Eye Of The Tygress (WOW Magazine - September 2000)
by Bill "Wonderful Willie" Apter

   Vanessa Sanchez's dancing dream has taken her from behind a desk and into
the WCW ring.

   It's not often you find a woman who is the perfect blend of beauty and
brains. Vanessa Sanchez is blessed with both of these qualities. In an
exclusive interview with WOW Editor-in-Chief Bill Apter, Sanchez describes
the unusual twists in the road during a career transition from a successful
certified public accountant to the very hot and sexy character named Tygress
in World Championship Wrestling.

   Sanchez seemed destined for a career in entertainment. She got her start
dancing at a very early age, however, she opted out of the entertainment
field for a seat at a desk as an accountant. It was by luck and by chance
that she got her shot in WCW.

Dancing Queen

   "My mom had me take dance lessons starting when I was two years old. By
the time I was 16, I was doing some professional dancing with bands, in
clubs, sometimes with DJs at weddings and bar mitzvahs. I did all that from
the hokey pokey dance to the limbo. We did choreographed dancing during
dinners and stuff like that. I also danced in some videos, like on MTV, but
with no people you would really know.

Accounting For Her Actions

   "I left New York after high school and enrolled at Atlanta's Oglethorpe
University, where I studied accounting. I did this rather than just go into
performing arts as I saw so many artists struggle so much and go bankrupt. I
saw so many horror stories of show business growing up, and my family was
involved in a real business. They owned a television rental business, and I
helped them with the accounting part of it and liked it. I went with a stable
thing as opposed to the arts. Well, while I was there I started my own dance
company, so I was still involved in dance at that point. We performed at
basketball games and did an annual dance show.

   "When I got out of college, I ended up getting a job with J.W. Maniott in
Atlanta as an assistant controller for maybe two years. Finally, I passed the
CPA exam and went to work for Deloitte and Touche - a major, international
accounting firm - in Atlanta. I liked the work even though it was like 60
hours a week, but I missed dancing.

Nearing Nitro

   "I started taking dance classes again, and some of the teachers and
students started asking me, 'Whom do you dance for?' I told them, 'Nobody,
but maybe I should be dancing for somebody.'

   "I was fortunate enough that Deloitte and Touche let me work out a
different schedule. I was off during the summer months, so I was able to
pursue dancing and acting. I made a huge amount of contacts through dance
classes, people who are in the business and recommend you for various things.
I started doing some video work and background dancing for some musical acts
like this Chino performer named Inoj. She had a big hit with a 1960s song,
'Ring My Bell.'

   "In dance class one day I overheard the dance instructor telling somebody
that WCW was looking for another Nitro Girl. I didn't follow wrestling at
all, but the Nitro Girls had a great reputation in Atlanta as being the best
dance job to have because it's full time. The thought of being able to do
what I loved to do, dance, on a full-time basis was just very appealing to
me no matter what it was.

Planting The Nitro Girl Seed

   "I knew one of the Nitro Girls, Melissa Bellin, who is Spice. She and I
were involved in a fashion show and a video before I even auditioned to be
a Nitro Girl. Since I heard the news about a new Nitro Girl opening, I kept
calling her until she was able to get me an audition. On June 1, 1998, I
officially became a Nitro Girl. So at the end of the summer I told my boss I
was leaving to join a traveling wrestling show."

New Girl In Town

   "When I came in, there were Spice, AC Jazz, Fyre, Kimberly, Chae and
Whisper. I was the replacement for a girl called Tao. I don't know what their
reaction was to me initially, but I was just totally shocked being there. I
was raised in a corporate environment very straight laced, very politically
correct - but it is not that way back here. It took me quite a while to
become totally adjusted.

   "Was I accepted right away? I had my defenses up. I just didn't know at
first whom to trust, but now it's like we are all family. We are together
every week. I am still super close to Spice, and I have developed a great
friendship with Paisley, who is formerly Nitro Girl Storm. She and I also
knew each other before the Nitro Girl thing through our dance contacts. Even
though Fyre is not with the company, we still talk pretty regularly. What was
nice is that all the egos were pretty much in check. No matter what you hear,
nobody tried to be bigger or better than anyone else. Everyone in the group
was always committed to making the group the best that it could be. We saw
the potential and saw how many avenues we could be utilized in by the
company."

Getting Filthy

   "I'm not a Nitro Girl now. I left the group in May 2000, but the group
now is a really great, kick-ass group. They dance their asses off. Now I'm
with the Filthy Animals: Konnan, Juvi (Guerrera), Disco Inferno and Rey
Mysterio Jr. I play Rey Mysterio's girlfriend on the show. He is my 'honey
bunny!' It has been lots of fun, and I'm very excited about the new job. I
guess they picked me to be in the Filthy Animals because my look just kind
of fits with that group. [The Filthy Animals are all] Hispanic guys, and I'm
a Hispanic girl. They needed somebody who could play a bad-ass girl. They
think I can do the job, and it's kind of a look thing."

   Fans can find more information, pictures and news about Vanessa "Tygress"
Sanchez at her official web site, www.vanessasanchez.com, or at wcw.com.