Daffney

Shannon Claire Spruill (July 17, 1975 – September 1, 2021), better known by her ring name Daffney, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling manager.

Daffney began her professional wrestling career at World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999. In WCW, she was known for her association with David Flair and Crowbar, and became the second woman (after Madusa) to hold the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. She was released by the promotion one month before it was purchased by WWE in 2001. She subsequently appeared on the independent circuit until she signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2008. Injuries forced her to retire from wrestling in 2011, but she continued to appear in non-wrestling roles for various promotions until 2018.

Early life

As a military brat, Shannon Claire Spruill was born on July 17, 1975, at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, West Germany, where her father was stationed. In 1976, her family returned to the U.S. They resided first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Savannah, Georgia, and finally on the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. They were then relocated to England, where they lived in Oxford for three years before returning to West Germany to live at the Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate until 1987, when her father (by then a lieutenant colonel) retired.

In 1985, Spruill had an uncredited bit part in the film Santa Claus: The Movie. In March 1998, she graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Arts in film and video production alongside minors in acting and music. She worked in media production before pursuing full-time acting.