Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (also known by its initials as GLOW or G.L.O.W.) is a
women's professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for wome ...
promotion that began in 1986 (the pilot was filmed in December 1985) and has continued in various forms after it left
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
. Colorful characters, strong women, and over-the-top comedy sketches were integral to the series' success. Most of the performers were actresses, models, dancers or stunt women hoping to enter show business.
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 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 posted casting notices in ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' and ''
Variety,'' leading to over 500 women showing up for auditions at The Hyatt on Sunset. The first audition was at
Gold's Gym,
and the dozen finalists selected trained for six weeks at the Broadway Boxing Gym at 108th and Broadway in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of
Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
* Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters
*Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful''
* Watts family, six cha ...
. McLane hired professional Mexican wrestler
Mando Guerrero
Armando Guerrero Llanes (born June 9, 1950), better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired Mexican American professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female professional wrestling promotion. He ...
to train them and later brought in wrestling veteran
Cynthia Peretti
Cynthia Peretti (June 2, 1948 – May 8, 2009) was an American professional wrestler and trainer, better known by her ring name Princess Jasmine.
Professional wrestling career
In 1968, Peretti was trained by professional wrestlers Prince Pullins ...
(professionally known as Princess Jasmine) to take over from Guerrero. Peretti also wrestled in the series as "Pepper".
McLane partnered with the television distribution company Independent Network Incorporated (INI), headed by former
Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...
executive Irv Holender. Holender's previous credits included producing ''
Gumby'', which was revived about the same time. It was through Holender that McLane met
Meshulam Riklis, chairman of Rapid-American Corporation, a conglomerate which included ownership of the
Riviera Hotel and Casino on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas cit ...
. Riklis arranged for the Riviera Hotel to host GLOW. Holender's firm was in charge of distribution (in a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
based syndicator, MG/Perin) and McLane headed the venture.
Matt Cimber, who had recently directed the movie ''
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...
'', starring Riklis' 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 supplemented by local women, many of whom had been actresses and
showroom dancers. Lauri Thompson, a Las Vegas attorney and lead dancer in the
Folies Bergère at the
Tropicana, played Susie Spirit. Thompson recruited others, creating a recruiting chain of other friends and dancers.
One of those, 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
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, 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 H ...
'', part of a pictorial titled Lethal Women. She went on to do stunt work and started her own wrestling production company
Hollywould Productions.
The show was introduced at the 1986
NATPE Convention. Following the successful initial sale to 30 major television markets in the US and six other countries, McLane brought in
Jackie Stallone, mother of
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
, to play
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...
GLOW owner and 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 activitie ...
of the
Good Girls. Kitty Burke as Aunt Kitty, was the manager for the
Bad Girls. Stallone had been promoting a physical fitness gym for women only.
Broadcast
The syndicated GLOW TV show was produced for four seasons (1986–1990). Seasons 1 and 2 were shot at the Riviera on Saturday afternoons with a casino crowd. McLane and the majority of the original cast left the company in a dispute over the domination of low brow,
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
, ''
Hee Haw'' style comedy Cimber had infused into the show. McLane's new promotion became
Powerful Women of Wrestling
Powerful Women of Wrestling (also known as POWW) was a women's professional wrestling promotion based out of Indianapolis, Indiana founded by David McLane, founder of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and Women of Wrestling.
History
After David McL ...
. Seasons 3 and 4 were filmed at a former warehouse building approximately three miles east of the Riviera hotel which would later be a
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depre ...
outlet. Cimber cast new actresses to play the wrestlers.
They wrestled approximately eight matches per live event.
The show itself differed from
Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
(WWF) in that the venture held live events only for the purpose of taping television programming, versus running live shows in various city locations each week. They had actual television seasons consisting of 26 episodes that were each rerun once to complete the year, with a total of 104 episodes produced and aired. As Cimber focused on producing, Andrew Hecker directed later episodes. A fifth season was being shot when the show went off the air in financial turmoil. Hecker directed an initial revival attempt in 1991, which became the
pay per view special, ''GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling: Canvas Carnage'', which included clips from every performer in the company's history including McLane's return as host. McLane later created
Women of Wrestling, also directed by Hecker and syndicated to TV stations by MG/Perin, in 2000.
McLane performed as the ring announcer and host for Seasons 1 and 2. McLane's announcing voice was replaced in Season 2 to add more comedy feel to the episodes, using Miles Headlock (a computer generated
knock-off of
Max Headroom), and "Motormouth" Mike Morgan (who sounded a lot like
Howard Cosell). Steve Blance was the senior
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
in Season 2 before becoming GLOW's "
commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
" in Seasons 3 and 4. He was the regular recipient of a GLOW Girl beatdown in Season 2. Johnny Cafarella (as "Johnny C.") was the ring announcer for Seasons 3 and 4, was the figurehead owner (buying David McLane's "interest" in a storyline) and also served as company manager after the departure of McLane in 1987.
Each of the GLOW performers had their own
rap song
"Rap Song" is a song by R&B singer T-Pain. The song features rapper Rick Ross and originally served as a single off T-Pain's fourth studio album '' RevolveЯ'', but never made it on the track list.
Background
His previous singles " Take Your ...
(personalized lyrics using the same backing track). It was shown on
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
prior to that wrestler's match. Similar to other wrestling promotions' use of wrestler-specific
entrance themes, this
gimmick
A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
may have been influenced by the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
' "
Super Bowl Shuffle
"The Super Bowl Shuffle" is a song performed by the Chicago Bears football team (credited as the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) in . It was released in December 1985 on Chicago-based Red Label Records and distributed through Capitol Records two mo ...
". The music for the rap was written by Hank Donig, who did the music for the first two seasons supervised by Morris I. Diamond. Music for Seasons 3 and 4 was created by Brian Bogle and Ed Ryba under the name "Music out the Yang". Hecker gave each performer personalized
Digital video effects including
3D effects and personalized logos, with Ann DeVilbiss as graphic designer.
Revival by Ursula Hayden
The GLOW company has been owned and operated since 2001 by
Ursula Hayden, who portrayed Babe the Farmer's Daughter, Princess of Darkness, and Donna Matrix. Her first venture with GLOW was a sold-out 2003 live event at the
El Rey Theatre in Hollywood California. Followed by a
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
pay-per-view produced by Ursula Hayden and Johnny Cafarella, Glow's ring announcer season 3 and 4. In April 2012, GLOW returned to Las Vegas for a show that reunited former GLOW participants Hollywood (
Jeanne Basone), Babe the Farmer's Daughter, Gremlina, Lightning, Thunder Bolt, Melody Trouble Vixen, Ashley Cartier, Godiva, Daisy, and Corporal Kelly. The show also featured new GLOW wrestlers, including
Sara Deathray and
VH1. Then later in 2012 she appeared in the documentary ''
GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling''. It premiered on April 27, 2012, at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and won the Best Documentary award at the San Diego Comic-Con film festival. In 2017 after a few years of working with writers
Liz Flahive and
Carly Mensch, ''
GLOW'' a scripted comedy-drama series based on the actual wrestling promotion was picked up by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
. Hayden now serves as a series consultant on the show.
Documentary
A documentary film, ''GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling'', was released in 2012. The film was directed by Brett Whitcomb and written by Bradford Thomason. It features the music of
ESG. The film premiered to positive reviews at the
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and has since been featured in ''
New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...
'', ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose par ...
'',
RogerEbert.com, VICE, /Film, ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'', and ''
Mental Floss'' magazine. It won the Best Documentary award at the 2012
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
Film Festival, and Audience Choice Best Documentary at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama.
Netflix series
''GLOW'' is a TV series that premiered on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
in 2017. A scripted
comedy drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
, it tells the fictional story of a 1980s professional wrestling promotion that is based on the actual Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It was created by
Liz Flahive and
Carly Mensch, and stars
Alison Brie,
Betty Gilpin
Elizabeth Folan Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
, and
Marc Maron
Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than fort ...
.
Alumnae
Championships
GLOW Championship
GLOW Tag Team Championship
Footnotes
References
External links
*
GLOWat
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
GLOWat
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
*
*
{{Women's professional wrestling
1986 American television series debuts
1986 establishments in Nevada
1990 American television series endings
American professional wrestling promotions
American professional wrestling television series
Entertainment companies established in 1986
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
Performing groups established in 1986
Professional wrestling in the Las Vegas Valley
Women's professional wrestling promotions