It's Time! It's Time! It's...Veda Time!

What time is it?

In wrestling, people say you have to have a combination of several things to really "make it." This is true for men and women. Aside from the obvious (wrestling skills), you have to be able to talk, engage a crowd, show plenty of personality and charisma and have that hunger, that spark. They have to be willing to travel wherever they can, whenever they can, for the experience, exposure and the age old "to pay their dues." Whether it's a dark match in front of 25 fans or a mid-card bout in front of 300, those that want to prove they really want it are willing to take what they can get in order to increase their knowledge and reputation.

Veda Scott with teacher Daizee Haze. May 2011

One woman that stands out as having that hunger and drive is Veda Scott. She is still a rookie (having had her first match in 2011) but no one can deny her willingness to travel, work hard and prove herself.

A graduate of the Ring of Honor school, she was a student of Daizee Haze and it was fitting that her first match was at Horizon Wrestling Alliance in Maryland against her teacher, Haze. It was May 15th, 2011 and here is that match:

Since then, Veda has worked mainly in the New England and East Coast region, wrestling both men and women. A match that really got her noticed was at Absolute Intense Wrestling in Cleveland, Ohio. She made her debut there in July 2011 for the "Girls Night Out 4" show wrestling Cherry Bomb. During the match, she took an insane bump that you have to see to believe. (The DVD is available through http://shop.aiwrestling.com or http://www.smarkmarkvideo.com - well worth the purchase!) Elsewhere in 2011, she wrestled at Beyond Wrestling, Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic, NWA New England Championship Wrestling, and in October made her debut for SHIMMER Women Athletes, first in a dark match then on Volume 44 wrestling Taylor Made. This was her first trip to the mid-west, outside of where she normally wrestled, but it was not to be her last.

Veda Scott: Better than you.

Most places she had worked for prior to SHIMMER wanted her to work as a heel, which she shows great aptitude for. Over the past year, Veda has improved on the subtle characteristics that help cement her character. For instance, her facial expressions. She shows such disdain for the crowd and her opponents that you can't help but boo her. She tilts her nose in the air, a slight sneer on her lips and looks down on everyone from behind her glasses - Veda Scott is better than you. You know that is exactly what she's thinking.


However, in SHIMMER, she got to play a babyface which was a nice change for her. Her quirky, energetic self was on full display, first in the pre-show SPARKLE match that had her teaming with Su Yung and Kimberly Maddox to take on She Nay Nay, Buggy Nova and 'Bonesaw' Jessie Brooks. Having attended this set of SHIMMER tapings, I thought all six women did well but only Veda made it onto the main taping, in a losing effort to Taylor Made on Volume 44. One of the highlights of the October weekend for me was when she came out and went around, slapping hands with the fans before her match, when she saw me (and mind you, we'd only talked via Twitter, not met in person before) she gave me a HUGE hug! It tickled me to death quite honestly. She may have lost to Taylor but she did well. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought this as she was booked for the March 2012 SHIMMER tapings.


Speaking of 2012, this year has really been a busy one for Miss Scott. AIW booked her for their next Girls Night Out shows, numbers 5 and 6, where she defeated Kimber Lee and took a loss to the Queen of Wrestling, Sara Del Rey. Before the latter match, she took to YouTube and spoke about facing Del Rey in one of the most hilarious promos I've ever watched:

And back tracking just for a minute to 2011, Veda wrestled Gabby Gilbert (TAFKA Roxie Cotton) for World Xtreme Wrestling C4 but before the match, Gabby had her on as a guest on her show "Gabbin' with Gabby." Watching the two interact was a huge contrast, showing the bright, bubbly, hyper Gabby and the wary, disdainful Veda. The fact that Scott had grown into her heel character was very obvious in this video:

Back to 2012, Veda was almost everywhere you looked. AIW, NWA Force One Relaunch 3.0, 2CW, SHIMMER (where she tagged with her international BFF Shazza McKenzie in probably the most energetic tag team on planet Earth; plus got her first win in a match against the scariest woman alive, Saraya Knight, after Saraya refused to release the submission and the referee reversed the decision, giving Veda the win), Pro-Wrestling Syndicate (which also featured Vader on the same show - one wonders if they met face to face), and IndyGurlz just to mention a few.

The fearless interviewer.

When she wasn't wrestling, Veda was hired by Ring of Honor as a backstage interviewer. This set off some criticism, of ROH and of her. Some fans wondered why ROH didn't set up a new Women of Honor division and have Veda wrestle in it. Other people were far more nasty and suspicious, wondering why a woman with so little experience got a "cushy backstage job." The typical stuff women in wrestling get when they get a position others feel they don't deserve for one reason or another. The comments left on the YouTube videos posted wherein she would interview someone or host a show for ROH were horrid and undeservingly harsh. Apparently fans felt she should automatically be the perfect interviewer. Nonetheless, ROH showed confidence in her and kept her on in that role. Veda has settled into it as well, becoming more comfortable on screen talking.

Also, in May, Scott started hosting the CHIKARA reports, talking about the upcoming iPPV in June "Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur." No one knows why she was chosen to do this, but it was an excellent opportunity to grow her mic skills. As a bonus, she and Billy Kumohara hosted the pre-show for the iPPV. She seized those opportunities and made the most of them, earning praise for her hard work and determination. Who knows, in the future we may possibly see her step into the ring at CHIKARA.

In addition to her wrestling responsibilities, Veda has been very public about the fact she is going to college to become a lawyer. Perhaps that's why I've been amazed at her from the beginning. Getting into wrestling and growing your character and skills is hard enough, but couple that with law school? That's no mean feat. In May, she graduated from law school and is set to take the Bar Exam in July. A few days after another promotion she will be debuting for, in fact. How's that for devotion?

Von Eerie silences Scott. Credit texasanarchy.com

In February, Veda took part in a tournament for 2CW called "Girls Grand Prix." She didn't win, unable to get past Rachel Summerlyn in the first round, but she must have made an impression because Veda was announced for another tournament, one with a higher profile. Anarchy Championship Wrestling has a tournament each June in Texas called "Queen of Queens" and this year Veda was invited to compete in it. Again, she didn't make it past her first round opponent (this time Christina Von Eerie), but from all accounts she did well and got a "Please come back!" chant from the crowd. The report from the show says she tried to interview Christina prior to the match while in the ring. As you can see from the picture, the Punk Princess wasn't interested in talking. Someone who was at the show told me that during intermission, Veda set up a bank shaped like a cat that she had bought before the show and was hawking her wares, saying she needed to feed Teddy, her cat. The fans there embraced her, as they have everywhere else and it was another successful debut for another promotion in yet another state.

The sister promotion of SHIMMER, called SHINE Wrestling, announced Veda as one of the workers for their first ever show on iPPV on July 21st. This roster is one of the more interesting ones as you have a mix of veterans such as Sara Del Rey, Mercedes Martinez, Rain, Nikki Roxx and one woman that has re-emerged this past year on the wrestling scene - Jazz; and you have a mix of rookies such as Veda herself, plus Reby Sky, Su Yung, Kimberly, and Leva Bates. Personally I think this is an excellent opportunity for the ones who are still new to wrestling to learn from a great mixture of veterans, plus get exposure on a live iPPV. I'm looking forward to seeing who Veda faces, not to mention the rest of the show.

Just this previous Monday, the call went out that Angelus Layne was injured and would not be able to make her debut at nCw Femmes Fatales this Saturday. The replacement turned out to be - you guessed it - Veda Scott. Although she had traveled with ROH to Canada previously, this will be her wrestling debut in another country. How cool is that? She will be facing Mary Lee Rose. She better take care, Mary will be accompanied by one of the most devious managers in the business, one Mademoiselle Rachelle. This is a huge opportunity for her to impress Stephane and Lufisto, as it could lead to more bookings for her there in the future.

Veda Scott has had quite the rookie year. Sometimes it is hard to remember that it has indeed only been a full year since her first match, it seems she has wrestled almost everywhere. But if you talk to her, you will discover she is the most down to earth, humble woman there is. She takes none of her opportunities for granted, has no airs about her, and is always appreciative for what she has gotten. I've heard fans compare her to AJ in WWE but that's ridiculous. She is her own character, not a knock off or a rip off.

Veda and Teddy - so cute!

Hard working. Dependable. Likable. Energetic. Strong. Devoted. Passionate. Determined. These are all words that are appropriate to describe Veda Scott. It has been a hell of a year for the red headed rookie and I look forward to following her journey wherever it leads. Good luck Veda! 

.....Plus she loves cats. How can you not like a woman who loves cats?