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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Sapphire vs. Fandango

Photos courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I've kept relatively quiet on the subject of Wrestlemania debuts until now.  I'm only writing about it now because the WWE made the acknowlegement on the April 15th episode of Raw.  Jerry "The King" Lawler was in the ring preparing to interview Fandango.  In his introduction, Lawler said there's never been a superstar to make his wrestling debut at Wrestlemania and win, which is what Fandango did at Wrestlemania 29.

Technically speaking, I suppose Lawler is right.  He said HIS debut.  However, I would like to make a point of order.  Back on April 1, 1990, Sapphire made her WWF wrestling debut at Wrestlemania 6.  She and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes teamed up to defeat "Sensational" Queen Sherri and "Macho King" Randy Savage.  In fact, "Sweet" Sapphire pinned the former WWF women's champ to win the match for her team.

Sapphire, Dusty Rhodes, & Elizabeth
Wrestlemania 6
Photo courtesy: WWE
Sapphire's time in the ring was short, with her leaving the WWF later that year, after she aligned with "The Million Dollar Man"Ted DiBiase.  But in fairness, she made her in ring wrestling debut at the grandest stage of them all, some 23 years ago.

Obviously, non-wrestlers like Lawrence Taylor, Snooki, and William Perry all made their "wrestling" debuts at Mania as well, but these were all one shot deals.

Of course I think the future of Fandango is much brighter than the one Sapphire ended up having.  But honestly, I just wanted to point this factoid out and get it off my chest.


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