The Scream Queen's Biography:
My real name is Jenna, but I am often recognized as The Scream Queen. Everyone ALWAYS asks me about why I have that name, so I decided for the first time to tell everyone what happened to me when I was younger and how I evolved into this persona. It involves pro wrestling, Daffney Unger, heavy metal, Pantera, and too much medical trauma... Of course it's kind of nerve wrenching, but I think I'm old enough to handle it now as well as type it out.
In October 1996, I had a tonsillectomy that soon led to very traumatic medical complications. Apparently, I had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia which caused me to become very dizzy weeks after to the point that I passed out and hit my head on a tile floor. When I hit my head, I could not remember anything before the fall; it was as if I was living inside of a Lifetime movie.
I spelled phonically for several years, I went from writing with my right hand to my left hand and back to my right hand, my vision went from perfect to abominable, and I couldn't remember anything before October, 1996; I still haven't gotten my memory back. If all of that wasn't bad enough, I soon developed this "death metal" voice. The doctors said I was using my "false" vocal chords instead of my "true" ones. I couldn't even begin to understand what was all going on; I was only 8 years old at the time.
I also was not able to walk on my own for over a year. When I fainted, the trauma from hitting my head impaired my balance severely. I had to move from Colorado to Shreveport, Louisiana so I could go to Shriners Hospital. Diane, who was my physical therapist, she was one of they very few who believed in me and was able to get me walking on my own again. I thank her immensely for what she did for me.
As time progressed, I woke up one morning without a voice. I could not make one sound. I couldn't even whisper. The days without a voice increased to weeks, the weeks became months, and the months evolved to years - SEVEN years. Seven LONG years without a voice. As the time kept growing, the doctors kept emphasizing that it was all "psychological" or it was a "conversion disorder".
I didn't quite understand what those really meant until years afterwards. When I figured it out, it infuriated me! I couldn't believe they would think that all of what I was going through was fake and in my head. Why would an 8-year-old child stop talking for no reason?! And why would I just randomly stop talking for seven years?!?
Throughout those 7 years, I was mentally and physically tortured in school from bullies and classmates, as well as outside of school just from random people who just wanted to make fun of me. Every day was misery to me. I had nothing to smile about except my Mom, my dog, and professional wrestling… Yes, that's right, professional wrestling. I don't think you'll find a fan more passionate than I am. Every Monday and Wednesday I would come home from school to escape the trauma that I would endure by watching Nitro and Thunder (nWo4life)! Hehehe
Soon after I discovered wrestling, I discovered Pantera and Biohazard. Then that was that - I was a metalhead from that day forward. Pantera instantly became my favorite band; their lyrics were those that I related to the most, they definitely helped me get through all of the rough times. Their music was so amazing to me; they are the best band in the world as far as I'm concerned. Phil Anselmo's lyrics captivated me and his vocals were so passionate, I just felt so much of my aggression and misery lift away. He is hands down one of the best heavy metal vocalists, ever. I would get lost inside their songs, especially during Dimebag Darrel's incredible solos. May he Rest in Peace.
In May of 2003, I FINALLY got my voice back. At that point, I had seen hundreds of doctors all around the United States from Colorado, to Nashville, to New Orleans, to Baltimore, and Salt Lake City. I had been told that my voice loss was psychological, or fake, so many times that I had no hope in doctors. But finally, Dr. Stone, who was my doctor in Nashville at the Vanderbilt Hospital, the one who never believed that it was psychological, he referred me to these two doctors in Salt Lake City, UT. It was kind of ironic how this one doctor, Dr. Smith, he used to be in Denver at Children's Hospital, he was one of the other very few who believed me, and that was at the beginning when it first happened. He was one of the "two doctors" who Dr. Stone said would be able to get my voice back. The other doctor was Dr. Roy. They are both AMAZING. If anyone has any voice problems, please go to them. I cannot thank them enough for what they've done for me, that may sound so cliché, but it's so true.
It would take an infinite amount of lifetimes to even begin to thank my Mom for what all she did. She never gave up on me and she always believed in me. She spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get me to the best voice doctors in the United States. She even drove me (with my dog, KC), to Salt Lake City on Mother's Day 2003 for another attempt to get my voice back. No other Mom on earth could do what she has done for me and that's a fact! She is beyond amazing. All I can say is… I love you Mom!!!!! :-) ...As for my Dad, I can't say the same considering he didn't seem to care to be a part of my life.
On May 13th 2003, the day after Mother's Day, I walked into Dr. Roy's and Dr. Smith's office with my 6 inch heels on and my Chris Jericho "Lighten up Junior!!!" t-shirt… I didn't even know what to expect because I had seen them before and they just gave me voice exercises to do, which didn't do anything. Before I knew it, they came in with this large needle filled with Lidocaine. They just told me to remain calm and I'm sitting there thinking "remain calm!? They have a 3 inch long needle right in front of me and they want me to remain calm? Um, I don't think so!"
They soon injected the needle directly into my neck where my vocal chords are, three times. It hurt like HELL but I remained still and somehow calm. Within seconds I began to produce a little bit of sound. It was amazing! They said that my vocal chord muscle had been sleeping for 7 years and that the Lidocaine woke it up. I was the first person to ever have that experimental procedure done, how awesome is that?!
Of course it took a while for me to be able to talk fully, but here is where my name, The Scream Queen, comes into place. During the years of WCW, I came to love Daffney Unger. She was my absolute FAVORITE female wrestler and still is! She had the coolest style with shiny pants and brightly colored wigs and she would scream so loud that it would make the announcers complain. I thought that was just so cool, haha. So, I decided that when or if I ever got my voice back, I wanted to scream just like her.
Well, when I got my voice back everyone was very nice and generous, might I add, to the point they bought me tickets to THREE WWE events in a row that were coming in July. Vengeance, RAW, and SmackDown! I told my Mom that it was my goal to scream as loud as possible when I was there. She didn't want to get my hopes up because I had this mono-toned voice that would only come out for parts of words, but I would tell her that I am going to scream, it was my goal.
Every day I would practice screaming and most of the time nothing would come out. However, on a random day, I actually squeaked. It was a loud squeak. But that loud squeak pushed my voice out, I could actually talk with movement. It wasn't just one note anymore; I could actually make it do anything I wanted, almost. I still couldn't scream fully though.
As July approached and Vengeance came, I tried so hard to scream that night, but still nothing would come out. I was becoming very frustrated. The next night, I went to Monday Night RAW…I had 5th row, camera side seats, directly in the middle. I even got beer splashed on me by Stone Cold Steve Austin!!
At that time, my most favorite wrestlers were Chris Jericho (he's still my favorite!) and Randy Orton. They were both heels too (bad guys), so I was basically the only one cheering for them. When Jericho's music hit and he came out to do the Highlight Reel, I couldn't scream, I became so frustrated. But then…I found out that Randy was his guest that night. I was ecstatic!
When Randy's music finally hit, I don't know what came over me, but I screamed incredibly loud, I made about 8 or more sections turn around and look at me, and I still had not even realized that I had screamed until I had finished! Then after that, I couldn't stop screaming so it was only natural for people to start calling me "The Scream Queen"…
In 2007, I began talking to Coolguy on XM Radio's Liquid Metal channel. We would air funny segments almost every night during that summer. Then one late night in August, he told me that I would be interviewing Lamb of God the next day. I was very nervous but then my nerves went away right when I started talking to them. That was one of the most amazing nights; it was as if one of my dreams had come true! Lamb of God was and is one of my favorite bands.
Soon after, interviewing became natural and I've grown to absolutely love it! So far, I have interviewed Lamb of God, Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard, Jimmy Bower of Down/Superjoint Ritual, Beneath the Massacre, and Phil Labonte of All That Remains.
My ultimate goals when I didn't have my voice were to be involved with heavy metal and wrestling, somehow. Now that I am involved in heavy metal, I want to give back all of what metal has given to me, make sure that it gets the respect it deserves, and I want to get it out to the masses so it will take over the world! I just need to find a way to get in WWE now!
With that said, go read some of my interviews!!! :-)
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