Jazz (wrestler) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jazz
Jazz in 2019
Birth name	Carlene Denise Moore
Born	(1972-08-27) August 27, 1972 (age 52) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Rodney Mack ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Jazz Jazzmine
Billed height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Billed from	New Orleans, Louisiana
Trained by	Rod Price
Debut	1998
Retired	April 10, 2021

Carlene Denise Moore-Begnaud (born August 27, 1972), known by her wrestling name Jazz, is a retired American professional wrestler and manager. She is famous for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where she won the WWF/WWE Women's Championship two times.

Jazz also held the NWA World Women's Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance for over 900 days. After retiring from wrestling matches, she became a producer and now leads the women's division for the NWA. She also wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Impact Wrestling.

Professional Wrestling Journey

Starting Out (1998-1999)

Jazz began her wrestling career in 1998. She wrestled for smaller wrestling companies in Kansas and Texas.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1999–2000)

After leaving college, Carlene was asked to become a professional wrestler. She joined a wrestling school in Louisiana. She was inspired to wrestle after seeing Jacqueline Moore perform. Jazz trained with Rod Price for several months. She then had her first professional wrestling match against Jacqueline Moore.

Using the name Jazzmine, she joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). She was part of a group called the Impact Players. This group included wrestlers like Jason Knight and Lance Storm. Jazz later had a rivalry with Jason and beat him at a show called Heat Wave in 1999. She wrestled for ECW on and off before the company closed down.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2001-2004)

Training and First Matches (2001)

In late 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) became interested in Jazz. She trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling for six months. With her new wrestling name, Jazz, she signed a two-year contract with WWF.

She made her first appearance as a "heel" (a bad guy character) at the Survivor Series event. She competed in a multi-person match for the WWF Women's Championship. This title was empty after Chyna left the company. Trish Stratus won the match and the championship.

Becoming Women's Champion (2002)

After her debut, Jazz started a rivalry with the Women's Champion, Trish Stratus. On January 14, 2002, on Raw, Jazz defeated Jacqueline to become the top challenger for Trish's title. Jazz had her championship match against Trish at the Royal Rumble event, but she did not win.

However, on February 4, 2002, on Raw, Jazz defeated Trish Stratus to win the Women's Championship for the first time. On March 17, at WrestleMania X8, Jazz successfully defended her title. She won against Lita and Trish Stratus in a three-person match.

On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This meant the title became the WWE Women's Championship. Jazz was the last woman to hold the title under the WWF name and the first under the WWE name.

Jazz had a knee injury, which caused her to lose her title to Trish Stratus. This happened in a special "hardcore rules" match on May 13, 2002, on Raw. After the match, she was attacked by Bubba Ray Dudley and Trish Stratus.

Rivalries with Victoria and Trish Stratus (2003–2004)

Jazz returned to Raw on January 27, 2003. She attacked Trish Stratus after a match. Jazz wrestled her first match back on February 10, defeating Molly Holly.

Jazz joined the rivalry between Stratus and Victoria. She quickly took out Stratus and won matches against Molly Holly and Jacqueline. She competed in a three-person match for the Women's Championship at WrestleMania XIX. Stratus won the title in that match.

During this time, Jazz had Theodore Long as her manager. This helped her win the Women's Championship again. She defeated Stratus at Backlash. She successfully defended her title at Judgment Day in a four-person match. This match included Stratus, Victoria, and Jacqueline.

However, she lost the title in a "battle royal" match to Gail Kim on June 30. Jazz had a shoulder injury during the match and needed time to recover. She returned from her injury in early 2004 but did not wrestle much. Later that year, she became a manager for her real-life husband, Rodney Mack. Jazz left WWE in November 2004.

Independent Wrestling (2005–2006)

Starting in January 2005, Jazz began wrestling for smaller, independent companies. She appeared at an unofficial ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming. In late 2005, Jazz and Rodney Mack started their own wrestling company in Louisiana called Dirtysouth Championship Wrestling.

Jazz also wrestled in Women's Extreme Wrestling. She won their World Heavyweight Championship in May 2005 in a four-person match. The previous champion had to give up the title due to an injury. While still WEW champion, Jazz also won the NWA Cyberspace Women's Championship in June 2005.

In 2006, Jazz and Mack changed their company's name to Downsouth Championship Wrestling. Soon after, Jazz won her company's Louisiana State Championship. She also took part in ChickFight V and wrestled for All Pro Wrestling.

Brief WWE Return (2006)

In 2006, Jazz was one of several former ECW wrestlers who returned to WWE for a short time. She appeared on the new ECW show, WWE vs. ECW Head-to-Head, on June 7. She faced the then-Women's Champion Mickie James and lost the match.

Jazz did not stay on TV with ECW. She only made a few appearances at live events, attacking Kelly Kelly and Francine. These were her last appearances with WWE. On January 18, 2007, Jazz left WWE again.

Women Superstars Uncensored (2007–2011)

In May 2007, Jazz and Rodney Mack wrestled for a company in France. In late 2009, Jazz started wrestling for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) in New Jersey. On March 6, 2010, Jazz was added to the WSU Hall of Fame.

She continued to wrestle for WSU. In 2010, Jazz won WSU's "Uncensored Rumble" match. This earned her a chance to challenge Mercedes Martinez for the WSU Championship. Mercedes defeated Jazz in their championship match.

On March 5, 2011, Jazz teamed up with Marti Belle to become the "new" WSU Tag Team Champions. This was Jazz's first tag team championship. Jazz, Belle, and Tina San Antonio (Belle's original partner) could defend the titles together.

Shine Wrestling (2012–2013; 2014)

On July 21, 2012, Jazz attended the first Shine Wrestling event, Shine 1. She received the Legacy Award from Diva Dirt, a women's wrestling website. During the award ceremony, Mercedes Martinez interrupted her. At the event, Jazz defeated Sara Del Rey in the main match.

Jazz faced Martinez again on August 17 at Shine 2, but the match ended without a clear winner. After defeating Rain on September 21 at Shine 3, it was announced that Jazz would challenge Saraya Knight for the Shimmer Championship.

On October 19, at Shine 4, Jazz lost her first match at Shine. This happened after Martinez and Rain interfered. On November 16, at Shine 5, Jazz teamed with Amazing Kong. They defeated Martinez and Rain, ending Jazz's rivalry with them.

On April 19, 2013, at Shine 9, Jazz won a qualifying match for the Shine Championship tournament. However, she did not enter the tournament. This was her last appearance at Shine for a while. On April 4, 2014, Jazz challenged Ivelisse for the Shine Championship but did not win.

Chikara (2016)

On September 2, 2016, Jazz made her first appearance for Chikara. She entered the 2016 King of Trios tournament as part of Team Original Divas Revolution. Her teammates were Victoria and Mickie James. They won their first match. The next day, they were eliminated from the tournament.

National Wrestling Alliance (2016–2019)

On September 16, 2016, Jazz won the NWA World Women's Championship from Amber Gallows. On October 21, 2018, at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show, Jazz successfully defended her championship against Penelope Ford.

During her time as champion, Jazz defended her title against wrestlers like Allie and Thunder Rosa. Jazz was set to defend her championship on April 27, 2019, but she gave up the title on April 22, 2019. This was due to medical and personal reasons. This ended her championship reign of 948 days. Jazz's time as champion is the third longest in the company's history.

All Elite Wrestling (2019)

On August 31, 2019, Jazz took part in a "Casino Battle Royal" match at All Elite Wrestling's All Out event. She was eliminated from the match.

SWE Fury (2020)

Jazz held the SWE Fury Women's Title until August 2020, when she lost it to Miranda Gordy. In September, she officially retired from SWE Fury. She became the very first SWE Fury Hall of Famer. James Beard and Teddy Long presented her with the award in San Antonio, Texas.

Impact Wrestling (2020–2021)

Even though she was retired, Jazz made her first appearance on Impact Wrestling on November 24, 2020. She teamed with Jordynne Grace in the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament. She said she wanted to retire at the top of her career by winning the title with Grace. They won their first match but were eliminated in the second round.

After losing to Grace at Genesis, they faced the Tag Team Champions Fire N Flava at Sacrifice, where they were defeated. Her final match with Impact Wrestling was at Hardcore Justice. She faced Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts Championship in a "title vs. career" match, meaning if she lost, her wrestling career would end. She lost the match.

After a farewell moment on April 15, 2021, on Impact!, she started working as a manager for Grace and her new partner, Rachael Ellering, before leaving Impact.

Return to NWA (2021–present)

After retiring from wrestling matches, Jazz shared in April 2021 that she was asked to return to NWA as an agent. Agents help wrestlers plan their matches. She later worked as a producer for NWA's When Our Shadows Fall and EmPowerrr events.

On December 4, 2021, during Hard Times 2, NWA honored Jazz. In February 2024, it was announced that Jazz became the head of the women's division for NWA. On November 17, 2024, NWA Texas became an official NWA territory. Dogg Pound Championship Wrestling (DPCW), owned by Jazz and her husband Rodney Mack, became the first local company to join NWA Texas.

Return to TNA (2025–present)

Jazz made a surprise return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on February 6, 2025, on Impact!. She competed in a "battle royal" match to decide who would challenge for the Knockouts World Championship. Savannah Evans won the match. On March 13, 2025, it was reported that Jazz has been working as an agent for TNA.

Occasional WWE Appearances (2025–present)

In May 2025, Jazz was a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. On July 13, 2025, Jazz was seen in the crowd during the Evolution 2 event. She was recognized as one of the important figures in the history of WWE's Women's Evolution, alongside other famous female wrestlers. This was her first WWE appearance since 2006.

Personal Life

In high school, Carlene played basketball. She even had a scholarship for college basketball, but a knee injury ended her basketball career. She later left college to work.

Carlene is married to Rodney Begnaud, who also wrestled as Rodney Mack in WWE. They live in Lafayette, Louisiana. The couple welcomed twin girls, Summer and Skye, in November 2008.

Jazz owns a fitness gym. She says it helps "keep the youth off the streets and keep them positive." She also runs a wrestling school with her husband called The Dog Pound.

Carlene has shared her thoughts on how WWE marketed wrestlers. She felt that wrestlers of color, including herself, were not promoted as much. She mentioned that she never had an action figure or was on a poster. Despite this, she is still thankful for the opportunity WWE gave her.

Awards and Achievements

Jazz (left) and Marti Belle as the WSU Tag Team Champions in March 2011

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Women's Wrestling Award (2020)
• Downsouth Championship Wrestling
  • DCW Louisiana State Championship (1 time)
• Heavy on Wrestling
  • HOW Women's Championship (1 time)
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA World Women's Championship (1 time)
• NWA Cyberspace
  • NWA Cyberspace Women's Championship (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 13 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2012
• Southwest Wrestling Entertainment
  • SWE Women's Championship (1 time)
  • Hall of Fame (Class of 2020)
• Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2012
• Women Superstars Uncensored
  • WSU Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marti Belle
  • WSU Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)
• Women's Extreme Wrestling
  • WEW World Championship (1 time)
• Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2023
• World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
  • WWF/E Women's Championship (2 times)

Match Records

See also

In Spanish: Jazz (luchadora) para niños