Olympia Hartauer (sometimes credited as Olympia Hightower) is a retired 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 ...

Professional wrestling career

Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

Olympia began her wrestling career in 1986 as a competitor on the

Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling 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. C ...

television series. She was the original of the two women that portrayed the character Corporal Kelly, hand picked by executive producer Matt Cimber. Her character was a militant heel that often competed in tag team matches with her sidekick and tag team partner, Attache. Olympia left GLOW in 1987. Being trained first in California by

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 ...

of the well known Guerrero Bros, Olympia later went on after GLOW to be trained by

The Fabulous Moolah Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildr ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

World Wrestling Federation

After leaving GLOW, Olympia joined the

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 vario ...

under her real name in the fall of 1987. She repackaged her character as an all-American patriotic babyface dressed in red, white, and blue attire. She defeated Judy Martin in a series of singles matches. She also competed in tag team matches with partners

Velvet McIntyre Velvet McIntyre (born November 24, 1962) is an Irish-Canadian retired professional wrestler. After beginning her career in 1980, she wrestled in American independent promotions before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). She h ...

and

Debbie Combs Debbie Szostecki (born April 18, 1959) is a retired professional wrestler better known as Debbie Combs. Early life Her mother, Cora Combs, was also a professional wrestler. Debbie Combs made her wrestling debut at Louisville Gardens for Angelo Po ...

against Martin and her partner

Leilani Kai Patty Seymour (born January 23, 1960) is a semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Leilani Kai. She began training with The Fabulous Moolah right after finishing high school. In the 1980s, as part of the World Wrestling F ...

(who, as the Glamour Girls, were the reigning WWF Women's Tag Team Champions), but lost each match.

American Wrestling Association

In January 1988, Olympia joined the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

under the name Ms. Olympia. She maintained her patriotic babyface gimmick and began competing to become the top contender for the

AWA World Women's Championship The AWA World Women's Championship was the 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 wrestli ...

, which was held at the time by Madusa Miceli. She competed in several matches against

Candi Devine Candace Maria Rummel (January 1, 1958 – February 9, 2022) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Candi Devine. She won singles championships in several promotions, most notably in the American Wrestling Associati ...

and former tag team partner Debbie Combs (who was now aligned with Miceli), but was unsuccessful in gaining the championship. Her last match in the AWA was against

Wendi Richter Victoria "Wendi" Richter (born September 8, 1961) is an American retired professional wrestler. She began her professional wrestling career in companies such as the National Wrestling Alliance, where she teamed with Joyce Grable, with whom she ...

(who had defeated Miceli for the championship) in March 1989. Although Olympia didn't win every match she engaged in, there were countless that she did win in the U.S. as well as in Canada, Italy, Germany and Austria.

Later career

Olympia continued to wrestle sporadically on the independent circuit after leaving the AWA. She competed in the Delta Tiger Lilies in 1988 and later joined the Women's Pro Wrestling organization in the early 1990s prior to her retirement from wrestling. During 2007, Olympia returned to the ring (after getting married and having children and wrestled for

SuperGirls Wrestling The ECCW Women's Championship (formerly SuperGirls Championship or the NWA SuperGirls Championship) is currently the women's professional wrestling championship of Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling, a wrestling promotion in British Columbia, ...

(which promotes in conjunction with NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling).

Championships and accomplishments

*Delta Tiger Lillies **Delta Tiger Lillies Six Person Tag Team titles (1 time) - with Ashley Ryan & Bambi

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartauer, Olympia American female professional wrestlers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women 20th-century professional wrestlers