Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Who'll be the next Nitro Girl?
Wrestling-show wannabees pin their hopes on area tryouts
BY JOHN JOHNSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Robbi Spencer of Fairfield became one of the two Cincinnati-area finalists.
(Jeff Swinger photo)
| ZOOM |
|
One is a professional bowler. Another does a nifty Tina Turner impersonation. There's also a stripper in the group, which includes college students and a few former Ben-Gals.
They have this in common: All want to be World Championship Wrestling Nitro Girls.
Twenty-six Nitro Girl wannabes have come to Cincinnati Sports Mall in Fairfax on a Saturday morning. They're in a nationwide competition to win $10,000, appear on cable's TNT on WCW Monday Nitro Live, and perhaps join the Nitro Girls dance team.
“It's really a good gig, because the demands aren't too high,” says Kimberly Page, one of seven Nitro Girls and the group's director. She is speaking by phone the day before the Cincinnati tryouts.
“It's not like working on Riverdance;those people have to rehearse 10 hours a day. We're a fluff piece on a wrestling show, but we're nice fluff, you know?”
Maybe you don't know about the glittery, glamorous Nitro Girls. Know this: Nitro Girls don't wrestle, unless it's with the tight spandex into which they must squeeze their buffed bodies. Rather, they provide the sex appeal that offsets the otherwise rough-and-tumble realm of wrestling.
The Nitro Girls debuted in July 1997 on Monday Nitro, which is televised live from a different city each week. At first they entertained arena crowds with short dance routines during commercial breaks. Eventually they started getting some camera time, and developed a TV following among fans, many of whom are teen-age boys.
Now they've carved their own small but growing niche in the pop culture landscape. They have a pay-per-view special to their credit. A Nitro Girls home video is due out in October. Also next month, Warner Bros. will begin filming a wrestling movie that will include Nitro Girls.
This fall, the search for a new Nitro Girl comes to eight cities — Cincinnati's the third stop — where Monday Nitro is being telecast. Last night the show aired live from Firstar Center.
In Cincinnati, the search begins at Cincinnati Sports Mall. That's where Marcia Martin of Fairfield is watching the young women loosen up on an indoor soccer field. Her 18-year-old daughter, Deshawna, is among them.
When the Martins first heard about the tryouts, they logged onto the World Championship Wrestling Web site (www.WCW.com) and checked out the Nitro Girls.
“I was like, "Deshawna, they're beautiful!' ” Ms. Martin says.
“They all look like models,” her daughter replied, but added: “I'm going to go for it anyway. It'll be fun.”
Out on the floor, auditions manager LaTara Bullock, who also manages the Atlanta Hawks dance team, is giving instructions. “You've got to be able to project,” she says.
She turns the group over to Chuck Maldonado, the choreographer who teaches them a short dance routine.
Not all the young women catch on. In fact, several are completely lost. But this will not doom their chances.
“It's not like we rely completely on talent,” Ms. Bullock says.
Indeed, as Mrs. Page says, “What I'm really looking for more than anything is a look, and a strong sense of style and personality that is communicated on camera.”
Robbi Spencer of Fairfield thinks she has all that.
“After looking on the Internet and seeing what they were really all about, I was like, that is SO me,” she says, laughing. “The excitement. The entertainment. The sex appeal. The crowd. That is me. I'm always looking for a bigger, better deal. No doubt.”
It's a very Nitro thing to say.
The 26-year-old former Miss New Mexico has modeled in Japan this year and has appeared on MTV. She's fluent in Spanish, recently earned her real estate license, and will perform this fall for the dance team of the new Cincinnati Stuff pro basketball team.
“I try things just to see if I can do it,” she says.
She's here with two other Cincinnati Stuff dancers, Keisha Simpson, a 22-year-old University of Cincinnati student living in Mount Auburn; and Robyn Bouldin, a 24-year-old UC graduate from Okeana. All three are former Ben-Gals.
Miss Simpson, born and raised in Cincinnati, is ready for a change of scenery. She hopes the Nitro Girls are her ticket to bigger and better things.
“As long as I'm dancing, and God blesses me with the ability and talent to do it, I'm more than happy to do anything. I just like a challenge.
Miss Bouldin wants to be a Nitro Girl, “because they look awesome! I've never seen a dance team that wore those clothes.”
Nitro Girls must look good in halter tops and form-fitting skirts. The skimpier, Mrs. Page says, the better.
By late morning, auditions at the sports mall are done. Fifteen women make the cut. They will perform later this night at the Waterfront, after which a panel of local judges will whittle the field to two. Then fans logging onto the Internet will choose the Cincinnati regional winner.
The three Cincinnati Stuff dancers survive the first cut, as does Deshawna Martin.
Crystal Sciaretti also is in. She drove here from Pittsburgh with her parents, Bill and Linda, who are capturing much of this day on videotape.
Miss Sciaretti, 21, is a pro bowler with a 209 average. She performs trick jump roping and basketball handling. She's also a huge wrestling fan.
“I grew up watching it with my grandfather,” who died several years ago, she says. “I think he'd be so proud of me right now. It's a dream come true for me.”
Ten hours later, they gather at the Waterfront. Palm trees. A waterfall. Pulsing music. And the Nitro Girl wannabes.
A couple of real, live Nitro Girls are here. Wrestling fans know Vanessa Sanchez by her Nitro name, Tygress. A certified public accountant, she was working as an auditor for a big-time firm until she gave in to her love for dancing.
She's dressed in a hip-hugging light green outfit and stiletto heels. Very Nitro.
She's asked what it takes to be a Nitro Girl.
“You've got to have something special about you,” she says. “No. 1 is personality.”
The 15 young women don't have much time to shine. After a minute or so with the emcee (during which Deshawna Martin is asked to do her Tina Turner impression), they individually strut their stuff in a 30-second dance routine. The judges mark their ballots. And then everyone waits.
Keisha Simpson hears her name called first. Then, it's Robbi Spencer's turn to celebrate. These two finalists were scheduled to appear last night on Monday Nitro from the Firstar Center, and their photos were posted on the WCW Web site.
The results of the Internet voting should be known today. Then either Robbi or Keisha will advance, eventually competing against winners from seven other cities.
“I really, really, really wanted to do this,” Miss Spencer says, moments after she's named a finalist, adding, “I couldn't be happier for Keisha.”
“I'm so happy and blessed,” Miss Simpson says. “This has to be the most awesome day.”
But the most awesome day still awaits. The day someone becomes the new Nitro Girl.
Incident won't stop future street fests
Oktoberfest car crash victims still upbeat
Drought shrinks crops of autumn
Early end to drought unlikely
Suspect faces charges related to woman's death
Kids fare better in school experiment
The vanishing art of home economics
Airport to build garage with 1,550 spaces
Date set for trial in pair's slaying
Four hurt on balcony sue condo owners
Two indicted Monday in unrelated accidents
Mother of twins wrote the book on it
'Once and Again' is a fine show that doesn't happen often
Street fight is over
Who'll be the next Nitro Girl?
Blast may have started Clermont fire
Deerfield hires parks director
Hooker with HIV gets year in jail
Reading focus of reform effort at school
Woman charged in fatal crash
Bond raised for driver in crash that killed two
New Glendale police chief well-rounded
Null Log House restored
Oxford's Southard sets sights on Ohio House seat
Torrid development has Woodlawn folks bragging
Work on Hummer park to start soon
GET TO IT
TRISTATE DIGEST
