World Championship Wrestling (1988–1991) Runnels was originally a make-up artist for
CNN from 1985 to 1991, where she worked on
Larry King's make-up. When the company was purchased by
Ted Turner in 1988 and renamed
World Championship Wrestling (WCW), she moved to
Atlanta and continued doing make-up for some of the wrestlers. Later,
Brian Pillman feuded with Goldust over Marlena. As part of the
angle, Pillman won Marlena in a match and sent Goldust a picture of her handcuffed in a bed. Pillman, however, died in the middle of the storyline. She later joined forces with
Jacqueline Moore, who had just ended her alliance with
Marc Mero, to form the Pretty Mean Sisters (P.M.S.). In January, Runnels claimed to have suffered a miscarriage after she was knocked off the ring apron by Brown. P.M.S. gained a "love slave" named
Meat in May, whom Runnels controlled using sex. As a part of the storyline, P.M.S. used Meat for his body, forcing him to have sex with them. The Hardy Boyz won the tournament, which culminated in a
ladder match at
No Mercy (with the prize money suspended above the ring in a bag). Runnels spent the next few months as their manager, notably getting involved in a Steel Cage match between Jeff Hardy and
Al Snow on an episode of
RAW. She continued interfering in matches until she was injured when
Bubba Ray Dudley powerbombed her through a table. She then became the manager of Edge and Christian, and the storyline originally called for her to come between the duo, resulting in them becoming singles wrestlers with Runnels managing
Christian. The storyline, however, was rewritten, and on an episode of
SmackDown!, Edge and Christian—who would now continue wrestling as a tag team—revealed they no longer wanted Runnels' services. Val Venis was the Special Guest Referee, but was distracted when Young kissed him in response to Venis making out with both Runnels and The Kat. They later participated in a "
Stink Face match" at
SummerSlam, which The Kat won by first performing the move on Runnels. On June 8, 2000, she competed in the first ever women's battle royal to determine the #1 contender to the
WWF Women's Championship, but was eliminated by
Lita. Runnels subsequently became the onscreen girlfriend and manager of
Perry Saturn, who was a member of The Radicalz alliance. She accompanied Saturn to the ring at
Fully Loaded in July 2000, where Saturn defeated
Eddie Guerrero for the
European Championship. Saturn, Runnels, and Radicalz member
Dean Malenko also had a series of matches with
Team Xtreme (The Hardy Boyz and
Lita). The on-screen partnership lasted until Saturn, who had hit his head during a match, opted to continue seeing "Moppy" (a
mop he believed was alive) instead of Runnels. As a result, she then became the manager of
Raven, a member of
The Alliance, who stole Saturn's mop and fed it into a
woodchipper. During this time, she also became the backstage interviewer on
Raw and began to wrestle occasionally against the likes of
Molly Holly,
Victoria and Stratus. She also became the subject of
Kane's affections and they regularly flirted during backstage segments. On May 27, 2002, she briefly held the perpetually contested
Hardcore Championship when she pinned
Steven Richards, though he immediately pinned her to regain the title. On the August 19 episode of
RAW,
Eric Bischoff placed her a battle royal featuring former Hardcore champions such as
Tommy Dreamer,
Bradshaw and
Jeff Hardy. She eliminated herself immediately when the match began. On the September 2 edition of
RAW she defeated Stacy Keibler in a "Lingerie pillow fight", but was hit with a clock by Keibler and humiliated after the match, thus igniting a brief feud between the two. Her final match was a losing effort alongside the returning
Lita against divas Molly Holly and
Gail Kim on the November 10 edition of
Raw.
Return to WWE (2018) On January 22, 2018, in the
Raw 25 Years special episode, Runnels was honored as part of a segment involving women considered legends that contributed to the company's success, including
Maryse,
Kelly Kelly,
Lilian Garcia,
Michelle McCool,
Maria Kanellis and the
Hall of Famers Torrie Wilson,
the Bella Twins,
Jacqueline and
Trish Stratus. In 2021, Runnels was listed by WWE.com as one of the women who made an impact outside the ring. == Other Media ==