Daffney
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Daffney |
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| Personal | |
| Also known as | Daffney Unger, Lucy, Lucy Furr, Shark Girl, Shannon, The Governor, Draculetta |
| Born | July 17, 1975 Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden, Hesse, West Germany |
| Years active | 1999-Present |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Nationality | American |
| Body | |
| Boobs | Enhanced |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Weight | 130 lb (59 kg) |
| Body type | Slim |
| Hair | Black |
| Databases | |
| IMDb | |
Shannon Claire Spruill (born July 17, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and valet. She is best known for her appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1999 and 2001 under the ring name Daffney and for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she used the ring name The Governor, a caricature of Alaska governor and former United States Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, before returning to her Daffney ring name and gimmick.
Early life
A "military brat", Spruill was born on the Wiesbaden Army Airfield, a United States Air Force base in Wiesbaden, West Germany where her father was stationed. In 1976 the family returned to the United States, residing first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Savannah, Georgia and finally on the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. They later relocated to Oxford in the United Kingdom for three years, before moving to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany until 1987, when her father, by then a Lieutenant Colonel, retired.
Spruill graduated from Georgia State University in March 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Video production, with minors in Acting and Music. She went on to work in Media Production before becoming an actress.
Professional wrestling career
World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)
In November 1999, she responded to a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) contest looking to acquire new talent and was hired. In WCW, Spruill played Daffney, the mentally deranged, besotted girlfriend of David Flair, managing him and Crowbar. One of Daffney's hallmarks was a high piercing scream when she was lurking at ringside. The gimmick was based in part on Mallory Knox, the character played by Juliette Lewis in the film Natural Born Killers. Spruill has cited Batman supervillainess Harley Quinn as the original inspiration for the character. Spruill's first appearance was on the December 6 episode of Nitro, when she was shown sitting on her bed and chanting Flair's name.
On May 15, 2000 Daffney and Crowbar defeated WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Chris Candido and his girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch in a mixed tag team match and were declared co-champions. The following week on the May 22 episode of Nitro, Crowbar and Daffney faced one another to determine the undisputed World Cruiserweight Champion. Crowbar held back during the match, but still dominated the smaller Daffney. After Candido entered the ring and hit Crowbar with a reverse piledriver, Spruill inadvertently pinned him while trying to revive him and thus became the second woman ever to hold the Cruiserweight Championship. Her reign lasted until June 7 when Lieutenant Loco pinned Disco Inferno in a three-way title defense while Daffney was hurt following interference from Miss Hancock. Daffney went on to feud with Hancock, who had stolen the affections of Flair. Daffney defeated Hancock in the promotion's first ever Wedding Gown match after Hancock removed her own dress. Daffney then became solely the valet for Crowbar. She had a brief feud with Shane Douglas's valet, Torrie Wilson, but was rarely used as a wrestler.
Daffney was notable for her constantly changing hair color, wide selection of T-Shirts with slogans on them, and her propensity to scream loudly and shrilly for no apparent reason. She began screaming at the suggestion of WCW writer Ed Ferrara. Though Spruill's somewhat gothic character earned her a small but loyal fan base, she was released by WCW on February 2, 2001 due to budget cutbacks (WCW itself was purchased by its rival, the World Wrestling Federation, a month later)
