Ivory embodied the resurrection of Women’s wrestling in WWE, alongside Chyna, Jackie Gayda, Trish Stratus, Lita or Jacqueline, during The Attitude Era. The 3-time Women’s Champion, as WWE just announced, is the latest inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
She broke into the wrestling business by following a friend to an audition for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the 80s wrestling program that inspired the Netflix show “GLOW.” She was successful and started to train with Mando Guerrero. Competing under the name Tina Ferrari, Ivory captured GLOW’s Championship, defeating Colonel Ninotchka, before leaving the sports-entertainment industry in the early 1990s.
A decade later, in 1999, Ivory signed with WWE and made her very first appearance as one of The Godfather’s “Hos”. In February 1999, she was introduced as Ivory, the love interest of Mark Henry, and acted as a valet for the tag team of Mark Henry and D’Lo Brown. She quickly found her way back to the ring, helping Henry & Brown even the odds against Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart and Debra.
In June 1999, Ivory defeated Debra to capture her first WWE Women’s Championship. She was later dethroned by The Fabulous Moolah, but Ivory quickly rebounded and recaptured the title from the WWE Hall of Famer the week after. Her second title reign ended with a loss to Miss Kitty, in a Four Corners Evening Gownpool match, in December 1999.
In the early days of 2000, Ivory started to portray a more conservative character, aligning herself with the Right to Censor, a group formed by Stevie Richards to disapprove the level of violence and sexual content in WWF programs. He was eventually joined by Bull Buchanan, The Goodfather (formerly known as the Godfather), Val Venis, and Ivory.
She became a 3-time Women’s Champion when she defeated Lita, Jacqueline and Trish Stratus in a Fatal Four-Way match on SmackDown in November 2000. She would eventually retain the title against Lita, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus and Chyna. Back from a neck injury, the Ninth Wonder of the World challenged Ivory for the title once again (she failed to win at Royal Rumble the first time and re-aggravated her neck injury) at WrestleMania X-Seven and defeated Ivory in a short but destructive bout.
After The Right To Censor disbanded, she was involved in various storylines, became the valet of Lance Storm, the love interest of Tajiri while still competing in the women’s division. In early 2002, Ivory served as a trainer in the second series of Tough Enough and was drafted to the SmackDown brand. She entered in a feud with Tough Enough co-winners Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda.
Back on RAW in 2003, she wrestled sporadically but never received a title match opportunity. She also served as a trainer on the third season of Tough Enough and in OVW, WWE’s then-developmental territory. She hosted The WWE Experience with Todd Grisham. But in 2005, Ivory chose not to renew her contract and left WWE.
On January 27, 2016, she appeared on the WWE Network program Table for 3, alongside fellow wrestlers Alundra Blayze and Molly Holly. But for sure, on Friday, April 6, in New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 Week, Ivory will be in New Orleans to become a Hall of Famer, alongside Goldberg and The Dudley Boyz, during the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.