In honor of Women’s History Month, I thought I would take this time to speak about and highlight some Women-Led and/or all women’s independent wrestling promotions. There is no way I will be able to cover all of them, and maybe this will lead to a series of articles, but for March, here are a few past, present, and developing independent women’s wrestling promotions.
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) – 1986
GLOW is one of the titans of the Women’s Wrestling World, as well as one of the more familiar promotions on this list. The promotion started on TV in 1986 and has survived in various forms after leaving production in 1990. GLOW was not only known for the women in the promotion, but for the outlandishly comedic nature of the show. In 2001, GLOW was purchased by an alumnus of the company to revive the promotion with a blend of former stars and some new up and comers. Not much has been done with the purchase since then.
Notable Alumni Include: Godiva, Hollywood, Lightening, Roxy Astor, Tina Ferrari, Vine, Sally the Farmer’s Daughter, Amy the Farmer’s Daughter, Babe the Farmer’s Daughter, Palestina, MTV, Matilda the Hun, Col. Ninotchka, and Tiffany Mellon to name a few.
Powerful Women of Wrestling (POWW) – 1987
We have only David McLane to thank for not only POWW but GLOW and WOW as well. He is the founder behind all three, and in a contrast to GLOW, POWW put out a more wrestling-centered product. The roster for POWW was much larger and featured a lot of commonly known legends in their beginning stages. POWW only lasted a few years, as they closed their doors in 1990. Notable Alumni Include: Luna Vachon, Paisley, Donna Spangler, Candi Devine, Lock, Madusa, and Wendi Richter.
Ladies Major League Wrestling (LMLW/WWOW)
Another short-lived but greatly appreciated promotion is LMLW. LMLW featured well-known ladies and indy wrestlers and was marketed as Wild Women of Wrestling. Owned by Howard Brody, the head booker was Luna Vachon, and the announcers were Bill Cardille and Bruno Sammartino. The promotion was defunct by 1992 but was not without its drama. To keep people away from the promotion, Vachon would book wrestlers on TV for bad behavior. There are not any alumni to note as they brought people in and did not sign contracts for the promotion.
Thank you to these promotions for taking the risk and setting the foundation for future promotions to succeed. Check back later for part two, a look at some of today’s leading women’s promotions.
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