Cora B. Bowser (1887/1889 – April 22, 1957), better known by the
ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...
Cora Livingston (also spelled as Livingstone) was an American
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 ...
.
She is the first women's
world champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in
professional wrestling
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 o ...
history.
Early life
Cora Livingston's parents died when she was young. Therefore, Livingston was placed in a
convent school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
where she was raised by the nuns.
[
]
Professional wrestling career
Hailing from Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
,[ Livingston began wrestling with the ]circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
at age 16, Where her first match to be documented took place on March 19, 1906, at the Lafayette Theatre in Buffalo.[ She defeated Laura Bennett in 1910 to be the "first to be recognized as Women's Champion of the World".]Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, she managed to build herself as a credible champion, as she faced the opponents like Bessie Farrar and Celina Pontos. On September 7, 1910, Livingston faced a local competitor May Nelson. They wrestled around 13 minutes until the police had to stop the match, due to fans who tried to storm into the ring as Livingston being rough with Nelson. The match between the two resumed two days after that incident, where Livingston suffered her first loss in her wrestling career, although the match wasn't for Livingston's championship.[ Livingston retained her championship title until her retirement.]
Personal life and death
Livingston married a fellow wrestler Paul Bowser
Paul Forbes Bowser (May 28, 1886 – July 17, 1960) was a professional wrestling promoter who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s in the Boston area.Tim Hornbaker,Paul Bowser Biography" 2006
Wrestler
Bowser grew up on a farm in western Pennsy ...
in 1913. After her retirement from professional wrestling, Livingston helped her husband run the New England wrestling territory. Livingston died in Boston on April 22, 1957.[
]
Championships and accomplishments
* Independent
** Women's World Championship
The Women's World Championship was the first women's professional wrestling world title.
History
Cora Livingston defeated Hazel Parker in 1906. Though the contest was originally for the Featherweight Championship, from that point she was billed ...
(1 time, first)
*Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame
**Class of 2023[https://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=165040]
References
{{reflist
Further reading
*Laprade, Pat. ''Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling''. 9781773050157. Toronto: ECW Press, 2017.
1957 deaths
Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York
American female professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from New York (state)
20th-century professional wrestlers