The Nitro Girls were formed in 1997 by Kimberly Page at Eric Bischoff's request and made their debut on July 14 in Orlando, Florida. Their main focus was to entertain the live fans during the commercials of Monday Nitro.[1] They also occasionally performed in short segments on the show.
During the Nitro Girls? opening dance routine on the October 7, 1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro from the Target Center in Minneapolis, one of Chae?s nipples accidentally popped out of her top. Cameras immediately cut to a shot of the live audience. This incident is frequently known as the "Nitro Nipple." The Nitro Girls filmed their own pay-per-view that aired in 1999.
In late 1999, the group held a competition to find a new member.[1][2] In November, Stacy Keibler defeated 300 other girls for a spot on the dance troupe and $10,000.[2] Her winning routine was watched by 4.4 million viewers.[2]
The Nitro Girls also made appearances at WCW promotional events and were featured in the WCW produced film Ready to Rumble. As the group became more and more involved in storylines, it slowly dissolved, but never officially broke up until 2001 when WCW was sold to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation.
Involvement in storylines
When Kimberly Page, the group's founder quit as a result of being stalked by a wrestler, the heel and face Nitro Girls began to feud.[2] Spice feuded with A.C. Jazz over the new leadership position and won.[2] After Jazz left the group, Tygress attempted to gain control.[2]
Diversity 5
Several former Nitro Girls formed a pop music group called Diversity 5: Teri Byrne (Fyre), Melissa Bellin (Spice), Sharmell Sullivan (Storm), Chae An (Chae) and Vanessa Sanchez (Tygress). When Sharmell went to the WWF for the first time, Chiquita Anderson (Chiquita) replaced her. The D5 group released one cd single (I Promise/Shake Me Up) in 2001, but by the following year the group bottomed out when they appeared on the Fox reality show "30 seconds to fame" on Oct 31 2002 and were promptly voted off.
Members
Nitro Girl
Given name
Years
AC Jazz
Amy Crawford
1997-1999
Born April 1, 1971 in Douglasville, Georgia was a graduate of Jacksonville State University and was a cheerleader for the Atlanta Falcons for two years before joining the dance team. One of the original members of the Nitro Girls, Crawford initially handling the dance team's choreography and costume design. Crawford left the company due to disagreements with WCW management and her role was eventually taken over by Tygress. She subsequently returned to run a dance company.[2]
Singh competed in the women's division in WCW from 1999-2000 and made a couple appearances with the Nitro Girls as "Nitro Girl Beef" for comedic relief. [3][4]
Born March 2, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , Macklin graduated from Temple University with a degree in Psychology. She debuted in WCW in 1999 as a member of the Nitro Girls dance squad, under the name Chameleon.[6] She occasionally accompanied Chris Kanyon (during his "Champagne" Chris Kanyon gimmick) to the ring as his valet with Nitro Girl Baby. In 2000, she left the Nitro Girls and became the valet for Ernest Miller as Ms. Jones. She would dance along with Miller in his post match dance routine. She also acted as Miller's assistant when he was WCW Commissioner.[6] She and Miller defeated Major Gunns and Lance Storm in a mixed tag team match in her only wrestling match on the December 18th edition of "Nitro." She was last seen taking a "Buff Blockbuster" from Buff Bagwell.[6] She was cut shortly afterward, when WCW made a decision to release most of the valets. After leaving WCW she became an actress and appeared in her first movie, Love & Orgasms, in 2003.
Born on February 28, 1971, after leaving the group, she began a career as a country singer.[2] Tayo Reed started entertaining as a singer at Six Flags Over Georgia, performing in the Shake, Rattle, & Soul Show. She was then chosen to be a cheerleader for the Atlanta Falcons and a dancer for the Atlanta Hawks. Tayo also opened Tayo Reed's International Academy of Dance in Riverdale, Georgia.
Born June 16, 1977, Rebecca joined WCW's Nitro Girls as Whisper in October 1997.[9] Her signature move was to put a finger to her lips at the end of each routine, in keeping with the name "Whisper". She left WCW in 1999 to marry World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Shawn Michaels and did not return.[10] She and Michaels have one son, Cameron Kade, born January 5, 2000 and a daughter, Cheyenne Michelle, born on August 19, 2004. Rebecca has appeared various times on WWE programming from WrestleMania 22 to most recently No Way Out 2009.
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