After dropping out of college, Begnaud was approached about starting a career as a professional wrestler and joined a wrestling school in Louisiana.[3] She was originally inspired to be a wrestler when she saw Jacqueline Moore perform.[5] Begnaud trained with Rod Price for six to eight months,[3] and she later made her professional wrestling debut in a match against Moore.[3]
Following her debut in the company, Jazz began her first rivalry with then-Women's Champion Trish Stratus as on the January 14, episode of Raw, Jazz received a push as she defeated Jacqueline to become the number one contender to Stratus' Women's title.[10] Jazz received her championship match against Trish at the Royal Rumblepay-per-view, where she was unsuccessful in capturing the title,[11] however, on the February 4, 2002 episode of Raw, Jazz defeated Stratus to win the Women's Championship for the first time.[12] On March 17, at WrestleMania X8, Jazz successfully defended her title against Lita and Trish Stratus in a triple–threat match.[13]
On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment, subsequently renaming the title to the WWE Women's Championship, as a result, Jazz became the last woman to hold the Women's title under the WWF banner and the first to hold it under the WWE banner. On the April 29, episode of Raw, Jazz challenged Bubba Ray Dudley for the Hardcore Championship, although didn't win the championship, she successfully helped Stevie Richards to capture it.[14] On the May 6, episode of Raw, Jazz was helped by Richards to retain her title against Trish Stratus, after knocking her with a superkick, after the match, Bubba Ray attacked both Steven and Jazz to try regain his title although multiple superstars started competing for it changing simultaneously from holders like Raven, Justin Credible, Crash, Trish Stratus and finally regained to Richard after being helped by Jazz,[15] however, due to a torn ACL in her knee, Jazz dropped her title to Stratus in a hardcore-Rules match the following week on the May 13, episode of Raw. Post-match, she was attacked by both Bubba Ray and Stratus as he performed an aided superbomb through a table on her.[16]
Jazz made her return on the January 27, 2003 episode of Raw, viciously attacking Trish Stratus after a Chicago Street Fight for Victoria's Women's Championship, in which Stratus was defeated.[17] She made her return in–ring action on the February 10 episode of Raw, defeating Molly Holly in a singles match.[18]
Jazz involved herself in the feud between Stratus and Victoria upon her return. She immediately took out Stratus and dominated in matches against Molly Holly and Jacqueline. She competed in a triple threat match for the Women's Championship at WrestleMania XIX against Stratus and Victoria, but Stratus walked away with the title. During this time, she took on the managerial services of Theodore Long, which led to another Women's Championship reign after defeating Stratus at Backlash.[19] She had another successful title defence at Judgment Day in a Fatal Four-Way Match involving Stratus, Victoria and Jacqueline. However, she lost the title in a battle royal to Gail Kim on June 30.[20][21] During the match, Jazz had sustained a chipped and dislocated shoulder and needed several weeks to rehabilitate.[5] She returned from injury in early 2004,[5] but was used sparingly. Later that year, she became manager and valet for her real-life husband Rodney Mack. She was released from WWE in November 2004 due to the creative department's lack of ideas for her character.[3][8]
Independent circuit (2005–2006)
From January 16, 2005, she started working on the independent circuit and appeared at the unofficial ECW reunion show, Hardcore Homecoming. In late 2005, Jazz and Rodney Mack opened Dirtysouth Championship Wrestling, an independent promotion based in Louisiana. Jazz also performed in Women's Extreme Wrestling, where she won the company's World Heavyweight Championship in May 2005 in a Fatal Four M'enage Quatro match against Angel Orsini, Mercedes Martinez, and Simply Luscious when the previous champion, Tai "Killer Weed", was forced to relinquish the title due to an injury. While still WEW champion, on June 24, 2005, Jazz defeated April Hunter to win the NWA Cyberspace Women's Championship.
In 2006, Jazz and Mack renamed DCW to Downsouth Championship Wrestling. Soon after the promotion's name change, Jazz won her promotion's Louisiana State Championship. Later that month on June 24, she participated in ChickFight V and debuted in All Pro Wrestling.[22]
WWE brief return (2006)
In 2006, Begnaud was one of several Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni to be returning to WWE for a limited amount of time. Jazz made her first appearance in WWE since 2004 as part of the new ECW during the WWE vs. ECW Head-to-Head show on June 7, where she faced then-Women's ChampionMickie James in a losing effort.[23] Jazz, however, did not continue an on-screen role in the brand and only made a few appearances at ECW house shows, which marked her last appearances with WWE. On January 18, 2007, Jazz was again released by WWE.[24]
Women Superstars Uncensored (2007–2011)
In May 2007, Jazz and Rodney Mack were booked by the Queens of Chaos promotion in France. In late 2009, Jazz debuted for Women Superstars Uncensored in New Jersey, defeating Angel Orsini. On March 6, 2010, at the Third Year Anniversary show, Jazz was inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame along with Dawn Marie and Molly Holly.[25] At the same event, Jazz unsuccessfully challenged Amber O'Neal to become the No.1 contender for the WSU Championship.[26] She continued to compete with the company and with National Wrestling Superstars, where she teamed with former ECW star Balls Mahoney in a tournament. In 2010, Jazz won WSU's third Uncensored Rumble to earn a shot at Mercedes Martinez's WSU Championship. Mercedes defeated Jazz in the main event of WSU's inaugural internet pay-per-view, "Breaking Barriers", on November 5, 2010. Jazz was defeated by Alicia at WSU's four year anniversary show on March 5, 2011. However, later that same night, she offered herself as the mystery partner of WSU Tag Team Champion Marti Belle, whose partner, Tina San Antonio, was injured in the week prior. Marti Belle and Jazz defeated Amy Lee and Cindy Rogers and The Soul Sisters (Jana and Latasha) to become the "new" WSU Tag Team Champions, giving Jazz her first Tag Team Championships. Jazz, Belle, and Tina would be able to defend the belts under the "Freebird rule" where any two of the three could compete. Marti and Tina would lose the belts before Jazz was able to have a defense. Jazz was scheduled for a rematch but had to pull out due to personal reasons.
Shine Wrestling (2012–2013; 2014)
On July 21, 2012, Jazz took part at the inaugural Shine Wrestling event Shine 1 where she was awarded the Legacy Award from Diva Dirt, a women's wrestling website.[27] During receiving the award, Jazz was interrupted by Mercedes Martinez.[27] At the event, Jazz defeated Sara Del Rey in the main event.[27] Following the events of Shine 1, Jazz faced Martinez on August 17 in the main event of Shine 2, which ended in no–contest.[28] After defeating Rain on September 21 at Shine 3, it was announced that Jazz will challenge the then-Shimmer ChampionSaraya Knight for the title at Shine 4.[29] On October 19, at Shine 4, Jazz suffered her first lost at Shine against Knight, after an interference from Martinez and Rain.[30] On November 16, at Shine 5, Jazz teamed with Amazing Kong, where they defeated Martinez and Rain at the main event, ending Jazz feud with Martinez and Rain in the process.[31]
On April 19, 2013, at Shine 9, Jazz defeated Ivelisse in a Shine Championship tournament qualifying match, however, Jazz never entered the tournament for undisclosed reasons, as this match was her last appearance on Shine.[32] On April 4, 2014, at WWNLive's A Wrestling Odyssey event, Jazz unsuccessfully challenged Ivelisse for the Shine Championship.[33]
Chikara (2016)
Jazz in April 2014
On September 2, 2016, Jazz made her debut for Chikara, when she entered the 2016 King of Trios tournament as part of Team Original Divas Revolution, alongside Victoria and Mickie James. They defeated Team Shimmer (Candice LeRae, Crazy Mary Dobson, and Solo Darling) in their first round match.[34] The following day, Team Original Divas Revolution was eliminated from the tournament by The Warriors Three (Oleg the Usurper, Princess KimberLee, and ThunderFrog).[35]
Jazz held the SWE Fury Women's Title until August when she dropped the title to Miranda Gordy. Then in September she formally retired from SWE Fury and became the very first SWE Fury Hall Of Famer. She was presented the award by James Beard and Teddy Long in San Antonio, TX.
Impact Wrestling (2020–2021)
Despite being retired, on the November 24, 2020 episode of Impact!, Jazz made her debut on Impact Wrestling as she revealed to team with Jordynne Grace in the Impact Knockouts Tag Team ChampionshipTournament since she would like to retire on top of her career, by winning the title with Grace.[45] They would defeat Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle in the first round[46] but were eliminated on the second round by Havok and Nevaeh.[47] After a lost against Grace at Genesis,[48] they faced the Tag Team Champions Fire N Flava at Sacrifice, where they were defeated. Her final match with Impact Wrestling took place at Hardcore Justice, where she faced Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts Championship in a title vs career match.[49] After a farewell segment on the April 15th edition of Impact!, she began to work as a manager for Grace and her new partner, Rachael Ellering.
In high school, Carlene played basketball.[8] She also had a basketball scholarship in college until a knee injury ended her basketball career.[5][3] She later dropped out of college to work.[3]
Carlene is married to Rodney Begnaud, who also competed as Rodney Mack in WWE.[8] They live together in Lafayette, Louisiana on 25 acres (100,000m2) of land.[5][3] The couple welcomed twin girls named Summer and Skye in November 2008.[50]
She owns a fitness gym, which according to her is to "keep the youth off the streets and keep them positive."[8] She also runs a wrestling school with her husband called The Dog Pound.[51]
In July 2016, she was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[52] The lawsuit was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[53]
Carlene has criticised WWE's marketing, claiming they undermarketed her and other wrestlers of color:[54]
My situation with them is I was upset because the whole time I was there, they never gave me an action figure. The people of color were treated a little differently. They didn’t market me. I made myself. They gave me the platform to go out there but I got over on my own. There was no action figure, never on a poster, that’s the shit I was upset about. But, it’s all good. I still thank them for the opportunity because without them, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now. I don’t hate them. I just want to be treated fairly.
Amy Christine Dumas is an American retired professional wrestler and singer. She is best known for her tenure in WWE. She was also the lead singer of the band, The Luchagors. She is often regarded as one of the greatest female performers in WWE history.
Lisa Marie Varon is a retired American professional wrestler, fitness competitor and bodybuilder. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, under the ring name Victoria. She is also known for her time in Impact Wrestling, under the ring name Tara. Varon held both companies women's championships on several occasions.
Torrie Anne Wilson is an American model, former fitness competitor and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment.
Throughout its history, women have served in various onscreen roles in the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. In the 1990s, WWE introduced the term Diva to refer to its female performers, including wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers.
Nora Kristina Benshoof is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE as a producer and part-time wrestler, under the ring name Molly Holly. She is also known for her tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Miss Madness and Mona from 1999 to 2000.
Lisa Mary Moretti is an American retired professional wrestler, teacher and coach. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she is a three-time WWE Women’s Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
The WWE Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The company claims a lineage that dates back to September 18, 1956, when The Fabulous Moolah became the third NWA World Women's Champion. WWE did not exist at that time, but they claim 1956 for the championship's establishment and do not recognize any title changes from when Moolah became champion until she lost it in 1984. Prior to Moolah losing the championship, she sold the rights to the title to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and it became the WWF Women's Championship, which would again be renamed in 2002 to WWE Women's Championship when the WWF was renamed to WWE. With the company claiming a lineage beginning in 1956, it made the Women's Championship the oldest active professional wrestling championship in WWE until its retirement in 2010 after it was unified with the WWE Divas Championship, which briefly became known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship. The final champion was Layla.
The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules. In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was implemented allowing anyone to challenge the champion at any place or time, provided a referee was present. It is considered one of the most defining titles of the Attitude Era. It was established on November 2, 1998, with Mankind as the inaugural champion. In 2002, it was unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship by Rob Van Dam, the final Hardcore Champion.
Jacqueline DeLois Moore is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. She is best known for her time in WWE from 1998 to 2004, where she became the first African American WWE Cruiserweight champion as well as being one of three women to hold the championship. She also worked for World Championship Wrestling in 1997–98 and later Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a wrestler, manager, and road agent.
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler and model. She is best known for her time with WWE under the ring name Melina. Outside of WWE, Perez most recently wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
Tamara Lynn Sytch, commonly known by her ring name Sunny, is an American former professional wrestling personality.
Mickie Laree James is an American professional wrestler and country singer. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, Impact Wrestling and National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
Patricia Anne Stratigeas, better known by the ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand. A member of the WWE Hall of Fame, Stratus was ranked the greatest women's superstar of all time by WWE. Stratus's 448-day reign as WWE Women's Champion stands as the longest reign of any women's champion in the 21st century.
The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling world championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's WWE Women's Championship.
Allysin Kay is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where she was a former NWA World Women's Tag Team champion. She is also a one-time NWA World Women's Champion. She has also worked for Impact Wrestling under the ring name Sienna, being a two-time TNA/Impact Knockouts Champion and one-time GFW Women's Champion. She also wrestles on the independent circuit in the United States and Canada.
Martibel Payano is an Dominican-American professional wrestler, best known working under the ring name Marti Belle. She is best known for her time with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where she was a former NWA World Women's Tag Team Champion. She also competes on the American independent circuit under the ring name for promotions including Evolve, Shimmer Women Athletes, Shine Wrestling and Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU), for which she is a former WSU Spirit Champion and a two–time WSU Tag Team Champion.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several women's championships since 1983, when the World Wrestling Federation established the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. One year later, the WWF bought the NWA Women's Championship and renamed it the WWF Women's Championship, establishing their first women's world championship. Although the title preceded the company's creation, the WWF claimed a lineage that began in 1956. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate women's championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
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