Terri Poch
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| Terri Poch | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Taylor Made Terri Power Tori The Black Ninja |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Billed weight | 140 lb (64 kg) |
| Born | August 20, 1967 Portland, Oregon |
| Trained by | Brad Rheingans |
| Debut | 1988 |
| Retired | 2001 |
Terri Poch (born August 20, 1967) is an American bodybuilder and former professional wrestler, best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Tori.
She currently owns and runs a yoga studio in Portland.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Poch debuted in 1988 as "Taylor Made", a valet for Scotty the Body in Portland's Pacific Northwest Wrestling. She joined the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association in 1990 as "Terri Power", and on February 23, 1992 at Super Ladies Showdown in Rochester, Minnesota in the Mayo Civic Center she defeated Lady X for the LPWA Championship. She was never defeated for the title, as the LPWA ceased operations shortly after her victory. She also teamed with Reggie Bennett during their mutual stint with the short-lived organization.
In the summer of 1992, Poch began wrestling for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. She competed in the Japan Grand Prix, finishing ninth, and the Fuji Network Tag Team Tournament (with Kyoko Inoue as her partner). She remained in Japan until 1993, when she took a hiatus from wrestling.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation (1998–2001)
[edit] 1998–1999
In the autumn of 1998, she was hired by the WWF. She debuted on the December 28 episode of Raw is War entering the ring before a match to hand Sable a yellow rose. She continued in becoming an obsessed fan over the next few weeks, constantly at ringside during Sable's matches. At the Royal Rumble, she helped Sable defeat Luna Vachon in a Strap match. She later introduced herself as "Tori" and tried to gain the respect of Sable, who continually degraded and humiliated her. This led to Tori challenging Sable to a match for the WWF Women's Championship at WrestleMania XV. Tori was defeated following interference from Sable's debuting bodyguard, Nicole Bass. Tori feuded with then-heel, Jacqueline in April and May 1999 and then began pursuing then–heel, Ivory's Women's Championship in July. After Ivory defeated Tori at SummerSlam, their feud became more and more heated, leading to the first ever WWF women's Hardcore match on the September 6, 1999 edition of Raw. Ivory retained her title once more in a match which involved Tori having a mirror smashed over her head and being burnt with an iron. On September 26, Tori attempted to gain a measure of retribution by attacking Ivory during a match, but instead was pushed into a crate by Ivory.
Tori returned in November, teaming with Mae Young, The Fabulous Moolah, and Debra to defeat Ivory, Luna, Terri Runnels, and Jacqueline at Survivor Series. She also became the girlfriend of Kane. This led to a short feud between Kane and Viscera after Viscera repeatedly made unwelcome advances toward Tori.
On December 16, Tori complained to then–heels, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon about then–babyface Kane, by now feuding with his former tag team partner X–Pac, an ally of Triple H, being placed in a Handicap match. Stephanie retorted by challenging Tori to a match that night, which she accepted. Stephanie, however, replaced herself with X–Pac, who defeated Tori with ease as Kane was ambushed backstage by the Mean Street Posse. Kane received a shot at the WWF Championship on December 20 but with the stipulation that, if he lost to incumbent Big Show, Tori would have to spend the Christmas weekend with X–Pac. Kane lost after the New Age Outlaws distracted him. Tori insisted upon her return, however, that X–Pac had been a perfect gentleman.
[edit] 2000
Around the same time, Tori began to become paranoid, and grew hysterical after then-babyface, Test hugged her. Kane promptly destroyed Test in the ring, believing Tori's claims that he had harassed her. Kane, however, remained a face during that time. Other wrestlers began to exploit Tori's neuroticism, using it to unleash Kane on their enemies. This included Mankind, who manipulated the duo into attacking a fake Mankind hired by Triple H.
Kane continued to feud with X–Pac, and on January 27 he was ambushed in the ring by the McMahon–Helmsley Faction, X–Pac's allies. After tying Kane up, X–Pac revealed that Tori was now with him. Tori turned heel, joining the faction and accompanying X–Pac and his partner Road Dogg to the ring. She helped X–Pac defeat Kane at No Way Out, but he was beaten by Kane in their last match at WrestleMania 2000. Tori continued to help X–Pac and Road Dogg, as well as helping Stephanie McMahon retain the WWF Women's Championship in a match with Lita. The faction began feuding with the Dudley Boyz, and Tori used a diving splash to drive Bubba Ray Dudley through a table on June 12. Bubba Ray gained revenge at King of the Ring, where he powerbombed Tori through a table.
Poch was sidelined with a torn labrum on June 24. She underwent surgery with Dr. James Andrews. On October 30, Tori returned for one night, confronting and slapping X–Pac for failing to protect her.
[edit] 2001
Poch returned in January 2001 as The Black Ninja, a masked, anonymous figure wearing a black bodysuit who helped Raven retain the Hardcore Championship, attacking his opponents and acting as a getaway driver. Raven's Hardcore title feud with Crash Holly, led to a feud between The Ninja and Crash's onscreen cousin Molly Holly. Holly finally unmasked the ninja on the March 11 episode of Sunday Night HeatT, revealing her to be Tori. Subsequently, Poch was removed from television.
After working as a trainer on WWF Tough Enough throughout the summer of 2001, Poch was released by the WWF in September 2001. At the time, she made accusations about Scott Levy, claiming he had verbally abused her. WWF road agent Gerald Brisco and Executive Vice President of Talent Relations Jim Ross claimed, however, that these allegations were not true.
She subsequently retired from wrestling to concentrate on her career as a yogini.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Tori–Plex (Snap fallaway powerbomb)
- Backslide pin
- Diving crossbody
- Dropkick
- Hair pull snapmare
- Scoop powerslam
- Snap DDT
- Snap suplex, sometimes from the second rope
- Spear
- Various martial arts kicks
- Wrestlers managed by Poch
- Nicknames
- The Ultimate Female
- Entrance themes
- "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic (LPWA)
- "The Power" by Snap! (LPWA)
- "Full Out" (WWF)
- "The Kings" by Run–D.M.C. (WWF)
