Tammy Lynn Sytch

Sytch started out traveling with her boyfriend Chris Candido to make some extra money.[2] In late 1992, she signed a six-month deal with Smoky Mountain Wrestling. She first appeared onscreen as Tammy Fytch in 1993. She played a villain, who idolized Hillary Clinton. In her first storyline with the company, she threatened to file a sexual discrimination lawsuit due to the lack of prominent positions offered to females. She managed Brian Lee to the Heavyweight Championship and also began accompanying Candido in his matches. By May 1994, she was managing the two men as a tag team, which won the Tag Team Championship from The Rock 'n' Roll Express. Both Sytch and Candido, however, left the promotion in early 1995 for jobs with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[8]

In late 1994, Sytch was contacted by the WWF, and she began appearing as Tamara Murphy, a commentator for "Live Event News" segments during syndicated WWF television shows.[8] One month later, Candido joined the WWF, and the duo began appearing as Sunny and Skip, known collectively as the villainous fitness fanatics, The Bodydonnas.[8][10] Zip later joined the team, and Sunny was in their corner when they won the Tag Team Championship over The Godwinns at WrestleMania XII.[2][8] In 1996, she won Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Manager of the Year Award. She was also AOL's most downloaded woman of that year.[1][10] Weeks later, The Godwinns regained the championship, and Sunny turned on The Bodydonnas in favor of the new champions. She then turned on The Godwinns and helped The Smoking Gunns win the Tag Team Championship. After The Smokin' Gunns lost the title at In Your House 10: Mind Games, she fired them in the middle of the ring.[8]

She spent a short time as the manager of Faarooq Asaad, aiding him in his feud over the Intercontinental Championship with Marc Mero and his valet Sable.[8] Sytch then began acting as host for several WWF television shows, including LiveWire and Shotgun Saturday Night.[8] In addition, she appeared on MTV's Singled Out and Entertainment Tonight. Meanwhile, Candido left the WWF for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and it was not long before she began making guest appearances with him in the promotion. In August 1997, she appeared at ECW's Hardcore Heaven 1997 pay-per-view.[8]

In 1998, Sunny became a face and briefly became the manager for the Legion of Doom 2000, leading them to a win in a Tag Team Championship number one contender battle royal at WrestleMania XIV.[10] Sunny would continue to manage them until she was released in July 1998 amid rumors of backstage problems with Rena "Sable" Mero and an addiction to painkillers, as well as no-showing several appearances.[8]

After being released by the WWF in July 1998, Sytch joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).[11] She made her debut at Heat Wave four days after her WWF release.[8] Now billed as Tammy Lynn Sytch, she assisted Candido in his win over Lance Storm and their subsequent feud.[8][10] By September, Storm introduced his own valet, a parody of Sytch, "Tammy Lynn Bytch", (later known as Dawn Marie). Later that year, amid more rumors of drug use, Sytch and Candido took some time off of television.[8]

When the duo returned, Candido re-aligned with Shane Douglas' Triple Threat, and Sytch began a feud with Douglas's manager Francine. The feud was cut short when Sytch was arrested after violating a restraining order filed by her mother.[8] After a brief tour of Australia, she returned in October 1999 on an episode of ECW on TNN, where she talked openly about her past drug issues and reformation. After a brief feud with Dawn Marie, there were rumors that Sytch had been found passed out in a locker room. Candido and Sytch left the promotion in December 1999.[8]

After appearing in Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) in early 2000, both Sytch and Candido signed on with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Candido debuted in March of that year and Sytch debuted one month later at Spring Stampede, helping him win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a match against The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea. She then feuded with Iaukea's valet Paisley. The short-lived feud came to a conclusion at Slamboree when The Artist and Paisley stripped Tammy's dress off to reveal her undergarments following Candido's singles victory over Iaukea. Sytch and Candido then briefly feuded with Crowbar and Daffney. Candido later dropped the title, which marked the end of the couple's run with the company.[8] As in the past, Sytch's departure was surrounded by rumors of drug abuse.[8]

After being released from WCW, the duo landed in Xtreme Pro Wrestling where she managed Candido to a title (the XPW World Heavyweight Title) once again. Candido and Sytch parted ways with XPW and started touring other independent wrestling promotions. In the spring of 2003, Sytch and Candido moved to Puerto Rico and were set to work for Victor Quinones' International Wrestling Association promotion. Sabu convinced them to work for Carlos Colón's rival World Wrestling Council (WWC) promotion instead. After six months, the couple quit the promotion and headed back to the States. Upon their return to the States, both Sytch and Candido briefly lived with former ECW wrestler Hack Myers in his home in Florida.

After the death of Candido, Sytch became regularly involved in the independent circuit again. Sytch made appearances as a referee for NWS Wrestling in May 2005 and attended a Chris Candido Memorial show on June 4, 2005. Also, Sytch was a part of Hardcore Homecoming on June 10, 2005. She first came out with Johnny Grunge and Pitbull #1 to do a tribute to former ECW wrestlers who had recently died. Among those honored were Candido, Pitbull #2, and Rocco Rock. They were interrupted by Danny Doring and Roadkill, but 911 cleared them out of the ring.

Sytch as a referee in April 2009

During this time period, Sytch appeared at the New Jersey-based NWA Cyberspace promotion. Soon after Sytch's departure from NWA Cyberspace, the New Jersey-based National Wrestling Superstars (NWS) became her new primary wrestling promotion. She appeared on a handful the promotion's shows in the summer, and on June 3, 2006, she managed Lex Luger to victory over Johnny Candido. Prior to the bout, a presentation was held from The Manasquan Elks Lodge to the Chris Candido Memorial Fund. The Elks Lodge donated $500 to the fund, with the money being used towards a scholarship for a Manasquan High School student. In spite of the prior ruling, Sytch returned to NWA Shockwave (formerly NWA Cyberspace) in 2006 as a featured headliner. On December 1, 2006, Sytch was appointed the new commissioner of NWA Shockwave.[12] Immediately following this announcement, Sytch declared all Shockwave championship titles vacant and informed fans that new Heavyweight and Internet Champions would be crowned on January 13.

On December 22, 2007, Sytch won her first championship, the WSU Championship, after defeating the champion Alicia at a Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) show in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey,[1] holding the title until March 21, 2008, when she lost the title to Nikki Roxx in a three-way match that also included Alexa Thatcher. Sytch turned heel at WSU's J-Cup Tournament a day later, when she appeared as the villainous manager for Dawn Marie in her first round match against Becky Bayless, which Bayless won via disqualification.

Sytch made an appearance at a Ring of Honor show on December 29, 2007 held at New York City, seated at ringside during a non-title three-way match where Daizee Haze defeated fellow ROH regulars Lacey, and then-Shimmer Champion Sara Del Rey. Upon the conclusion of the match, Lacey verbally assaulted Sytch and accused her of denigrating women's roles in professional wrestling, which supposedly resulted in women's wrestlers not being taken seriously in the industry. She also threatened to assault Sytch, but Haze made the save on Sytch's behalf. Sytch made a few more appearances for ROH in 2008, where she repeatedly offered her services to Austin Aries but was turned down. On the April 12 ROH show, Larry Sweeney announced that he had opened a "Diva School" and invited Sytch to be the trainer, an offer she said she would consider.

Sytch made an appearance at Dynamite Championship Wrestling's 9 Year Anniversary Event in February 2012. She would be the official Host of the Event. She also made an appearance for Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling on September 14, 2013 at the "Back at It" event in Freeland, Pennsylvania.

A week after being released from jail in October 2018, Sytch announced via Facebook that she would be taking bookings for what she claimed would be her final nine to twelve months of appearances before retiring to a private life.[13]

Sytch made an appearance on the 15th Anniversary of Raw.[14] Sytch, as Sunny, participated at WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009 in the 25-Diva battle royal for the crown of "Miss WrestleMania" but was eliminated by Beth Phoenix.[15] Sytch was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by the entire roster of WWE Divas on April 2, 2011.[16]

In 2012, Sytch was arrested five times in a four-week span, for disorderly conduct, third degree burglary, and three counts of violating a protective order. She was arrested a sixth time in January 2013, also for violating a protective order.[24] Sytch served 114 days in jail and was released in May 2013.[21]

Throughout May and June 2015, Sytch was pulled over and arrested in Pennsylvania three times for DUI. Sytch pled guilty to all three of the main charges with the lesser charges being dropped. During a July 2016 interview with Bill Apter, Sytch said she agreed to plead guilty because she was "blackout drunk" during the arrests and that she did not remember them, stating that it was the worst relapse of her life.[25]

In January 2016, Sytch pled guilty to driving while under suspension.[26] A judge sentenced her to 90 days in jail on August 18, but counted her 97 days in rehab as time served.[27] On September 12, 2016 was rushed to Palmerton Hospital, from her home in Palmerton, Pennsylvania where alcohol was discovered. This led to a charge for violating the parole stemming from her three Pennsylvania DUI cases from 2015.[28] Sytch remained in jail on these charges through her arraignment in January 2017. She was fined $1,496.45 for the remaining charges[29] and was released on February 3, 2017.[30]

While on probation, Sytch was arrested in New Jersey for two DUIs on January 23 and February 2, 2018 and was also charged with fleeing the scene of an accident in relation to the February 2 arrest. After failing to appear in court for either case, she was arrested on February 27, 2018 for two fugitive from justice charges and six counts of contempt of court and was placed in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. While she was being processed it was discovered that she was a fugitive from justice due to her parole from Carbon County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania having been revoked in August 2017.[31][32] Sytch was subsequently extradited to Pennsylvania on March 23 and remained at the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Nesquehoning until she was paroled on October 9, 2018.[33]

A bench warrant was issued for Sytch in Pennsylvania on February 15, 2019 and the Carbon County Probation Department filed a motion to revoke Sytch's October 2018 parole. This was the result of Sytch's failure to continue her payment plan with Pennsylvania to cover the state's legal costs for her case. On February 23, 2019, Sytch was pulled over in Seaside Heights, New Jersey where Seaside Heights police arrested her for driving while intoxicated and other driving offenses. Seaside Heights released Sytch into the custody of the Holmdel Police Department after it was discovered that she still had outstanding warrants in both Holmdel, New Jersey for $1,500 and Knowlton Township, New Jersey for $1,000. She was charged with contempt of court - Disobedience/Resistance of Court Command on both warrants.[34] On March 20, Sytch was extradited from Monmouth County back to Carbon County Correctional Facility to address her Pennsylvania charges.[35] After over a year in prison, Sytch was released on February 25, 2020.[36]