April Hunter (born September 24, 1976) is an American retired
professional wrestler, professional wrestling
valet,
boxer, actress, writer,
fitness model and
glamour model. She has appeared in publications including ''MuscleMag International'' and ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' and has her own comic book series titled ''Code Red''.
Professional wrestling career
World Championship Wrestling (1999–2000)
In 1999, after Hunter appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine, she was hired by
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW).
[ Along with four other models ( Midajah, Major Gunns, Pamela Paulshock and Shakira), she accompanied members of the New World Order (nWo) to ringside for their matches.
]
Independent circuit (2001–2002)
Hunter trained to become a professional wrestler with Killer Kowalski
Wladek Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Killer Kowalski.
Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the ...
in Boston.[ She was the only woman in the class and soon began working on the ]independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...
and overseas.
NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002, 2003)
On August 28, 2002, Hunter appeared for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...
(TNA). She was introduced (and defeated) by then-Miss TNA Bruce as part of his Miss TNA Challenge.[ She returned for several other appearances in TNA, including matches against ]Desire
Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...
, Eric Watts and R. J. Brewer.[
]
Independent circuit (2002–2009)
Hunter formed a tag team with fellow Kowalski graduate Nikki Roxx in World Xtreme Wrestling; the pair were known as The Killer Babes.[Official site](_blank)
/ref> She then worked as the manager for Slyck Wagner Brown. Together they held both Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling's 3PW Tag Team Championship and Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) was an independent wrestling promotion based in New Jersey, United States.
History
1997
Jersey All Pro Wrestling was an independent wrestling promotion that was founded by "Fat" Frank Iadeavia and Angel Surit ...
's JAPW Tag Team Championship. Hunter was the first woman in pro wrestling history to hold the (male) tag team title.
Hunter traveled to Canada for the first time in December 2005, working for Action Wrestling Entertainment and wrestling against Sarah Stock. In February 2006, Hunter worked for Carmen Electra's Naked Women's Wrestling League (NWWL). While in the NWWL Hunter broke her nose, which limited the moves she could perform while working for the promotion.[
In Women's Extreme Wrestling (WEW) in April 2006, Hunter formed a tag team known as T & A with Talia Madison.] On April 6, they defeated Team Blondage ( Amber O'Neal and Lollipop) for the WEW Tag Team Championship.[ A month later, Hunter and J.D. Maverick debuted together for TNT Pro Wrestling.][ In September, Hunter challenged Madison for her TNT Women's Championship.][ She defeated Madison for the title on September 23.][ During her time in TNT, Hunter appeared in the ''Glamour, Glitz & Divas—The Untold Story of American Women's Wrestling'' DVD, alongside Madison and Michaels.
Hunter won Queens of Chaos's World Queens of Chaos Championship in November 2006 by defeating Sweet Saraya in the final round of a championship tournament.][ She vacated the title on In May 2012. She also won Great Canadian Wrestling's GCW W.I.L.D. Championship from Miss Danyah on April 13, 2007.] She held the title for one day before losing it to Cherry Bomb in a four-way match.[ Because of wrestling-related injuries, Hunter retired from professional wrestling later in the year.][
]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009)
Hunter turned heel in her return to TNA on the December 31, 2009 edition of '' Impact!'', teaming with the evil Lorelei Lee in a losing effort against TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Sarita and Taylor Wilde. On June 15, 2010, Hunter claimed that she had turned down a contract offer from TNA the previous month.
Later career (2009–2014)
In late 2009, Hunter returned to the ring from retirement. Her mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer and her return to the ring was prompted by her wanting to help out financially. Hunter toured Europe with American Rampage Wrestling in November and December 2009 with Rob Van Dam
Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...
, Sid Vicious and Sabu.
Hunter was part of the AWR (American Wrestling Rampage) European Tour in November 2010 in France with Booker T, Sandman, Scott Steiner and Kai.
On September 21, 2012, Hunter debuted for Shine Wrestling's SHINE 3 event as the villainous manager of Made In Sin (Allysin Kay and Taylor Made). All three women would align with Rain and Ivelisse to form the Valkyrie faction at SHINE 6 on January 11, 2013. At SHINE 7 on February 22, Hunter made her in-ring debut for the promotion, teaming with Made In Sin in a victorious outing against Mia Yim, Su Yung and Tracy Taylor.
April Hunter debuted for High Impact Wrestling Canada in August 2014 as part of the "Tour De Rumble" that featured events throughout Central Canada. She appeared at eight events during the tour.
Other media
Hunter competed in Muscle and Fitness competitions in 2009 and placed third in her first National Physique Committee-sanctioned figure competition November 14, 2009. She then competed in Figure on June 18, 2010, at the Junior Nationals in Chicago.
Hunter has appeared in the films '' Oh! My Zombie Mermaid'' (2004) and '' Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy'' (2007). In the United Kingdom, she has appeared on the ''James Whale Show'', and in Japan, she appeared in a Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
Fun Cargo TV commercial. In the United States, she appeared in an MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
documentary entitled ''Body of Work'', on ''The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
'', and in the video for The Outhere Brothers' " Boom Boom Boom"/" Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)." She appeared in a W-FIVE documentary in Canada, TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
's ''Most Daring Wild Women'' and several independent films, including ''Ultimate Death Match II'' and ''Hell House'' in 2009/2010.
In 2012, Hunter appeared in horror film ''The Meat Puppet'' playing the role of "Jade" For her performance she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Feature Drama in the Downbeach Film Festival.
In 2013 Hunter appeared in the film ''Gravedigger'', playing the role of Marie Spiegel.
Hunter is featured in a line of comic books with the titles ''Code Red'', ''Code Red II'', ''Stripper Viking'', and ''Stripper Viking II''. She is also featured in various trading card
A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...
s and art, comics, and books by Jay E. Fife, Scott Blair, Monte Moore, Julie Strain and Boris Vallejo. In 2013 Hunter was one of several models chosen to work with artist George Pérez
George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...
on his new comic, ''Sirens''. She served as the model for the character "Agony".
In 2013, Hunter started a blog she titled "Putting The Clothes On, Taking The Gloves Off".
Starting in 2013 she started making appearances at horror, science fiction, and comic book conventions cosplay
Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
ing as various characters. Her cosplay costumes have featured Phoenix, Black Widow, a female version of The Punisher, Poison Ivy
Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...
, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
and Red Sonja.
Personal life
Hunter is of German, Scottish and Italian descent. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, but moved to Enterprise, Alabama with her father when her parents divorced. Before entering the world of professional wrestling, Hunter worked as a fitness model.[ She placed in Ms. Fitness Philadelphia and Ironwoman Tri-Fitness in Tampa, Florida. She also worked as a '']Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' model and Met-Rx spokesperson.
On August 30, 2006, Hunter married Canadian wrestler Jordan Danyluk (known as J.D. Maverick) in Las Vegas, Nevada. They first met at a wrestling show in December 2005 and were engaged after Valentine's Day in 2006.[ The two have since divorced.][
She studied photography at the New England School of Photography.][
]
Championships and accomplishments
* Far North Wrestling
** FNW Women's Championship (1 time)
* German Stampede Wrestling
** GSW World Women's Championship (1 time)
* Great Canadian Wrestling
** GCW W.I.L.D. Championship (1 time)[
* ]Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) was an independent wrestling promotion based in New Jersey, United States.
History
1997
Jersey All Pro Wrestling was an independent wrestling promotion that was founded by "Fat" Frank Iadeavia and Angel Surit ...
** JAPW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Slyck Wagner Brown
Wagner Brown (born September 5, 1979) is a Jamaican born Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, SWB or Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown currently wrestles on the Independent circuit in the Northeastern United State ...
[
* Jersey Championship Wrestling
** JCW Women's Championship (1 time)
* ]NWA Cyberspace
NWA Shockwave (NWA-SW, formerly known as CyberSpace Wrestling Federation and NWA: Cyberspace) was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded by Billy Firehawk in Staten Island, New York in 2001, and later relocated to Wayne, New Jers ...
** NWA Cyberspace Women's Championship (1 time)
* Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling
** 3PW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Slyck Wagner Brown
**Tag Team Royal Rumble (2004) – with Slyck Wagner Brown
* ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
''
** Ranked No. 18 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the '' PWI Female 50'' in 2008
* Queens of Chaos
** World Queens of Chaos Championship (1 time)
* USA Pro Wrestling
** USA Pro Women's Championship (1 time)[
* Women's Extreme Wrestling
** WEW World Tag Team Championship – with Talia Madison
* Women Superstars Uncensored
** WSU Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
* World Xtreme Wrestling
** WXW Women's Championship ( 1 time)][
** Women's Super 8 Tournament (2003)]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, April
American female bodybuilders
American female dancers
American film actresses
Fitness and figure competitors
American female professional wrestlers
Sportspeople from Philadelphia
Professional wrestling managers and valets
1976 births
Living people
Cosplayers
Glamour models
Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania
Boxers from Philadelphia
21st-century American women
21st-century female professional wrestlers
21st-century American professional wrestlers
New World Order (professional wrestling) members