] AtDestination X Daffney failed in her attempt to win the Knockout Championship from Tara, but managed to steal her spider Poison from her after the match.[27] The following day onImpact! Daffney used distraction from Poison to pin Tara in an eight wrestler tag team match to earn her aFirst Blood match for the Women's Knockout Championship the following week.[28] The following week Tara defeated Daffney in a First Blood match after hitting her with a toolbox.[29] The following week Daffney was one of the four winners in an eight knockout Lockbox match, contested for four keys to four boxes containing prizes. During the contest Tara, one of the three other winners, won back Poison, while Daffney came up empty handed and was forced to strip down, but before she could she was attacked byLacey Von Erich.[30] The attack resulted in a match on the April 19 episode ofImpact!, where Daffney, now seemingly a face, and a partner of her choice, ODB, unsuccessfully challenged Von Erich andVelvet Sky for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship.[31] At the following day'sImpact! tapings, Daffney was injured in adark match againstMiss Betsy in her tryout match and was taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with a deeply bruised sternum, a severestinger, and aconcussion.[32][33]
On May 26 it was announced that Spruill had been cleared to return to wrestling.[34] She made her return at the June 14 tapings ofXplosion, wrestling once again as a heel and defeating Taylor Wilde with the help of a chain, only to have the referee of the match catch her afterwards, leading to Wilde defeating her after a restart.[35][36] On the December 9 episode ofImpact!, Daffney teamed withSarita in a first-round match of a tournament for the vacant TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, where they were defeated by the Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky).[37] This marked Daffney's final appearance for TNA, as on March 15, 2011, her contract with the promotion expired and was not renewed. Spruill announced that she had filed aworkers' compensation claim against TNA for injuries suffered while wrestling for the promotion, believing she had been put in an unsafe working environment.[38] Spruill later also claimed she did not believe she could ever wrestle again due to the accumulated injuries she had suffered during her career.[39] The lawsuit was settled out of court on March 8, 2013.[40]
In early 2009 Spruill took part in the first season tapings ofWrestlicious, which started airing in March 2010, using the character of Draculetta.[41] She debuted on March 17 in the main event of the third episode ofTakedown, teaming withWhite Magic in a tag team match, where they lost via disqualification to the team of Lacey Von Erich andAmber Lively.[42]
Despite retiring in 2011, in July 2012, she began working as hostess of the newShine Wrestling promotion.[43][44] She held the position until May 2013, when she returned to the role of a manager.[45] Daffney turned heel in July 2015, when she became the manager of the Iron Maidens, sending them to attack various tag teams during matches.[46][47] She also appeared in 2018 inRing of Honor after aWomen of Honor World Championship tournament final betweenSumie Sakai andKelly Klein, congratulating Sakai on her victory.[48]
In 2018, Daffney made what would be her only non-archival WWE appearance when she was in the crowd and acknowledged byMick Foley during hisWWE Network stand-up specialTwenty Years of Hell held at Mr. Smalls Theater inMillvale, Pennsylvania, just outside ofPittsburgh, which was taped on the 20th anniversary of theinfamous Hell in a Cell match that took place in Pittsburgh at theCivic Arena.[49]
Spruill was married to guitaristRich Ward from 1999 until divorcing in 2003.[50] After their divorce, she dated fellow wrestlerCM Punk.[50] Spurill dated independent wrestlerKaleb Konley from 2006 until 2010.[51] She had a close relationship with wrestler Jamie Lynn Senegal, whom she considered her daughter.[52]
On July 19, 2011, Spruill was arrested fordriving under the influence with property damage inHillsborough County, Florida.[53] She pled guilty to the charges, for which she was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $1,580.[54]
In 2012, Spruill was involved in a serious car accident in Florida, and credited herseat belt with saving her life.[55]
In 2003, Spruill was diagnosed withbipolar disorder.[56]
Spruill had surgery in January 2017 to fuse her C-5 and C-6 vertebrae to fix an extrusion that was pressing upon her spinal column. She subsequently wrote that neck surgery was a "rite of passage" for professional wrestlers.[55]
Towards the end of her life, Spruill became vocal aboutconcussions in the professional wrestling industry. In the 2017 bookSisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women's Wrestling, she was quoted as saying concussions had ended her wrestling career and advised other wrestlers to rest after taking a blow to the head.[57] She said the effects the concussions had on her day-to-day life were obvious, such as having to cover windows with blankets because bright lights gave her headaches.[52] In a live video she streamed on the day she died, Spruill said, "I want the future generations to know. Don't do stupid shit like me."[58]
On September 1, 2021, Spruill livestreamed onInstagram and read a suicide note whilst holding what appeared to be a pistol and requesting that her brain be donated forchronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) testing.[59] Concerned fans took to social media to support her, and law enforcement was dispatched to her previous known addresses until her family was able to provide her updated address inNorcross, Georgia.[59] She was found dead at her home at the age of 46.[60] At the request of her family, her death was announced the following day by wrestlerLexie Fyfe.[61] An official for theGwinnett County Medical Examiner's office also confirmed her death, but did not disclose the cause.[62] AGwinnett County Police Department report later revealed that she had died of agunshot wound to the chest,[63][64] and her autopsy results confirmed that the gunshot was self-inflicted.[65] Her brain was subsequently taken toBoston University CTE Center and Brain Bank for analysis,[66] which found evidence of CTE.[67] Her brain was the first female brain to be studied by the institution.[67]
In the days following her death, figures within professional wrestling expressed their condolences and discussed the topic of mental health.USA Today wrote that her death "intensified concerns" within the business, especially among female performers, noting the suicides of wrestlersAshley Massaro andHana Kimura in the preceding two years.[65]Mick Foley andKane posted thesuicide hotline's phone number onTwitter,[68] whilePaige used thehashtag #MentalHealthMatters and Spruill's ex-boyfriendCM Punk wrote, "Ask for help. Mental, physical, spiritual, emotional. Take care of each other."[69] Mike Johnson ofPro Wrestling Insider encouraged industry leaders to make permanent changes regarding mental health care, comparing it to WWE institutingits Wellness Policy after the 2005 death ofEddie Guerrero.[55] While WWE does provide psychological and psychiatric services for contracted performers,Cheerleader Melissa pushed for other promotions to provide services for their wrestlers.[65]
Spruill was cremated and acelebration of life was held in her memory. Among the attendees were family, friends, and professional wrestlers such as Jamie Senegal,Leva Bates,Mia Yim,Courtney Rush,Mickie James,Nick Aldis,Allysin Kay,Marti Belle, andKimber Lee.[70]Awesome Kong dedicated her induction into theImpact Hall of Fame to Spruill on September 18.[71] The following month, Impact dedicated the Monster's Ball match atKnockouts Knockdown to Spruill.[72]
Spruill's life and death were chronicled in a 2025 episode ofDark Side of the Ring.[67]
Spruill gained worldwide recognition when she first arrived in WCW in November 1999 as Daffney, aligning herself with David Flair and Crowbar. Shortly after making a name for herself, Daffney made history in May of 2000 when she became only the second woman to hold the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
Daphne and Crowbar defeated Chris Candido and Tammy Lynn Sytch... Cruiserweight Champion, Daphne, pinned Crowbar
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