Dawn Marie (born November 3, 1970) is an American nurse and retired
professional wrestler,
professional wrestling valet, and actress. She is perhaps best known for her appearances with
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the
SmackDown! brand of
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under her wrestling ring name
Dawn Marie. She signed a deal with ECW after what was supposed to be a three-week stint. She managed
The Impact Players and
Simon and Swinger until ECW's bankruptcy in 2001. In 1998, Psaltis was informed that Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) employee
Buh Buh Ray Dudley was interested in bringing her into ECW. At the behest of Dudley, Psaltis traveled to the
ECW Arena in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, where ECW promoter
Paul Heyman told her that he would
book her for several appearances in an
angle with
Lance Storm.
[5] She debuted in ECW on August 28, 1998, as the manager of Storm,
feuding with
Chris Candido and his manager,
Tammy Lynn Sytch. Although she was only supposed to have a three-week role in the company, Heyman was impressed by the chemistry between Psaltis and Storm and offered her a contract, which she accepted. Psaltis created her character to be in love with Storm and clumsy rather than glamorous. Storm and Psaltis feuded with Candido and Sytch for several months, during which time Psaltis was renamed "Tammy Lynn Bytch" to spite Candido and his manager. After the respective feuds ended, she used the ring name "Dawn Marie Bytch," which was eventually shortened to simply Dawn Marie. After Storm formed a tag team with
Justin Credible known as the Impact Players in the summer of 1999, she managed both men,
[3] helping them win the
ECW Tag Team Championship on two occasions. Psaltis continued to manage Storm until he left ECW for
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in May 2000. Psaltis was also offered a contract by WCW, but declined to leave ECW in order to remain with her fiancé, ECW wrestler Simon Diamond.
[7] She also had two years left on her ECW contract.
Storm then departed ECW, and Psaltis became a
color commentator on ECW pay-per-views and the television series
ECW on TNN. On December 3, 2000, at the
Massacre on 34th Street pay-per-view, as part of a new angle, she announced that she would become the manager of the winner of the opening match pitting Simon Diamond and
Swinger against
Christian York and
Joey Matthews. EPIC BURIAL OF FRANCINE IN THIS SHOOT , Part 2 coming up