Jennifer Kennedy's first crack at the Nationals was back in 2011.
These days a pro card is handed to each of the Bodybuilding class winners (the IFBB probably safe in the knowledge that except for the Heavyweight winner, they are more likely to see these women compete as pros, if they bother at all, in Physique rather than in Bodybuilding) but back then it was just the one, for the Overall Queen. That year it went to Michelle Cummings (last seen in 2015 in the Physique division, incidentally), who just about got the nod over Jennifer in the Heavyweight class.
Jennifer had arrived though. And little wonder schmotographer Tom Nine was putting her up there on a pedestal. The face, the tats - not for everyone. But what a body!
The following year Jennifer was, according to no lesser commentator than Steve Wennerstrom himself, even better. With striking thighs highlighted by a set of sartorius muscles that looked like the ropes you used to climb in gym class, Kennedy drew more and more attention with each compulsory pose of the prejudging, he wrote in his contest report. Her eventual victory in this class couldn't really be labelled a surprise considering the fact that she had been the runner-up at the [2011] Nationals. She improved on her overall, and as any bodybuilder will tell you, that isn't always as easy as it sounds. In Jennifer's case she did her homework and the result was an 'A' for effort. She's the USA Heavyweight champ – a nice title to hold.
Indeed. But not, as it turned out, a Heavyweight champ with a pro card. That year, at the USAs, just the two were handed out - to Tierany Chretien, the Light-heavyweight champ, and Denise Dinger, a "Bodybuilder turned Figure competitor turned Bodybuilder" who has not been seen again. But not to Jennifer, despite the overall improvement, "sartorius muscles that looked like ropes" and everything.
At the 2013 Nationals, Swell didn't need Wennerstrom's or anybody else's report to wax lyrical about the "Musclefoxx", a woman who he admitted "having more than a little soft spot for". Her beautiful taper - as sexy here as ever - her penchant for muscle control, that gorgeous muscle butt (and what she does with it), hell, I'm not about to start apologising for my taste! I wrote. I say she's one hot sexy muscle lady.
She placed 4th that year. And didn't compete again until last month.
Meanwhile, however, she was out there working and her legend among fans grew. Not only were the descriptions at her Clips4Sale site so good you almost didn't need to bother buying them - "I cannot help flexing when there is such a big mirror in front of me. I'm not a Figure or Physique girl, I'm a Bodybuilder! Big round hard muscles, and I love it all! You like big, ripped vascular female bodybuilders? You like abs and veins and tits and clits? Well so do I! Buy this clip. You watch it in awe and I will keep doing what I do best... being big, hard and awesome!" (Foxxy Flexing, in case you're interested) - but those lucky enough to have experienced the Musclefoxx in person are all too eager to let the rest of us know that Jennifer is indeed one very special lady.
"One of the coolest people you will ever meet", "a doll", "sensual, sexy, intelligent, funny and hot as hell", "she enjoys the company of the people she meets", and there are pages of this stuff - all of it offered for free. "Jenni is very comfortable in her own skin but the sexiest part of is what is between her ears - her intelligence and imagination. If you have the chance to session with her, run, don't walk, to Tampa or wherever she is."
She was in Miami at the end of November, returning to the stage for the first time in four years. I don't think her 2017 package would have won any of the contests she entered between 2011 and 2013, but it proved good enough for the judges on this occasion, and as every class winner gets a pro card now, Jennifer is, finally, in.
Better late than never, I guess. I do hope we'll see her compete next year. Jennifer, more than most, deserves to feel some of that Wings of Strength love that all the ladies seem to appreciate so much at the pro shows these days. And who knows? If she can improve on her overall like she did before, we may yet see this hot sexy muscle lady grace the Rising Phoenix. She'd surely be a very popular addition to the line-up.
