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| HUNTER TAKES AIM |
Richard Luck |
Former nWo girl and Playboy pinup April Hunter talks her globetrotting career and career-ending injuries
If you were brave enough to endure the dying days of WCW you might remember that, with the company starting to collapse, new elements were added to the product to spike fan interest. These included the hiring of Kiss and Megadeth to play mini gigs and paying Master P a fortune to curry favour with the hip-hop crowd. And then there was
backstage producer Terry Taylor’s decision to add a bunch of hot fitness models to the roster.
This being the same company that had no problem handing the World Title to David Arquette, it’ll come as no surprise that WCW had little idea what to do with these delectable ladies. In the end they’d spend most of their time standing around looking awkward while Scott Steiner cut the promos that were part of his jakked-up horny guy “gimmick”.
Midajah, Tylene Buck, Pamela Paulshock – you might remember the names but you probably don’t recall their actual contributions to the grappling game. And while most of the Taylor-hired talents would ultimately pursue careers away from the ring, April Hunter embraced wrestling with a fierce passion.
Brought to WCW on the strength of a Playboy spread, the successful model gave both her time and her body to the industry, training with the mighty Killer Kowalski and forming a breakthrough women’s tag-team with Nikki Roxx (TNA’s Roxxi Laveaux). Coming into wrestling at a time when TNA was a job description rather than a federation, April Hunter had a hard time convincing promoters that she was for real. But now, as a back injury forces her to tap out one last time, no one can deny her sizeable contribution to the business.
In pledging to keep working as a valet even as she announces her in-ring retirement, April demonstrates a remarkable fidelity to what is often a cruel partner. If we dealt in cheap clichés, we might say that this is a woman with a lot of front. But such is the intelligence that emerges under questioning that it’s preferable to say that April Hunter has plenty upstairs…
FSM: You took a slightly non-conventional route into the wrestling business. Were you a fan growing up?
April Hunter: Sad to say, no I wasn’t. I know that sounds odd, but I grew up watching the UFC and Karate, so I was more that type of fight fan. I couldn’t relate to wrestling’s neon spandex and the screaming interviews, but I later learned to appreciate some of it. Well, not the screaming, but the spandex ain’t so bad.
FSM: It’s an occupational hazard, for sure. What do you remember about Terry Taylor bringing you into WCW?
AH: Terry was great, but the thing I remember most was getting hired and then WCW having nothing for us. I travelled with them for a while before appearing on TV, and I couldn’t understand why they were paying for my flight and hotel just to have me – well, us, since there quite a few girls hired at the same time – sit around and stare at each other. I’d have figured when they hired someone, they’d actually have a spot in mind for them. But it was my first taste of how ridiculous the wrestling business really can be.
FSM: Some of the other girls who hooked up with WCW around that time were Tylene Buck, Pamela Paulshock and Midajah. Did you all get along okay or was there a competitive atmosphere?
AH: We got along and travelled together. Usually I drove, since most of our bookings were on the East Coast and I was the only girl from that side of the USA, so I knew the highway entrances and roads better. Later, Tylene became a bit weird – maybe she thought she was a bit bigger than wrestling or something – but other than that we all got along well.
FSM: In terms of guys thinking highly of themselves, what was it like being affiliated with the nWo – was everybody good to you?
AH: It wasn’t bad at all. The guys were fine towards me. I never had any problems, ribs or over-the-top flirtations – it was just fun. The only time there was a snafu was with The Nasty Boys, who got offended over some backstage skit we all did at the time calling them “fat”. But they eventually got over it.
FSM: You mentioned travelling with WCW – what was your average week like when you were working there?
AH: Well, here’s my schedule for WCW: Sunday morning I’d leave for the airport because I was on the West Coast. With the time change, I flew all day and night – I’d usually have a layover in Cleveland, then I’d get to my destination around 1am. WCW never really played in big cities, so we’d land and have another hour or three to drive out to somewhere.
In the morning, our check-in was 1 or 2pm. I’d do that, then hit the stairs or do laps around the venue for a workout. Then it’d be catering, makeup, pre-tapes and Nitro. Around 11pm we’d leave and drive two to three hours to the next city, get a hotel, then repeat. I’d stay up all night because my flight out was at 5:30am, so I’d return the rental car and check in around 4am, and then I’d fly home. I didn’t have to do the house shows, so I had Wednesday afternoon until Sunday morning at home – I was usually at the gym doing cardio when Thunder aired.
FSM: You spent a brief time with TNA. How was your experience there?
AH: Well, I wasn’t really “with” TNA – I just had a series of matches while it was in Nashville. It seemed to be basically the same people, just less organised. They’d offered me a contract verbally, then became impossible to get a hold of when it came time to move forward. I’d learned that they signed Trinity instead and were holding off on any more females at the time.
FSM: Obviously that’s changed recently. What do you make of the TNA Knockouts division?
AH: I don’t really follow TNA at the moment. I know Traci Brooks, ODB, Jacqueline, Kong and Gail are there – I think any one of those girls could do some real damage.
FSM: Someone else who could do real damage is the great Killer Kowalski. What was it like training under him, and who else was he coaching when you were there?
AH: I couldn’t have picked a better school. Killer’s since closed up shop, so I was among his final classes. I think I realised how great training there was after I started doing shows – I knew how to protect myself, protect others, stand out and wrestle. Killer was not shy about standing up and screaming, “Hey, stupid!” at you if you kept screwing something up. After about a year there I got Nikki Roxx to join. She was dating one of the guys I trained with and was there every day. She was just itching to get in the ring but she didn’t have the money to pay for lessons.
I convinced Walter that she could flyer the local shows and WWE events when they were in town in exchange for training. So, finally, there was another girl to work with! Eddie Edwards, who just started with ROH, was also there, as was Sumie Sakai and John Walters. I was offered a WWE developmental contract right before the school closed. It’s a long story, and doesn’t involve money, but I turned it down – it seemed the right thing to do at the time. I sometimes wonder now how that would have turned out…
FSM: It must have been tough making the transition from being a valet to becoming in-ring performer. Did working the indy circuit help you make the adjustment?
AH: I was never given a chance at first! Most promoters just saw the boobs and figured I couldn’t wrestle, so they wouldn’t let me in their ring. It took me going to TNA and getting my ass handed to me by Ms TNA Bruce (Alan Funk) on pay-per-view before I could get booked as a wrestler – for which I’d been training over a year already.
But working the indies is something every wrestler should do – working overseas, too. You’ll learn more from the indies and travelling than you ever will training and working your local federation once a month. Not to mention, it’s instant respect among your peers as it proves that you’re serious about this – and you’ll “see and be seen”.
FSM: Do you think people have forgotten the important role that valets can play in professional wrestling?
AH: Yeah, I think they have. A good valet or manager can make a match so much more interesting; they can add such a level of suspense, drama and interest that you might not get otherwise. I don’t believe there are enough good managers out there, but I think that’s because the business went the way of using untrained eye candy at ringside instead of real managers, which makes most girls just a fifth ringpost with a nice rack. If you could get both, then you’d be onto something, huh? I always thought I was a better manager than wrestler.
FSM: You mentioned Nikki Roxx, who you later tagged with as The Killer Babes. Was that a fun time in your life?
AH: Loved it! I’d worked in Japan and saw that most girls, while they worked singles matches, also worked as tag teams in full tag regalia. I stole that idea and brought it home, but we had two big hurdles to overcome: 1) we were the first American female tag team, so there weren’t any others to work, and 2) most promoters were too cheap to pay two girls, let alone four! So we did what we could, but we hit a wall.
When Nikki was offered full-time singles work in Mexico and I was offered a tour in Europe, we had to say “yes”. It became too hard to book us as a team when our schedules were all over the place. We did reunite in Mexico as a tag team, though. One of my favourite matches was when we took part in an all-male tag team tournament and made it to the finals. We faced the Outcast Killers in the end and they were great to work with – very hard hitting, yet professional.
FSM: Obviously you’ve wrestled all over the world and worked for any number of promotions. Do you have a favourite country to work in and a preferred organisation to wrestle for?
AH: I have a few. I adore working in France for Queens Of Chaos. Germany, for German Stampede, is a lot of fun and the fans absolutely love hard-hitting women’s matches. A To Z in Japan is another favourite, as is PWX in Ontario.
FSM: Who’s really impressed you during your time in the wrestling business?
AH: Jeez, I’ve come across a lot of really good, often overlooked talents – certainly as far as WWE scouting goes. To name a few: Wesna, Ares, JD Michaels, Steve Douglas, Homicide, Pac, Doug Williams, M-Dogg 20, Lacey, Jazzy Bi, Minx, James Mason, Cody Deaner, Tiana Ringer, Sara Del Rey… there’s more, but I’ll probably run out of room here! I see a lot of amazing talent on the minor leagues, but I also see a lot of shit.
FSM: With all these memories, good and bad, what do you remember about the day you decided to retire – does the decision still hurt?
AH: It wasn’t so much a decision as it was a conclusion. I just was in too much pain doing day-to-day things, and knew that getting in the ring and taking falls wasn’t an option any longer. Yes, it definitely hurt – in more ways than one. I spent a year trying to get better and not saying anything about it. I felt that I’d spent the last eight years trying to attain something and it was all done. Then you think, in that same amount of time, I could have had a medical degree and all my discs intact. But I try not to think about that too much…
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 25 of FSM – available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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