The hair was massive. The spandex was neon. The raps were, honestly, pretty terrible.
If you grew up in the 80s, you probably remember stumbling across GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling on a Saturday afternoon. It felt like a fever dream. You had these women—mostly actresses and models who had no idea how to take a bump—getting tossed around a ring in a Las Vegas hotel. It wasn't just wrestling; it was a bizarre variety show with sketches, glitter, and some of the most offensive stereotypes ever broadcast.
But for the original cast 80s GLOW female wrestlers, the reality was a lot gritier than the bright lights of the Riviera Hotel suggested.
The Audition That Changed Everything
In 1985, a guy named David McLane had a wild idea. He wanted to create an all-female wrestling circuit that felt like a comic book come to life. He put out a casting call in Los Angeles. Hundreds of women showed up, but they weren't athletes. Most were aspiring actresses looking for their SAG cards or just a way to pay rent.
"It was a huge cattle call," Jeanne Basone, better known as Hollywood, once recalled. You had everyone from sporty models to "big girls" and "little girls" all vying for a spot. They weren't told they'd be wrestling at first. They were just told it was a TV show.
Once the cast was picked, reality set in. They were shipped off to a gym in Watts, L.A., to train with Mando Guerrero. This wasn't some fancy Hollywood stunt training. It was a dirty, stinky boxing gym. Lisa Moretti, who wrestled as Tina Ferrari before becoming Ivory in the WWE, described the mats as being stained with blood and every corner having a spittoon.
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It was brutal.
The Characters We Loved (and the Ones That Aged Poorly)
The creators, including B-movie director Matt Cimber, didn't exactly go for nuance. They wanted archetypes. You were either a "Good Girl" (Babyface) or a "Bad Girl" (Heel).
Mountain Fiji (Emily Dole) was the heart of the show. A former shot-putter who almost made the Olympic team, she was a 350-pound gentle giant. She was the one everyone loved. Then you had the villains, like Colonel Ninotchka (Lori Palmer), who leaned hard into the Cold War "Evil Russian" trope.
Honestly, the stereotypes were everywhere. Palestina (Janeen Jewett) had to play a Middle Eastern "terrorist" character, and Little Egypt (Angelina Altishin) did a belly-dancing gimmick. At the time, audiences ate it up, but looking back, it's pretty cringey.
The women were even forced to live in separate houses in Las Vegas—Good Girls in one, Bad Girls in another. They weren't allowed to be seen together in public. If they got caught talking to "the enemy" at a grocery store, they got fined. They had to stay in character 24/7. It was basically a low-budget, high-glitter version of the Truman Show.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Original GLOW
People think it was all fake and fluffy. It wasn't.
While the matches were scripted, the injuries were very real. These women weren't pros, and the ring they used was notoriously stiff. It was basically plywood with a thin layer of foam.
- Susie Spirit (Lauri Thompson) once broke her arm so badly the bone actually tore through her skin.
- Little Egypt tore her ACL.
- Many of the women, including the legendary Matilda the Hun (Dee Booher), ended up with lifelong back and joint issues.
Matilda eventually ended up in a wheelchair due to degenerative disc disease from years of taking hits. She later wrote a memoir called Glamazon Queen Kong because, even with the pain, she was proud of what they built.
The Jackie Stallone Factor
A lot of fans forget that Sylvester Stallone’s mom, Jackie Stallone, was a huge part of the show. She was the "owner" of the Good Girls and would rap during the intros. It was peak 80s absurdity. She brought a weird, kitschy legitimacy to the project, even if she was mostly there to manage her stable of "Sweethearts."
Where Are They Now?
When the show was abruptly canceled in 1990—reportedly because the financier Meshulam Riklis pulled the plug—the women were left stranded. Most went back to "normal" lives. They became real estate agents, accountants, and mothers.
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Some stayed in the business. Ursula Hayden, who played Babe the Farmer’s Daughter, actually bought the rights to the GLOW name in 2001. She was the one who consulted on the Netflix series before she sadly passed away from cancer in 2022.
Mountain Fiji also passed away in 2018. At her peak, she was the most recognizable face of the league, a woman who proved you didn't have to be a size 2 to be a superstar.
Why GLOW Still Matters
The original cast 80s GLOW female wrestlers weren't just a punchline. They were pioneers. Before them, women’s wrestling was often just a sideshow or a "bathroom break" match for the men. GLOW proved that people would tune in specifically to see women compete, even if the "competing" involved a lot of hair-pulling and bad puns.
They paved the way for the "Divas" era and eventually the modern women's evolution in WWE.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of these women, don't just stick to the Netflix show.
- Watch the 2012 Documentary: GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling is essential. It features raw interviews with the original cast and shows the real toll the show took on them.
- Check Out Personal Memoirs: Dee Booher’s book gives a perspective you won't get from a TV edit.
- Support the Alumnae: Many of the surviving original wrestlers still appear at conventions or sell merch on platforms like Etsy. Jeanne Basone (Hollywood) is particularly active in keeping the legacy alive.
- Look for the Unedited Raps: If you want to see the true "theatre of the absurd," hunt down the original season 1 intros on YouTube. They are a masterclass in 80s camp.
The original GLOW was messy, exploitative, and frequently ridiculous. But the women behind it were tough as nails. They took a weird job for a paycheck and ended up becoming icons of a very specific, neon-soaked era of pop culture.
To truly understand the legacy of the original GLOW, start by watching the 2012 documentary to hear the stories directly from the women who lived them.