Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
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Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, also known as GLOW or G.L.O.W., was a professional wrestling promotion for women, began in 1986 (the pilot was filmed in December of 1985) and continued in various forms after it left television. Colorful characters, beautiful women, and over-the-top comedy sketches were integral to the series' success. Most of the performers were actresses or porn stars hoping to get in to show business through sexy wrestling. One performer, Palestina, aka Las Vegas native Janeen Jewett, went on to POWW, competed briefly in the AWA then became a singer in England.
A syndicated G.L.O.W. show was produced for approximately five seasons from the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It differed from Vince McMahon's WWF/E in that they had actual seasons where some wrestlers were dropped, changed, or added before the new season began. It was not a promotion with roll-in and roll-out during the season.
G.L.O.W is still in existence, though not associated in any way with David B. McLane, the promoter who started the show. It was revived by the Hotel Riviera, where it was originally filmed, in 2001. Among its directors was Tony Cimber, the youngest child of the 1960s American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and a brother of actress Mariska Hargitay.
David McLane also was behind two subsequent women's wrestling leagues Powerful Women of Wrestling (1987) and Women of Wrestling (2000).
Johnny C (last name unknown) promoted a similar show.
[edit] Wrestlers
- Babe The Farmer's Daughter (Ursula Hayden, purchased rights to the promotion in 2003)
- Godiva - seductress wearing little more than hosiery
- Mount Fiji - Dominating, heavyweight, 'Good Girl'
- Little Fiji - Pretty and petite sidekick to Mt Fiji
- Colonel Ninotchka (actress Lori Weathers made this Russian gimmick her own)
- Sally the Farmer's Daughter (Becky Mullen, replaced after the first season by Amy)
- Matilda the Hun (Dee Booher) (replaced by the fiercer Big Bad Mama)
- Tina Ferrari (WWE's Ivory, former GLOW champion)
- Ashley Cartier (she and Tina Ferrari made up the Beverly Hills Girls)
- Americana (All-American, sometime GLOW champion)
- Susie Spirit (her elbow was famously dislocated in one match)
- Debbie Debutante (she and Susie Spirit made up The Cheerleaders)
- Cheyenne Cher (Billed as both one-half of the "new" Cheerleaders with Vicky Victory and a native American; last recorded GLOW Champion)
- Vicky Victory (one-half of the "new" Cheerleaders tag team with Cheyenne Cher)
- Tiffany Mellon (an "airhead" Park Avenue Knockout known for GLOW gossip and her annoying laugh; later became a porn star after GLOW known as Tiffany Million)
- Dementia (The Widow in third season)
- The Soul Patrol
- The Housewives (Tag Team, portrayed by the same actresses who portrayed The Heavy Metal Sisters)
- Heavy Metal Sisters (Tag Team of Spike and Chainsaw)
- Hollywood (actress and model Jeanne Marie Basone) and Vine (Tag Team; Vine also wrestled under a mask in GLOW as the Princess of Darkness)
- The Headhunters (stable consisting of Mina, Mika, and Manna)
- Corporal Kelly (replaced in the second season by another wrestler who used the same name)
- Attaché (Corporal Kelly's charismatic sidekick and Tag Team partner. Often referred to as the "Mean Marine." )
- Star (Powerful wrestler with an astrological gimmick)
- Jail Bait (trained for show, but was sidelined due to a knee injury)
- Spanish Red (the Latin Sensation, famed for her finishing move, the "Spanish Press")
- Palestina (Janeen Jewett), an Islamic militant character
- Royal Hawaiian, one time GLOW champion
- Zelda the Brain, a diminuitive stereotype nerd with glasses
- Roxy Astor- A New Yorker who hailed from Park Avenue.
G.L.O.W. was originally created as an aftermath of Jackie Stallone's physical fitness gym for women only, Barbarella's. She created, promoted and trained the girls for the entire running of the program.
Jackie Stallone (Sylvester Stallone's mother) was the figurehead owner and manager of the Good Girls, and Aunt Kitty (Kitty Burke) was the manager for the Bad Girls.
Steve Blance was the senior referee in the first two seasons before becoming GLOW's "commissioner" at the end of season two. He was always the recipent of a GLOW Girl beatdown.
Each of the G.L.O.W. performers had her own rap song. It was shown on videotape prior to that wrestler's match. Similar to other wrestling promotions' use of wrestler-specific entrance themes, this gimmick may have been influenced by the Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle."