April Hunter (born September 24, 1976) is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, professional wrestling

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, actress, writer, fitness model and

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

. She has appeared in publications including ''MuscleMag International'' and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' 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, Inc. (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 Nation ...

(WCW). Along with four other models (

Tylene Buck Tylene Buck (born March 7, 1972) is an American pornographic actress, model, camgirl, former professional wrestler and valet. She is perhaps best known for her stint in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Major Gunns. Professiona ...

, Kim Kanner (Shikira),

Midajah Melinda Midajah Flores (; born March 23, 1970) is an American personal trainer, fitness model, beautician and former professional wrestling manager and actress, better known by her ring name, Midajah. She is best known for her appearances with Wo ...

and Pamela Paulshock), 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 Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

in Boston. She was the only woman in the class and soon began working on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

and overseas.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002, 2003)

On August 28, 2002, Hunter appeared for

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

(TNA). She was introduced (and defeated) by then-Miss TNA

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

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 aff ...

Eric Watts Erik Watts (born December 19, 1967) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. He is the son of wrestler Bill Watts. ...

and

R. J. Brewer John Stagikas (born July 31, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, R. J. Brewer. Brewer is known for his appearances with Lucha Libre USA, where he portrayed a Conservatism in the United ...

Independent circuit (2002–2009)

Hunter formed a tag team with fellow Kowalski graduate

Nikki Roxx Nicole Raczynski (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux, The Voodoo Queen, and Roxxi. She is also known for her time ...

World Xtreme Wrestling World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) is a Florida-based independent circuit, independent professional wrestling promotion which has held events across the United States and toured in Japan, the Middle East and South Pacific region including American Sa ...

; the pair were known as The Killer Babes.Official site
/ref> She then worked as the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

for Slyck Wagner Brown. Together they held both

Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling, or 3PW, was a hardcore professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It ran many shows from the former ECW Arena. Following the close of Extreme Championship Wrestling, many former ECW veterans, suc ...

'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 Surita ...

JAPW Tag Team Championship The JAPW Tag Team Championship is a championship in the Jersey All Pro Wrestling promotion. It became official title on December 5, 1997 when The Blood Angels (Diablos Macabre and Lucifer Grimm) defeated Don Montoya and Homicide in a tournament fi ...

. 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 Sarah Stock (born March 4, 1979) is a Canadian professional wrestler, who was most recently signed to WWE as women's trainer and producer. Stock began her career in Canada and moved back and forth across the country, working for various promotio ...

. In February 2006, Hunter worked for

Carmen Electra Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), known professionally as Carmen Electra, is an American actress, model, singer, and media personality. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis, where she met Prince, who produced h ...

Naked Women's Wrestling League The Naked Women's Wrestling League, also known as NWWL, was an erotic women's professional wrestling promotion which featured nude females battling in the ring. Carmen Electra acted as hostess for the organization until 2007, when she sued the co ...

(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 Jamie Lynn Szantyr (born June 2, 1981) is an American color commentator and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to NWA. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a ...

. On April 6, they defeated

Team Blondage Team Blondage was a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of real life friends Amber O'Neal and Krissy Vaine. They are mostly known for their work in Shimmer Women Athletes, where they were the first tag team ever formed in the promotion ...

(

Amber O'Neal Kimberly Dawn Davis (born June 22, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Amber O’Neal. She formerly wrestled in Ring of Honor (ROH) in their "Women of Honor" division as well as various promotions on the U. ...

and

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are availa ...

) 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 Julia Hamer (née Hamer; born 19 October 1971), better known by her ring names Sweet Saraya and Saraya Knight, is an English professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. She is also the mother of AEW wrestler Saraya. Early life Hamer was bor ...

in the final round of a championship tournament. She vacated the title on In May 2012. She also won

Great Canadian Wrestling Great Canadian Wrestling (GCW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion company based in Oshawa, Ontario. GCW was founded in 2005 and promotes shows throughout Southern Ontario. The company also hosts since 2005 an annual Great Canadi ...

'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 A cherry bomb (also known as a globe salute or kraft salute) is an approximately spherical exploding firework, roughly resembling a cherry in size and shape (with the fuse resembling the cherry's stem). Cherry bombs range in size from in diame ...

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 Amy Janas (born June 22, 1982), better known by her ring name Lorelei Lee, is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known by her appearances in SHIMMER Women Athletes. Professional wrestling career Mason-Dixon Wrestling (2006� ...

in a losing effort against TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Sarita and

Taylor Wilde Shantelle Larissa Malawski (born January 26, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler. She is signed with Impact Wrestling, where she performs under the ring name Taylor Wilde. Malawski was under a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) contract fr ...

. On June 15, 2010, Hunter claimed that she had turned down a contract offer from TNA the previous month.

Independent circuit (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 Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

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 Shine Wrestling (stylized as SHINE Wrestling and often referred to simply as SHINE) is an American, New York based independent women's professional wrestling promotion. It is the sister promotion to Shimmer Women Athletes and airs events on Int ...

'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 Stephanie Hym Lee (née Bell; born April 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name "Michin" Mia Yim. She is a member of The O.C.. She is also known for her tim ...

, Su Yung and Tracy Taylor. April Hunter debuted for

High Impact Wrestling Canada High Impact Wrestling Canada (HIW) was a professional wrestling promotion, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Known for its hard hitting "Saskatchewan Style", the HIW roster consisted of nearly 40 regular performers. On January 1, 2019, the ...

in August 2014 as part of the "Tour De Rumble" that featured events throughout Central Canada. She appeared at eight events during the tour. On the tour she fought alongside Danny Duggan and Mike McSugar defeating the teams of Jaida and Michael Allen as Dick Richards and Jaida. Being her last fights after not fighting for a while, she retired in 2018 from professional wrestling.

Other media

Hunter competed in Muscle and Fitness competitions in 2009 and placed third in her first

National Physique Committee The National Physique Committee (NPC) is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the United States. Amateur bodybuilders compete in competitions from local to national competitions sanctioned by the NPC. While the term "bodybuilding" is ...

-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 is a 2004 Japanese action comedy film directed by Naoki Kudo, written by Naoki Kudo and Izō Hashimoto, and starring Shinya Hashimoto, Sonim, Shirō Sano, and Nicholas Pettas. Hashimoto plays a professional wrestler whose wife involuntarily turn ...

'' (2004) and ''

Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy ''Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy'' is a 2006 film starring April Hunter and Joanie Laurer. This romantic comedy was premiered at New Jersey and New York City on December 1, 2006 and was released on DVD in the United States and the United K ...

'' (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 automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Fun Cargo TV commercial. In the United States, she appeared in an

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

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 nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'', and in the video for

The Outhere Brothers The Outhere Brothers are an American hip house and Eurodance duo, composed of Keith "Malik" Mayberry and record producer Lamar "Hula" Mahone. While they achieved only moderate success in their native United States, two of their singles, "Boom B ...

' "

Boom Boom Boom "Boom Boom Boom" is a song by American hip house duo the Outhere Brothers, released in June 1995 as the fourth single from their debut album, '' 1 Polish, 2 Biscuits & a Fish Sandwich'' (1994), and is also featured on their compilation albums ' ...

"/"

Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle) "Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)" is a song by American hip-house duo the Outhere Brothers, released in 1994 as a single from their debut album, '' 1 Polish, 2 Biscuits & a Fish Sandwich'' (1994). The song topped the charts in the Republic of Irelan ...

." She appeared in a W-FIVE documentary in Canada,

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

'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 ...

s and art, comics, and books by Jay E. Fife, Scott Blair,

Monte Moore Monte Moore (born 1930) is an American former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams. Voice of the Athletics An Oklahoma native, with a folksy, down-home style, Moore became the lea ...

Julie Strain Julie Ann Strain (February 18, 1962 – January 10, 2021) was an American actress and model. She was chosen by ''Penthouse (magazine), Penthouse'' as Pet of the Month in June 1991 and Pet of the Year in 1993. Her biggest mainstream acting role was ...

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 (co ...

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 portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

ing as various characters. Her cosplay costumes have featured

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, Black Widow, a female version of

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

, Poison Ivy,

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

and

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics ...

Personal life

Hunter is of German, Scottish and Italian descent. She was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, but moved to

Enterprise, Alabama Enterprise is a city in the southeastern part of Coffee County and the southwestern part of Dale County in Southeastern Alabama, United States. Its population was 28,711 at the 2020 census. Enterprise is the primary city of the Enterprise micr ...

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 ''

'' model and

Met-Rx MET-Rx is an American brand of nutritional supplements originally produced by Met-Rx, Inc., a California company started by Scott Connelly, and sold several times since. The brand is best known for pioneering a new category of bodybuilding supple ...

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 The New England School of Photography was a private for-profit arts school founded in 1968 and located in Boston, Massachusetts. After more than 50 years of operation, it permanently closed in March 2020. Alumni records have been transferred to th ...

Championships and accomplishments

* Far North Wrestling ** FNW Women's Championship (1 time) * German Stampede Wrestling ** GSW World Women's Championship (1 time) *

** GCW W.I.L.D. Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) – with

Slyck Wagner Brown Wagner Brown (born September 5, 1979) is a Jamaican born professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, SWB or Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown currently wrestles on the Independent circuit in the Northeastern United States. Additionally, SWB was ...

Jersey Championship Wrestling Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), formerly known as Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW), is an American Independent circuit, independent professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in New Jersey. The promotion was origina ...

** 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 Jersey ...

NWA Cyberspace Women's Championship The NWA Shockwave Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in NWA Shockwave (NWA-SW) and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It was the original title of the CyberSpace Wrestling Federation promotion and was later ...

(1 time) *

** 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 internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' ** Ranked No. 18 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI Female 50 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

'' 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

Women Superstars Uncensored Women Superstars United (WSU; formerly ''Women Superstars Uncensored'') is an American, New Jersey based women's professional wrestling promotion which held its first event in 2006. Shows combine wrestling interspersed with both serious and c ...

** WSU Hall of Fame (Class of 2011) *

WXW Women's Championship The WXW Women's Championship is the top women's professional wrestling title in the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of mark ...

( 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 professional wrestlers