Molly made her in-ring debut in 1997 as Starla Saxton, where her phenomenal work rate and high-tempo wrestling wowed audiences around the country. For a rookie she possessed excellent ring awareness and psychology, something which a few seasoned wrestlers still struggle with today. Of course, that was because she had been trained by the "Man of 1,000 Holds," Dean Malenko. Malenko, who was working at WCW during this time, was one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet, so him agreeing to show Molly the ropes did a great deal in shaping her talents and also made sure she would never feel lost inside a ring. Under Deans tutorage Molly received try-out matches for both WWE & WCW including a Sunday Night Heat match against then-Womens Champion Jacqueline in WWE and a match on WCWs WorldWide programme (a very big deal back then). She wouldn't become a full-time in-ring competitor until years later, but her performances in WCW clearly impressed someone...
