Teri Byrne
| Teri Byrne | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 11, 1972 Pensacola, Florida |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Fyre[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 109 lb (49 kg) |
Teri Byrne (born in Pensacola, Florida) was a member of WCW's Nitro Girls and is a former fitness competitor.[1]
Career
Teri Byrne graduated from Arizona State University with Honors in Communication.[1]
She first started out competing as a fitness model. Then, she met Kimberly Page and she joined WCW's original Nitro Girls as Fyre on July 14, 1997,[1] and stayed with them until 1999. She then opened a website as a model but shut it down after a couple of years. She appeared in a non-nude Nitro Girls pictorial in the September 1998 issue of Penthouse, along with Melissa Bellin, Chae An, and Kimberly Page. After the demise of the Nitro Girls in 2000, she was a member of the pop music group Diversity 5 with some other former Nitro Girls.
Byrne grew up in Atlanta and practically lived in the stables in which her dad raised Arabian horses. Attending college in Arizona, she devoted much of her time to speaking out against cruelty to animals and the inhumane treatment of Greyhounds and Saddlebred horses. Eventually the aerobics bug kicked in, and Teri went from a student to an instructor. She entered herself in numerous fitness competitions, including the Ujena calendar swimwear contest and Miss Fiesta Bowl for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Byrne met Kimberly Page, who worked out in the same gym. Kimberly approached her with the idea of joining her new Nitro Girl troupe. Teri wowed everyone at the audition and got the position. Her family and friends were obviously shocked that she was going to dance for a wrestling company after spending 5 years at a cushy mortgage company job. "I was always the straitlaced good kid out of all my siblings. Everyone thought I went off the deep end."
Two weeks later, she and six other complete strangers debuted on WCW Monday Nitro. For two and a half years 'Fyre' appeared on Monday nights with the Nitro Girls until January 2000. At that time, with a change in the WCW management, as well as troupe leadership (Kimberly left the Nitro Girls), Byrne decided it was time to move on.
"The concept of the troupe changed, and the direction they wanted to take the girls in really changed. It was too difficult for me to go along with those changes. Being one of the originals, I really put my heart and soul into the group, and I didn't feel good about what was being done. One week we're excited to be back and dancing, the next I'm getting mashed potatoes thrown at me and I'm wrestling."
Disappearing for almost a year, Byrne resurfaced with several other ex-Nitro Girls (Spice, Paisley, Tygress, and Chae) to begin a singing career with their new group called Diversity 5.
In 2001 she was actively involved with the development of a comic book entitled "Stiletto" about a bounty hunter portrayed by Teri. The book, published by Gypsy Press Comics, was originally to be titled "Nytro", but Turner Broadcasting would not allow them to use anything associated with their WCW franchise.[2] Issue #1 of Stiletto formally debuted at the 2001 Wizard World Chicago convention on August 17, 2001. However, it is not known if the book ever went into regular publication as no copies of it can be found for sale anywhere.[citation needed]
Byrne is currently single and living in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the last nine years she has worked for the University of Phoenix; two years in Atlanta as Enrollment Manager, then three years in Augusta, Georgia as director of enrollment before becoming regional director of enrollment for the Southeast region.
Byrne still loves animals and enjoys spending time with her Belgian Draft Horse, a rescue. She believes very strongly in healthy living, and is a vegetarian and a yoga enthusiast. Teri still occasionally does personal appearances with the Nitro Girls.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "Fyre profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ "News from gypsypresscomics.com". Archived from the original on June 18, 2001.