So Cal Val: Setting a prime example
- By JONATHON SAWICKI
SLAM! Wrestling, 2006
So Cal Val has been helping out
at Florida wrestling shows as a manager,
ring girl and timekeeper for four years
now, but it's only now that she is 19
years old that it's legal.
It's a bizarre circumstance that makes
her laugh today.
"I was under-age and I've actually done
shows before ... with different people
who have had their shows in bars," she
explained to SLAM! Wrestling at Full Impact
Pro's Florida Rumble show in December.
"I was kind of worried about like 'Oh
Val can stay back here.' or 'She's fine.'
and I'm 19 now but I still am [worried].
That's was kind of weird but I don't remember
there being problems about that at the
time because I knew most of the people
there. I knew Steve Corino and people
like that so I was able to not have to
worry about it too much."
She portrays a "rich heiress" on the apron,
which is based off Stephanie McMahon's
character, who is rich and prissy. One
would think that So Cal Val wouldn't get
anywhere with this gimmick as many have
tried -- and failed.
"Growing up I really liked quite a few
people such as Trish Stratus, but Steph
[McMahon] was the one that I really admired,"
So Cal Val said on what pointed her towards
using the gimmick. "A whole bunch of different
people have tried to use this character
and it just didn't work. The right person
has to do it."
And with that character/gimmick, it's
been quite a run in the still-young life
of Valerie Elizabeth Wyndham. Originally
from Beverly Hills -- hence the So Cal
Val moniker -- she has been practically
everywhere: NWA Florida, FIP, TNA, PWG,
MLW, WEW ....
Partially the reason for working in all
of those promotions was her constant moving.
"I move a lot, I know," So Cal Val laughed.
"I started out in California, moved to
Florida, back to California and now I'm
here in Florida once again but I think
I'm going to stay here."
Promotions like PWG are located in California
and promotions like the now-defunct NWA
Florida are located in the Sunshine State.
"Working for NWA Florida was great --
just like PWG. Their locker room is groomed
to be professional because a lot of the
guys from there end up going to WWE,"
So Cal Val said of the promotion where
she managed "The Black Nature Boy" Scoot
Andrews. "And with Ron Niemi as the promoter,
that added to the experience. He was never
in a dull moment."
The ecstatic manager even made a brief
appearance in the place everybody in the
business wants to be -- World Wrestling
Entertainment.
"That was a really amazing opportunity,"
So Cal Val said of the backstage skit
that she did with Luther Reigns on WWE
SmackDown! in early 2005. "It was just
neat to see how they work and how their
promos are filmed and how they do business.
So it was pretty neat and I had a good
experience with the WWE."
During that time, she was doing ring girl
work with TNA but did not receive any
flack whatsoever.
"At that point I hadn't been doing ring
girl for very long but no, nothing was
said. I know some of the wrestlers saw
it and talked to me about it, but no bad
feelings at all," she said. "And the cool
thing from doing that is that some of
the wrestlers in WWE noticed me from TNA
and I thought that was pretty cool. ...
it proved that the WWE wrestlers watch
TNA and that the TNA wrestlers watch WWE.
We all are watching wrestling, be it one
company or another."
So Cal Val has been sitting in the crowd
ever since Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
came to Orlando but only started with
the company in January 2005. She is the
ring girl and can be seen throwing out
T-shirts during intermission, and also
models merchandise on TNA's official website.
There's also an ad for Morphoplex with
her that will begin airing soon on TNA
broadcasts.
Yet she isn't a long-term, hardcore fan.
"Wrestling wasn't really part of my childhood,
I passed by the room and saw it on TV
and that caught my eye," she said. "It
was more the storylines than the athleticism
because growing up I had no brothers so
I didn't really watch sports and that's
what grew me into the storyline aspect
of it rather then the wrestling part."
So Cal Val made her debut on a Goldenstate
Championship Wrestling show in Anaheim,
California in March 2002. Since then,
the long-legged 5-foot-7 model has done
everything she could, from wrestling to
refereeing to managing to ringing the
bell.
One of her first big breaks came working
for the Philadelphia-based Women's Extreme
Wrestling. "I've been with WEW for about
two or so years, it's been quite a while,"
So Cal Val said. "My role there has changed
ever since I got there because I started
out as the executive to Francine and then
we had our feud and I became General Manager.
And then most recently on PPV, she beat
me in a Kiss My Foot match and she became
the General Manager again. So now I'm
a free agent and I'm just hanging around,
but I am still feuding with her pretty
much."
She was also a regular on Florida's now-defunct
Major League Wrestling shows.
"Chris Hero and I are still mourning the
loss of MLW," she said with a laugh. Unlike
many people, So Cal Val did not have any
trouble with MLW honcho Court Bauer.
"He really gave me the opportunity and
was able to talk to me in-depth about
the character I was going to portray and
most promoters won't do that," she said.
"He gave me the opportunity to do ring
girl and then again just because you kind
of wanted to see how I was. Corino told
him about me and just wanted to show Bauer
how I would do in front of a crowd like
that," Val said on working for MLW. "My
first reaction of Court was great. He
was always very polite to me at the shows
and always said hi, always very nice."
Epic Pro Wrestling is one of the first
promotions that Val performed for. "It
actually reminded me of MLW because the
rosters were similar," she said of the
promotion that had wrestlers such as Jerry
Lynn, Christopher Daniels and Trent Acid
on the very first show. "That was awesome
because the first wrestling show for a
city usually isn't big, you usually just
see the local talent on there pretty much."
At the Full Impact Pro show, So Cal Val
managed The Heartbreak Express, and her
charges retained their tag team titles.
"So Cal Val is a heck of a valet, she's
a heck of a manager and she's a heck of
a person," Superstar Sean from The Heartbreak
Express said. "She's one of the few women
in the business that has the brains to
go along with the looks. You know, she
actually cares about wrestling and she's
not just out there for her own glory and
for a stepping stone to something else.
She loves it, she lives it, she breathes
it, she sleeps it and she eats it."
Fabulous Phil, the other half of the reigning
and defending FIP Tag Team Champions,
has a similar perspective on the 19-year
old So Cal Val. "She wrestles all over
Florida with a lot of the guys and stuff
like that and she showed up at FIP a while
ago and Gabe [Sapolsky] is like 'Oh I
have the perfect girl for you, she fits
your gimmick.' We didn't need a manager,
we just needed somebody who fit our gimmick,"
Fabulous Phil said. "I think she's great
and she's still learning and she'd never
be with two guys like us so you know it's
a work. I've known her since she got into
the business and she's really cool."
When So Cal Val told SLAM! Wrestling about
her popular commentary on ProWrestling.com,
that's when we learned that what she does
on the ring apron is indeed what she does
for a living.
"It's cool because you're always hearing
from the guys and not a lot of the women,
especially a young girl like me," Val
said of her commentary on the wrestling
news site. "And I do this for a living,
so that adds to it. Like, I don't have
a day job or anything like that. This
is how I get my paycheques."
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