Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling Wiki

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Synopsis
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (also known by its initials as GLOW or G.L.O.W.) is a women’s professional wrestling promotion that began in 1986 (the pilot was filmed in December 1985) and has continued in various forms after it left television. Colorful characters, and over-the-top comedy sketches were integral to the series sucess. Most of the performers were actresses, models, dancers or stuntwomen hoping to enter showbusiness.

While the Bleacher Report ranked GLOW at #15 on its list of the worst wrestling promotions in 2011, a Netflix series based on the show that premiered in 2017 has since renewed interest.

Inception
David B. McLane created the series while working as an announcer and promoter with Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association (WWA) after seeing fans react to women’s wrestling. The show’s runner Dick the Bruiser believed that Indianapolis audiences would not be receptive to a wrestling promotion featuring female wrestlers and dismissed the concept as an unprofitable novelty.

Undeterred, McLane went to Hollywood and posting casting notices in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, leading over 500 women showed up to audition at the Hyatt at Sunset. The first audition was at Gold’s Gym, and the dozen finalists selected trained for six weeks at the Boxing Gym at 108th and Broadway, in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. McLane hired professional Mexican wrestler Mando Guerrero to train the and later brought in veteran wrestler Cynthia Peretti (professionally known as Princess Jasmine) to take over for Mr. Guerrero. Peretti also wrestled in the series known as the character “Pepper”.

McLane partnered with the television distribution company Independent Network Incorporated (INI), headed by former Lorimar-Telepictures executive Irving Holender. Holender’s previous credits included producing Gumby, which was revived about the same time. It was through Holender that McLane met Methuslam Ricklis, chairman of Rapid-American Corporation, a conglomerate of companies, which included ownership of the Riviera Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Ricklis arranged for the Riviera Hotel to host GLOW. Holender’s firm was in charge of distribution (in a joint venture with a New York City based syndicator, MG/Perin) and McLane headed the venture. Matt Cimber, who had recently directed the movie Butterfly, starred Ricklis’ then-wife Pia Zadora, was brought in to provide creative services and direct the shows.

A number of the original dozen wrestlers moved to Las Vegas and were shown supplemental to local women, many of whom had been actressses and showroom dancers. Lauri Thompson, a Las Vegas attorney and lead dancer in the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana, played Susie Spirit. Thompson recruited others, creating a recruitment chain of other friends and dancers. One of them, Lorilyn Palmer, who played Colonel Ninotchka, took over training the new women. According to David McLane, the first actress hired was Jeanne Basone (who was working as a phlebotomist at the time) as the character Hollywood. Basone also appeared in Playboy, part of a pictorial titled Lethal Women. She went on to do stunt work and started her own wrestling production called Hollywould Productions.

The show was introduced at the 1986 NATPE convention.

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