Women of Wrestling
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Women of Wrestling, aka WOW, is a defunct pro wrestling promotion founded in 2000 by David McLane, previously the founder of Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling and Powerful Women of Wrestling. It was based in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles Lakers vice-president Jeannie Buss provided at least some financial backing for the promotion, and appeared regularly on WOW programming, although not as an in-ring participant.
Once again following a similar formula that he created for GLOW and POWW, McLane hoped WOW would be the women's wrestling league that finally got the respect he felt it should deserve. Similar to McLane's earlier promotions, WOW depended heavily on kayfabe, and presented gimmicks that were almost laughable, especially compared to the darker fare being promoted by other companies. WOW talent would actively post to the company's message boards (now defunct) in-character, leading to such amusing incidents as the members of "Caged Heat", an inmate-themed tag team, claiming that they were accessing the internet from the prison library. WOW's usage of such overly-cliched gimmicks was largely panned by the internet wrestling community[citation needed].
WOW programming was aired in first-run syndication, often late at night and packaged with other sports-entertainment programming like Thunderbox. The promotion aired about twenty one-hour episodes, fielding a single pay-per-view, Women of Wrestling Unleashed. The pay-per-view was a dismal failure, and was likely a primary cause of the promotion's collapse. A second pay-per-view was announced, but never happened. The promotion's web site is still active, and refers to the 2001 series as "Season One", implying that future seasons may still air. A 2004 press release[1] claimed that McLane and Buss were planning to field a revamped version of WOW, however, as of this revision, no revival has occurred.
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[edit] Talent
The majority of WOW's performers were rookies to the business, recruited from backgrounds in modeling, acting, stunt work, and martial arts. Selena Majors (who wrestled in GLOW as "Bambi") and Thug (who wrestled in GLOW as "Peggy Lee Leather") were the trainers for the company.
The WOW talent could readily be divided into an "A-list" and a "B-list", with the A-list performers receiving the vast majority of the airtime and attention and the B-list serving primarily as undercard talent. Indeed, a large portion of the WOW performers have a bare minimum of information even on the official website.
[edit] Upper-card Wrestlers
- Beckie the Farmer's Daughter (Renee Madison Cole (as Renee Intlekofer)) - Face - Old-style "hillbilly" gimmick, complete with pigtails, Daisy Duke-style shorts and plaid midriff shirt. Billed as being from Hog Hollow, Nebraska. Trademark moves: Barnburner (450 splash).
- Bronco Billie (Lisa Danielle) - Face - Cowgirl/rodeo gimmick, billed as being from "The Ranch". Wrestling to earn money to save said family ranch. Trademark move: Bulldog.
- Charlie Davidson - Heel - Biker gimmick, member of "Harley's Angels".
- Christy Order - Heel - Corrupt/brutal cop gimmick, member of "Law & Order". Order never actually wrestled a match in WOW.
- Danger (Elle Alexander) - Heel - Professional stuntwoman-turned-wrestler gimmick, former tag partner of Riot. Briefly WOW champion. Trademark move: Danger Drop (Similar to the Rock Bottom / Book End).
- Delta Lotta Pain (Jwaundace Candece) - Heel - Prisoner gimmick, member of "Caged Heat".
- The Disciplinarian (Kristen Davidson) - Heel - Schoolteacher gimmick, billed from "The Board of Education". Briefly feuded with Bronco Billie prior to WOW's closure. Trademark move: Final Exam (Pedigree). Also worked (under a mask) as "Misery" of "The Daughters of Darkness".
- EZ Ryder (Eleanor Kerrigan) - Heel - Biker gimmick, member of "Harley's Angels".
- Ice Cold (Inga Waggoner) - Heel - "Ice princess" gimmick, billed from "The Arctic". Noted for a particularly elaborate stage entrance involving "snow" falling inside the arena. Lost a hair-vs-hair match to Lana Star at WOW: Unleashed and worked the rest of the promotion bald. Trademark move: Ice Pick (Top rope elbow drop). Briefly partnered with Poison.
- Jane Blond (Ella Carter) - Face - Female secret agent gimmick with obvious James Bond parallels, also billed as "Agent Double-O Heaven". Trademark moves: Kick of Death (Missile dropkick).
- Jungle Grrl (Erica D. Porter) - Tweener - Savage jungle character gimmick ala Tarzan. Wrestled barefoot, ostensibly from "the Amazon". Feuded with Beckie the Farmer's Daughter over use of Splash as finishing move in a Splash Match. Trademark move: Splash.
- Lana Star (Lana Kinnear) - Heel - Would-be movie star gimmick, dressed in all pink, cowboy hat, etc. Arguably WOW's top heel character. Trademark moves: The Facelift (Running Head Slam) Usage of illegal objects, especially hand mirrors and perfume sprayers.
- Loca - Heel - Member of "Caged Heat", see Delta Lotta Pain.
- Nicki Law - Heel - Corrupt police officer gimmick, member of "Law & Order". Trademark move: Neckbreaker.
- Poison (Kina Van Vleet)- Heel - A scientist who ingested an experimental serum and turned crazy (compare to DC Comics' Poison Ivy). Briefly tag partner of Ice Cold. Trademark move: Poison Paralyzer (Inverted DDT).
- Riot (April Katherine Littlejohn) - Tweener (originally heel) - The "heavy metal maniac", hits things with baseball bats, hardcore brawler. Trademark moves: Powerbomb, Diving Corkscrew Elbow. She was perhaps the biggest star in WOW while it was promoting shows.
- Selina Majors - Face - One of WOW's top talents, "injured" early in the season in a sneak attack by Harley's Angels. "Legend" gimmick. Turned heel at the WOW PPV after losing to Thug in a steel cage match. Trademark move: Stunner.
- Slam Dunk - Heel - Basketball player gimmick, ostensibly banned from WNBA for excessive violence. Trademark move: Chokeslam.
- Terri Gold (Heather Lee-Millard) - Face - Olympic athlete gimmick, top WOW face, generally touted as the primary attraction. First and later final WOW champion. Trademark move: The Perfect 10 (Moonsault).
- Thug (Peggy Lee Leather) - Heel - Biker gimmick, leader of "Harley's Angels". Trademark moves: Chokeslam, Squash.
- Vendetta - Heel - Third member of "Caged Heat", introduced at WOW: Unleashed.
- Wendi Wheels - Face - NASCAR/race car mechanic gimmick. Former member of the Beach Patrol as "Sunny." Trademark move: The Blowout (Sit-out Facebuster).
[edit] Undercard Wrestlers
- Boom Boom - Face - Generic "hula girl" gimmick, tag partner of Caliente. Trademark moves: Samoan Drop,Finishing Leg drop, big boot
- Caliente (Rachel Iverson) - Face - "Fiery Latina" gimmick, with flamenco attire. Trademark move: Mexican surfboard,flying forearm. Tag partner of Boom-Boom.
- Farah, the Persian Princess - Face - Bellydancer gimmick, tag partner of Paradise.Trademark move: Northern lights suplex
- "Hammerin'" Heather Steele (Christina Tomaziesski Colby) - Face - Handyman/construction worker gimmick. Trademark move: (although used once) Running Power Slam,Swinging Powerslam
- Jacklyn Hyde (Vasilika Vanya Marinkovic) - Heel - Jeckyll and Hyde-type gimmick, although it was played somewhat closer to DC Comics' Two-Face, complete with black/white bisected attire, hairstyle, etc. Trademark move: Jacklyn Splitter (Running neckbreaker).
- Jade (Jennifer Lee Chan) - Face - Exotic Asian gimmick, member of "Asian Invasion". Trademark move: Top-rope Samurai Scissors (Headscissors Takedown , Hurricarana).
- Lotus (Jeannie Kim) - Member of "Asian Invasion", see Jade.Trademark move: Crossbody,Jumping implant DDT
- Misery - Heel - Mysterious villain, worked in a mask, briefly stole the championship belt. See Disciplinarian.
- Mystery (Nicole Ochoa) - Heel - Partner of Misery (as "Daughters of Darkness"), identical gimmick. See Vendetta.
- Paradise - Face - Pacific Islander dancing girl gimmick. Tag partner of Farah The Persian Princess.Trademark move: STO
- Patti Pizzazz (formerly Patti Pep) - Heel (formerly face) - Formerly used cheerleader gimmick, later "corrupted" by Lana Star into her protege.turn back to face- Trademark move: Handspring elbow drop,elbow drop
- Phantom (Lynnette Thredgold) - Gimmick: Rejected by the bodybuilding world because she was a sensitive violinist and rejected from the classical music world because she had big muscles. Trademark moves: Figure Four Leglock, Sharpshooter.
- Randi Rah Rah - Face - Cheerleader gimmick, former partner of Patti Pizazz, "injured" by Lana Star.Trademark move:Handsring leg drop,leg drop from the top rope
- Roxy Powers (Natalie T. Yeo) - Face - Super-athlete gimmick. Trademark move: Superkick
- Sandy (Tamie Sheffield) - Face - Lifeguard gimmick, member of the "Beach Patrol".
- Summer (Bobbi Billard) - Face - Lifeguard gimmick, member of the "Beach Patrol".
- Tanja the Warrior Woman - Face - Extremely thinly veiled copy of Xena Warrior Princess. Trademark move: Spinning Wheel Kick.
[edit] Tag-teams/Stables
- Asian Invasion (Jade & Lotus) - Faces - Exotic Asian jobbers, failed to win a single match in WOW, greatly shaming their grandmother.
- Beach Patrol (Sandy & Summer) - Faces - Lifeguard gimmick ala "Baywatch" Attempted to be over because of their looks, but were mostly rejected by the fans.
- Caged Heat (Delta Lotta Pain, Loca & Vendetta) - Heels - Prisoner gimmick, out on work-release from Nevada State Correctional Facility to "work out aggression". Were the only WOW tag champs in history. Trademark moves: 3D (Capital Punishment), Doomsday Device (Drive-By)
- Daughters of Darkness (Mystery and Misery) - Heels - No real gimmick aside from being accompanied by "The Goon", a rotund man in a lucha-style hood.
- Harley's Angels (Thug, EZ Rider & Charlie Davidson) - Heels - Biker gimmick.
- Law & Order (Nicki Law & Christy Order) - Heels - Corrupt police officer gimmick. Order never actually wrestled a match in WOW, as they debuted at WOW: Unleashed and the promotion folded shortly after.
[edit] Other Personnel
- David B. McLane (Host & Announcer)
- Lee Marshall (Announcer)
- Andrew M. Somers (Voice overs)
- Julie Day (Backstage interviews)
- Josh Milton (Referee, noted within the promotion for a willingness to take extremely harsh bumps, including a dive off a 25' cage at WOW: Unleashed.)
- Jesse Hernandez (Referee. Owner of the EWF and wrestling trainer and ref. EWF was friendly to WOW and presented some of their workers on shows.)
