Black History Month In Wrestling Spotlight: Jazz

Daily DDT is taking the month of February to look at Black professional wrestlers that are overlooked for their contributions. Jazz stands out as a name that deserves more recognition for what she’s done in women’s wrestling.

The professional wrestling industry serves a wide range of demographics. Within that, it’s important to review and respect the contributions of those made across various groups.

February is recognized as Black History Month, so its this time that Daily DDT is using to look at some of the more under-appreciated men and women from this group in the industry. When thinking about Black women in professional wrestling, there’s one name that doesn’t come up enough, but deserve more respect is Jazz.

It’s been nearly 13 years since Jazz’s WWE run ended, but that portion of her career would perhaps be just the starting point of what has made her so integral to the industry; especially during the continued emergence of women’s wrestling.

Jazz is a multiple-time champion across organizations such as the WWE, NWA and others. Throughout this time, she’s interacted with some of the biggest names in the industry across generations.

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Her match listing on CageMatch boasts a slew of names that wrestling fans will recognize as both popular today and those that were popular years ago. Penelope Ford, Jordynne Grace, Victoria and Molly Holly are just examples to how Jazz’s legacy spans eras across professional wrestling.

Look back at some of the accolades across Jazz’s career. She held the NWA Women’s title from September 16, 2016 until April 22, 2019. That is a whopping 948 days as champion. In fact, she’s known for lengthy title reigns. She held the NWA Cyberspace Women’s title for 494 days and the WSU Tag Team titles for 202 days.

When she was a part of the WWE roster, she held that title for 98 days as a monster, powerful heel. What was important about her time in the WWE was that she played a strong foil to Trish Status and Lita during their rise to fame. While Jazz may never be included In the Hall of Fame like Stratus and Lita, she deserves praise for what she accomplished and how she built up others around her.

All Elite Wrestling recently included Jazz in their Women’s Casino Battle Royal at All Out back in August. That promotion would greatly benefit from bringing Jazz in as another established wrestler to help the developing women’s division. It’s one of the areas the promotion has received constant criticism and while she will not be the end all, be all solution; Jazz is a step that would help long-term growth for the younger women on the roster.

There are hundreds of professional wrestlers that are overlooked for their contributions to the industry. This is even more prevalent when looking at minority groups such as women. Jazz is an individual that deserves praise for her time in the industry. A career that even at 46-years old, is continuing strong today.