Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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, a.k.a. Las Vegas native Janeen Jewett, went on to POWW, competed briefly in the AWA then became a singer in England.
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.
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 World Wrestling Federation 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.
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."
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.
In a recent interview with Ursula Hayden there are hints of an all new GLOW program developing in Las Vegas featuring new stars of GLOW along with some of the show's past stars including Babe(Ursula Hayden), Daisy(Helen Lacount), and Roxy Astor, who have been rumored to return to help launch the all new GLOW.
Contents |
[edit] Wrestlers - Good Girls
The 'good girls' were the 'baby-face' a.k.a. face wrestlers managed by Jackie Stallone.
- Babe The Farmer's Daughter (Ursula Hayden, purchased rights to the promotion in 2003)
- Mount Fiji - Dominating, heavyweight, 'Good Girl'
- Little Fiji - Pretty and petite sidekick to Mt Fiji
- Sally the Farmer's Daughter (Becky Mullen, replaced after the first season by Amy)
- Tina Ferrari (WWE's Ivory, former GLOW champion)
- Ashley Cartier (she and Tina Ferrari made up the Beverly Hills Girls)
- Americana (All-American, one-time GLOW champion) - frequently feuded with Ninotchka and Palestina
- 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)
- Zelda the Brain, a diminutive stereotype nerd with glasses
- Roxy Astor- A New Yorker who hailed from Park Avenue.
- Queenie-A GLOW girl who only wrestled in house shows and never made ot to the tv screen.
- Magnolia-Only wrestled houseshows
- Tammy Jones - 'Good girl' wrestler who wore ribbons and lace as part of her ring attire; one time GLOW champion by defeating Matilda the Hun
- Olympia - 'Good girl' wrestler with the bodybuilder/physical power angle
- Little Egypt - Petite 'good girl' wrestler with the exotic 'harem girl' angle
- Little Feather - Petite 'good girl' wrestler with a Native American angle
- Ebony - 'Good girl' wrestler; one of the few African Americans on their roster
- Daisy - Tall 'good girl' wrestler who was managed by Gremlina before becoming a full time 'good girl'.
- Sunny, the California Doll - 'Good girl' wrestler who played the 'sexy and ditzy beach blonde' angle
- Dallas - 'Good girl' wrestler with a 'cowgirl' angle; her outfit was strikingly similar to that of a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader
- Tulsa - 'Good girl' wrestler with a similar 'cowgirl' angle as Dallas; succeeded her in appearances on the show
- Southern Belles - 'Good girl' tag-team with the one member in light blue, the other in pink ring attire. Ring entrance attire consisted of parasols, hats, gloves, and hoop-skirts consistent with the Civil War-era Southern upper class fashion
[edit] Wrestlers - Bad Girls
The 'bad girls' were the 'heel' wrestlers managed by Aunt Kitty.
- Godiva - seductress wearing little more than hosiery
- Colonel Ninotchka (actress Lori Weathers made this Russian gimmick her own)
- Matilda the Hun (Dee Booher) (replaced by the fiercer Big Bad Mama)
- Dementia (The Widow in third season) - 'Bad girl' wrestler with a pseudo Lizzie Borden angle, acted catatonic at times and carried an axe to the ring
- 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, defeated Tammy Jones to win title
- MTV - Stood for, "Melody Trouble Vixen", a 'bad girl' wrestler with the 'rocker chick gimmick'
- Gremlina - 'Bad girl' valet/wrestler/manager to Daisy; dressed in gothic/monster themed makeup
- Big Bad Mama - 'Bad girl' wrestler who played a 'voodoo queen' angle; had a guest appearance on the television show "Married with Children" and wrestled the character, Al Bundy
- Sarah and Mabel - 'Bad girl' wrestler tag-team with their ring attire consisting of jean overalls, long-sleeved shirts, and wore canvas sacks on their heads with eyelits and mouth-holes cut out as makeshift masks
- Evangelina - 'Bad girl' wrestler with the 'intolerant evangelist' angle
- Party Animal-only wrestled 1 match which was against Babe at the GLOW reunion Paper-view
[edit] Notable Gimmicks and Ring Entrances
Consistent with the professional wrestling entertainment angle, the GLOW performers had unique ring entrances or gimmicks to win (or lose) their respective matches. Some of them are the following:
- Matilda the Hun - Appeared with large turkey or roasted leg as part of her ring entrance
- Royal Hawaiian - Appeared with pineapples in a cart, threatening to strike her opponent with it
- Corporal Kelly - Wore two belts of bullets criss-crossed over her chest
- Attaché - Carried an attache brief case; however, was never used as a foreign object against her opponent
- Dallas (and later Tulsa) - Brought in a lasso and rope, occasionally trussing up her opponent during the match
- Dementia - Would bring an axe to the ring; would later attempt to use it against her opponent resulting in disqualification
- The Widow - Would offer her opponent her favorite beverage before the match that was "spiked"; opponent would soon succumb to its effects during the match, providing her an easy pinfall victory that was followed by covered her opponent with a black lace shroud
- Heavy Metal Sisters - Would carry in a chainsaw and small propane torch as part of their ring entrance. Would attempt to use them during the match (and get disqualified) and were often taken away from the match in straitjackets by Security
- Palestina - Conducted a pre-match prayer on her knees in the center of the ring, analogous to Islamic prayers
- Tammy Jones - Carried a small basket of candy and provided them to kids in the audience as part of her ring entrance
- Susie Spirit and Debbie Debutante - Conducted a cheerleader routine
[edit] Vignettes
In between the matches, GLOW also presented humorous vignettes featuring the GLOW girls in various short skits/vignettes, possibly to market their acting potential. Some of these recurring vignettes were the following:
- "Points to Ponder" presented by the California Doll, to play up with "beautiful but ditzy" blonde angle
- "GLOW Disco" featuring Melody Trouble Vixen (MTV)
- "Advice on How to Get the Man You Want" by Tina Ferrari
- "The Bare Facts" by Godiva
- Colonel Ninotchka talking on the phone to a KGB agent
- Tulsa and Babe the Farmer's Daughters Country Girl Dates
- Mount Fiji as a "Mae West" like character
- "Letters to Ashley" by Ashley Cartier
- "Mirror Mirror" by Vicky Victory, who ended up getting hit in the face with a pie
- Tiffany's Glow Gossip
- Spanish Red's Kitchen
