SUNNY DAYS
Tragic rise and fall of WWE legend Sunny who spiralled down from ‘wrestling’s first ever diva’ to porn, drugs and prison
TAMMY Sytch has been jailed for 17 years for her involvement in a deadly car crash - but a ludicrous career once saw her as one of the most idolised women in WWE.
Sunny, as she was commonly known, gained mainstream fame after bursting onto the wrestling scene in the late 1990s.
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Sytch, 50, was convicted on November 27, 2023 of her connection to a horror crash that killed a 75-year-old man in Florida on March 25, 2022.
She slammed into the back of Julian Lasseter's car, which then smashed into other cars in Ormond Beach, leading to multiple casualties.
Lasseter died of his injuries after the crash and Sytch later pleaded no contest to the counts levelled against her - including driving under the influence causing death.
The 50-year-old had a blood alcohol content of .280, which is 3.5 times the legal limit of .08 set by Florida law.
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She had also been driving without a valid license.
The former wrestler was eventually handed a 10-and-a-half-year sentence for driving with a suspended license and an additional seven years for DUI manslaughter.
HALL OF FAMER
The blonde bombshell was one of WWE’s biggest stars in the 1990s before pursuing a change of career to the porn industry.
Sytch originally started out as a commentator for "Live Event News" segments during syndicated WWF (later WWE) television shows, under the name Tamara Murphy.
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However, she soon became better known as Sunny, in which she hosted her own show and took on the role of ring announcer.
Some consider her to be the first WWE Diva.
But it is her time as a professional wrestling manager and valet alongside her long-term boyfriend and former pro wrestler, Chris Candido, that she is most notable for.
Sytch turned into one of the most popular figures in WWE and is officially considered the company's first Diva.
And in 2011, she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Despite Candido's death in 2005, as a result of pneumonia brought on by surgery on his leg, Sytch remained active until 2018.
In October of that year, she claimed that she would be retiring to a private life.
That would lead Sytch to pick up from where she left off in the adult entertainment scene.
She found a new way to make money through the adult website Only Fans and offers webcam sessions on Skype.
However, her recent scandals and impending sentence ultimately put this on hold.
She then grew her popularity even further as fans and the majority of men swooned over her looks and glamour.
Sytch has previously claimed that in 1997, Playboy had approached her and offered a staggering six-figure sum to pose nude for the adult magazine.
The claims were later disputed by Rena Mero, another former pro-WWE wrestler.
From 2001 to 2003, Sytch regularly posed nude for Missy Hyatt's website Wrestling Vixxxens as she dabbled in the world of adult entertainment.
She took a lengthy break from the world of nude modelling but returned back onto the scene in 2016 when she appeared in a pornographic film.
She signed a deal to star in the adult film for Vivid Entertainment, although it caused plenty of controversy with WWE as she wore her Hall of Fame ring during the movie.
But years of trouble and crime would follow and now the once-loved diva that has began a lengthy jail term after pleading guilty to killing a pensioner.
And it is a scenario that nobody, not even herself, thought she'd ever be in after breaking into the WWE scene in late 1994.
LIFE OF CRIME
Her spate of criminal charges began in 2012 when she was still very much part of the wrestling scene.
That included five arrests within a crazy four-week period that year, where she was handcuffed for disorderly conduct, third-degree burglary, and three counts of violating a protective order.
Over the past 11 years, Sytch has had numerous arrests and incarcerations for driving under the influence.
But there have also been spells of imprisonment for a number of other crimes.
In more recent times, Sytch was arrested for threatening to kill her partner with a pair of scissors.
Then there was the time she was accused of making "terror threats" in January 2022.
Before that, she was charged with eluding a police officer, two counts of contempt or violating a domestic violence restraining order, and “operating motor vehicle during second license suspension."
The list goes on.
However, it was the fatal car crash in Florida last year that became the final nail in the coffin for the former professional wrestler.
After a blood test was taken to determine her alcohol levels, THC was also detected, indicating she had been using marijuana sometime before the crash.
But Sytch was initially released from prison in May 2022 after posting a £183,878 bond.
However, a judge then deemed her to be a danger to the community and revoked her bond six days later.
She was then held without bond on pre-trial detention at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
At court on August 26, Sunny pleaded no contest to DUI manslaughter, four counts of DUI with damage to person, and two counts of DUI with damage to property on August 26.
Sytch said she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and bipolar disorder.
She claimed she was taking Prozac, an antidepressant, as part of her medication.
In court on November 27 as she received her sentences in an orange jumpsuit, she broke down in tears.
Addressing the victim's family, she said: "I know my words are not enough but please know that I think about you every day."
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“If I could bring Mr. Lasseter back and take his place I would in an instant."
Following her release, Sytch will also serve eight years of probation.
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