Winfred "Winnie" Childree, also known as Winfred Barkley (September 5, 1955 – May 9, 2020) 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 o ...

, better known by the

ring names Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

Winona Littleheart and The Lock.

Professional wrestling career

National Wrestling Alliance

Childree, stepdaughter of wrestler/booker "Dirty" Dick Barkley, debuted on New Year's Day, 1976, participating in a ten-woman battle royal at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. She began her wrestling career as "Winona Littleheart" with the standard "Native American" gimmick, including a fringe vest and feather in her hair. She became Girl's Wrestling Rookie of the Year for 1976. For the next several years, she would cut her teeth in various NWA territories such as Tampa, New York,

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Nashville,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Kansas City, Calgary, and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. As "Princess Little Heart", she was awarded the

NWA United States Women's Championship The NWA United States Women's Championship was a sporadically used women's professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance from 1968 until 1987. Title history Footnotes See also *List of National Wrestling Allianc ...

in October 1980, before losing to the title to Judy Martin. After leaving Moolah's group and the WWF in 1985, Childree returned to the NWA and its Tampa territory, this time under the name "Cindy Lou", a young woman who used to be friends with

Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW ...

and

Kendall Windham Kendall Wayne Windham (born December 15, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is the son of Blackjack Mulligan and the brother of Barry Windham. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling. Professi ...

while growing up. She had been abducted by Kevin Sullivan, who renamed her "The Lock" (because he kept her under lock and key). As The Lock, she eventually wore a

mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and wore bizarre clothing and face paint. She joined Sullivan's "Army of Darkness" stable and frequently fought with Sullivan's other valet,

Fallen Angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said ...

. Eventually

Luna Vachon Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon ( ; January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Luna Vachon.Lisa S. Davis,Ex-wrestler Luna Vachon, 48, found dead", ''Tampa Bay Online'' (August 31, 2010). Over ...

joined the stable and she formed a tag team with The Lock known as "The Daughters of Darkness".

World Wrestling Federation

As Winona Littleheart, she frequently competed in the World Wide/World Wrestling Federation in the late 1970s and early/mid 1980s. She often feuded with

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 Mild ...

and Judy Martin. She also worked as a trainer at Moolah's wrestling school and helped train

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 s ...

. In 1985, two years after WWF finally broke away from the NWA, she challenged then

WWF Women's Champion WWF may refer to: Non-profit organizations *World Wide Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund, a nature conservation group *World Water Forum, an international forum for water issues *Working Women's Forum, a training, trade and credit union in In ...

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 ...

for the title during Kai's short title reign.

Independent circuit

As the Florida territory started to wind down, Luna and Lock hit the independent circuit and won the World Tag Team title for the short lived Women's Championship Wrestling (based in Las Vegas, the predecessor to LPWA). They defended the titles 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

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 ...

in Memphis in January 1987. Later that summer, she returned to Georgia to compete for AWA Georgia. The Lock wrestled for

David McLane David B. McLane is an American businessman, known primarily as a wrestling promoter and television producer. He was the creator of the GLOW- Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and WOW-Women Of Wrestling (recognized as WOW! and WOW), both nationally ...

's Powerful Women of Wrestling in 1988, managed by Genie Beret.

Retirement

Barkley retired from professional wrestling. She provided back-up vocals for a song on

Nasty Savage Nasty Savage is an American thrash metal band from Brandon, Florida, formed in 1983 by vocalist "Nasty" Ronnie Galletti. The band has undergone various lineup changes, with Galletti and guitarist David Austin remaining the only constant members ...

's 1987 album "''Indulgence''". She died on May 9, 2020. She was believed to have been 64 years old.

Championships and accomplishments

* National Wrestling Alliance **

( 1 time) *Women's Championship Wrestling **WCW World Women's Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

References

External links

"Wenona Little Heart followed stepfather into wrestling"
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Littleheart, Winona 1955 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American women People from Taylor County, Georgia American female professional wrestlers Faux Native American professional wrestlers Professional wrestling managers and valets Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century professional wrestlers