| The Kat | |
|---|---|
 Carter in 2010 | |
| Birth name | Stacy Lee Carter |
| Born | (1970-09-29)September 29, 1970 (age 54)[1][2] West Memphis, Arkansas, U.S.[3] |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Family | Brian Lawler (ex-stepson) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Kat[3] Lovely Stacy Miss Kitty[3] Stacy[3] Stacy Carter[3] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 106 lb (48 kg)[3] |
| Trained by | Al Snow[3][4] Ivory[3][4] Triple H[3][4] Terry Golden[4] |
| Debut | 1998[3] |
| Retired | 2011[3] |
Stacy Lee Carter (born September 29, 1970) is an American retiredprofessional wrestlingvalet andprofessional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in theWorld Wrestling Federation from August 1999 to February 2001 under thering namesMiss Kitty andThe Kat, where she held theWWF Women's Championship once.
Carter was introduced to professional wrestling by her then-partner,Jerry Lawler. She made her wrestling debut on April 18, 1998 inJonesboro, Arkansas forPower Pro Wrestling.[5]
Carter first appeared on World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s flagship program,Raw is War, on August 23, 1999. She debuted as Miss Kitty, an assistant toDebra, appointed to her byJeff Jarrett, whom Debra managed.[6] The partnership ended when Jarrett left the company after losing theIntercontinental Championship toChyna atNo Mercy.[6][7] Because Jarrett was departing the company after the match, Miss Kitty began managing Chyna,[7] and then started dressing in 'Chyna-like' clothing and wearing a black wig.[6]
AtArmageddon in December 1999, Miss Kitty won her onlyWWF Women's Championship in aFour CornersEvening Gown Pool match by defeating then-championIvory,Jacqueline, and Barbara "BB" Bush by stripping them of their gowns.[8] Thespecial guest referees wereThe Fabulous Moolah andMae Young.[9] After the match, Miss Kitty stripped out of her dress in celebration and quicklyflashed the crowd her breasts.[8][10] The following evening, she announced before successfully defending her title in a thong in a Chocolate Pudding Match against Tori that she was changing her name to The Kat. The Kat then appeared at theRoyal Rumble in the 'Miss Royal Rumble Swimsuit Contest', where she appeared in a bikini made out ofbubble wrap.[11] The contest, however, was won by Mae Young.[11] She lost the Championship on the January 31 edition ofRaw toHervina in aLumberjill Snowbunny match, a match that took place in a snow filled pool surrounded by female wrestlers whose purpose was to keep The Kat and Hervina from leaving the pool.[12]
The Kat then began an on-screen rivalry withTerri Runnels, although neither were fully trained wrestlers. AtWrestleMania 2000, Runnels (accompanied by The Fabulous Moolah) defeated The Kat (with Mae Young) in acatfight.Val Venis was the special guest referee, but he was distracted during the match when Young kissed him, which allowed Moolah to pull The Kat out of the ring. When Venis saw her out of the ring, he declared Runnels the winner.[13] Post-match, The Kat attacked Runnels by stripping off her pants to expose her thong.[13] The feud continued, and the duo had anarm wrestling match atInsurrextion.[14] The Kat was victorious, but after the match, Runnels pulled The Kat's top off, exposing her breasts,[14] which The Kat allowed.[14] The two women continued to feud throughout the summer, often in mixed tag matches. In June 2000, The Kat attempted to regain the Women's Championship by entering in the first-ever women's battle royal to become the #1 contender, which also featured the likes ofLita,Jacqueline andIvory, but was eliminated by her rival Terri. The feud resurfaced in a 'Thong Stink Face' match atSummerSlam, which The Kat won by performing astinkface on Runnels.[15][16] She would at times team up withJerry Lawler,Rikishi andAl Snow in mix tag matches against Terri withDean Malenko andPerry Saturn.
In early 2001, The Kat began a new storyline with a stable called "Right to Censor", a group of wrestlers purportedly wanting to rein in the vulgarity of the "Attitude Era," during which she demanded equal time for the "right for nudity".[10][17] During this time, The Kat also began competing in WWF's various developmental territories against the likes ofVictoria,Molly Holly,Jasmine St. Claire andCynthia Lynch. AtNo Way Out,Jerry Lawler, who was representing The Kat, lost a match toSteven Richards, the head of the stable, after The Kat mistakenly hit Lawler with the Women's Championship belt.[17] As a result of Lawler losing the match, she was forced to join the stable.
On February 27, 2001, The Kat was abruptly released from the WWF in the middle of the Right to Censor storyline.[18] As a result, her husband Jerry Lawler also quit the company.[17][19] According to Lawler, The Kat was released from the WWF becauseVince McMahon decided to end the angle with the Right to Censor.[20] Other insiders cite The Kat's negative backstage attitude as the reason for her dismissal.[21] In 2021, Professional wrestling commentator and WWE Hall of FamerJim Ross stated that the reason for The Kat's departure from the WWF was "based on what the writers said, she was too hard to work with. So, they caught Vince on a day when he was not in a really great mood, apparently. I got called in Vince‘s office, 'I want her gone.' 'What?' 'I want her gone today.'" So, you know, that’s where your job becomes very challenging and Vince McMahon’s word was final”.[22]
After Carter and Lawler left the World Wrestling Federation, they worked various independent wrestling events.[18] She retired from wrestling in 2001. They also signed with Tri-Star Productions and worked atMemphis Championship Wrestling.[18]
Carter made her debut for Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA) on June 5, 2010 at theTWA Homecoming event inPlymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, where she teamed up with Demolition (Ax and Smash) in a winning effort defeating Sheeta and The Nigerian Nightmares (Maifu and Saifu) in a 6-person mixed-tag team match.[5] Carter made her debut for Stranglehold Wrestling (SHW) on August 26, 2010 at theStranglehold Devils Playground Tour inOshawa, Ontario, Canada, where she competed in an Arm-Wrestling match against Pissed off Pete in a no-contest. Later that event, Carter accompied Sinn Bohdi to the ring where he competed against George Terzis.[5] Her last match was teaming with Sinn Bohdi defeating Massive Damage and Sexy Samantha at Future Stars of Wrestling (FSW) in Las, Vegas on April 18, 2011.[5]
In 2015, Carter was featured as a guest in WWE's documentary titledGood To Be The King: The Jerry Lawler Story, which featured her ex-husbandJerry Lawler.[23] In the same year, she also appeared in an episode ofThe WWE List, a digital series that aired on WWE.com.[24]
Carter's family was originally fromWest Memphis, Arkansas.[1] After her parents divorced, Carter's mother moved toMemphis, Tennessee.[1] Stacy Carter, however, as well as her younger brother and sister, continued to live with their father, who worked as a policeman, in Arkansas.[1] Carter moved to Memphis to live with her mother, Cathy, after graduating from high school.[1]
Carter met Jerry Lawler, her future husband, at a charity softball game at Treadwell High School in Memphis on July 23, 1989, two months before her nineteenth birthday.[1][2] She was attending the game with her mother, who was dating one of the players on the team for which Lawler also played.[1] Lawler, however, was married at the time, and he claims that when he initially met Carter, he considered an affair.[1] After Lawler separated from his wife, Carter moved in with him.[1] When Carter first met Lawler, she was working as a bank teller.[1] Lawler later helped her get a job at a photography studio, and she also opened and ran her own hair salon.[1] Carter was less than sixteen months older than Lawler's sonBrian.
Lawler and Carter married in September 2000.[25] While they were together, former professional wrestlerMissy Hyatt offered Carter $10,000 to pose nude on her website, but Carter refused the offer.[26] Carter decided to leave Lawler in July 2001, and they separated not long after.[27] She left professional wrestling upon separating from Jerry Lawler. She worked in the field of real estate inLee County, Florida forCentury 21 Real Estate for some time after the divorce.[28]
Carter and professional wrestlerNick Cvjetkovich announced their engagement on June 12, 2010.[29] Cvjetkovich and Carter were married in St. Petersburg Florida July 29, 2010 on the beach in front of many family and friends. Stevan Cvjetkovich (Nicholas' younger brother) andEdge both stood as best men.Jimmy Hart gave Carter away in the ceremony.[30] They divorced in 2013.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Man on the Moon | Lawler's Girlfriend | Uncredited |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | WWF No Mercy | Video game debut | [31] |
| WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role | — | [32] |
