School of Really Hard Knocks - A Night in the Life of Ultimate University
by: Steve Lowery

(Note : This is not the full article. Only parts featuring Jenny have been included.)

Like Bell, everyone does double duty. The ring announcer, Peter Doyle, is also UPW’s PR man. Brett "The Big Schwag" Wagner, who does commentary during the matches, is the school’s administrator. Sacha Bryant, who wrestles as Savvy, used to dance professionally, so she choreographs the dancing girls. Jenny Lane, who wrestles as Looney, is in charge of photography. Her boyfriend, Chris, writes the shows as well as handles taped interviews.

As the Kid is leaving, Savvy and Looney—the latter dressed like a Catholic schoolgirl gone bad—are headed onstage, accompanying "Who’s Your Daddy" Dempsey. Each is excited because they won’t just be acting as valets (those who escort the fighters into the ring)—tonight they’ll end up tussling themselves. This is an "angle," something that appears unplanned and spontaneous and extends the storyline. Wrestling women have become much more popular on the big circuits. Perhaps after having been inundated with 300-pound dudes, audiences appreciate the grace of young, powerful women in the ring. That, or maybe people just like to watch hot chicks whuppin’ ass. Whatever: the popularity has filtered down, so much so that Bassman believes his female students—and there are several—have an even better chance of making the circuit than their male counterparts. In fact, tonight he’ll announce that one of them, Caryn Mower, who wrestles as Carnidge, has just been signed by the WWF. He’ll call Mower into the ring to be congratulated by the WWF’s female champion, Ivory. Ivory will hug her and offer to let her hold Ivory’s WWF championship belt. When Mower reaches for it, Ivory—who was only faking!—draws back and belts Mower with it. Welcome to the big time.

For Bryant and Lane, wrestling is not a lark or a way to earn a shot at NFL cheerleading. In fact, each recently got a tryout with the WWF. They really want to do this, and each is uniquely qualified. Bryant’s background as a gymnast and a dancer makes her a natural for many of her moves in the ring. She’s 5-foot-6, 110 pounds, and finds wrestling more demanding than anything else she’s done athletically or professionally. Right now what she does professionally is substitute teach. True to the made-for-TV movie her story seems destined to become, she keeps her wrestling a secret from anyone in school. "Almost every day, I’ll hear the boys talking about wrestlers or moves, and yeah, there are times I want to jump in and say, ‘No, that guy isn’t any good’ or, ‘This is how you do that,’" she says. "But I know I can’t. So I just listen and smile to myself."

Like Bassman—who, when he was growing up in the Valley, looked forward to the days his father would take him to matches at the Grand Olympic Auditorium—Lane has always loved wrestling. She counts meeting superstar Sean Michaels as one of the great thrills of her life. "It’s just something about kicking butt," she says, her right hand pumping like a hatchet in the manner of dictators or wrestling managers. Bassman met Lane a few months ago when he was beginning to put on the shows in the gym. In front of 35 people, Lane "was in the front row jumping up and down and getting everyone into it. I said, ‘Get that girl.’ I told her she had to be in the show." That’s all she needed to hear.