Jim Ross on Trying to Find Things For Sunny to Do in 1997, Her Appeal to Fans and Starting the Diva Era

– On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed how WWE was looking for ways to put Sunny on TV in 1997 around the time of In Your House: Badd Blood. Sunny was at the time one of the most popular women around, being AOL’s most downloaded women of 1996. WWE, trying to capitalize on her popularity, had her manage a succession of teams and appear as a host in various capacities. Badd Blood saw her and Ross hold a ceremony to honor legends of the St. Louis Wrestling Club.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On finding things for Sunny to do during the era: “Yeah, trying to, trying to figure it out. Especially her, referring to Sunny, because she was such a downloaded entity. And at that time, being the most downloaded person on AOL was a big deal. I’m sure it’d probably still be a big deal. So yeah, and the way she looked, and her unique presentation. She certainly wasn’t Moolah. She was a star female that didn’t look like any of the other star females that preceded her. And so yeah, you try to find something for her to do. And Tammy probably had a little too much knowledge of the business. Because she could be very discerning with her creativity. I’m not so sure that she wouldn’t have been really good on the booking committee, she was very smart. But yeah, trying to find something for her to do was there.”

On Sunny’s appeal to the audience: “It’s like, go back and look at [Steve] Austin. They came to see Austin Stun somebody and drink beer, and hopefully say something on the mic. Sunny, much the same way in the sense that they came to see her body, and her cleavage, and her butt and all the other sexy things that you get from that deal. And she really started the glamour run of these women on WWE television. And so she had a big role in that deal, so seeing how she was promoted and how she got over was another historical thing, another element on this Badd Blood show that was very meaningful. One of the many things that was very meaningful.”

On Sunny kicking off the Diva era of WWE: “We knew that if we could find women with the aptitude and had sex appeal and some athleticism, obviously, that they could be in those Sunny/Sable type roles. Which is totally unlike what you’re seeing now with Charlotte and some of these cats on WWE, or Dr. Britt Baker in AEW or whatever the case may be. It’s just a different ballgame, and different entity. But we knew that our male demographic by and large enjoyed seeing sexy, powerful women. And Sunny, in that era and that point in time, represented exactly that. She was a star that needed more work.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.