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| Hanging with Hollywood |
Growing up in Mobile, Alabama, and later Pace, Florida, life could be a little, well, boring. My TV diet was mostly limited to Saturday morning cartoons and primetime sitcoms, except for summer or holiday breaks from school when I watched Nickelodeon during the day, I've seen every episode of Lassie at least 5 times. Wrestling? Not really my thing. My sister, on the other hand, started getting into it along with my cousins, especially with the eye candy of the Von Erich brothers. I appreciated the drama, sure, and Kevin Von Erich's bowl-like cut definitely resonated with my own hairstyle at the time. But the grittiness of men's wrestling didn't quite hook me. Other characters that I remember were actually hometown heroes, like Wildcat Wendel Cooley and the Exotic Adrian Street who lived not too far from us and was one of the people who taught me that the heels (bad guys) in wrestling are usually the nicest of people in the business.
Then, one Saturday afternoon, flipping channels on our cable box, I stumbled upon a spectacle unlike anything I'd seen. A blue and pink wrestling ring, a neon sign and a woman in camo battling a pig-tailed opponent with pink tights adorned with hearts. My mom and sister yelled, "TURN IT!" but I was transfixed. I didn't know what it was, but I knew I had to watch it. Two weeks of missed attempts, thwarted by my dad's devotion to the Cubs game, only fueled my curiosity.
The third week, a miracle! I woke up early, channel surfing, and there it was: a commercial for The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, followed by an actual episode! It was on WPMI channel 15, just at an earlier time. I was instantly, utterly captivated. These women weren't just wrestlers; they were a vibrant explosion of shapes, sizes and personalities, adorned in the wildest, brightest outfits, bright makeup along with glitter and colored hairspray. They sang, they fought, they did comedy skits that felt straight out of Hee-Haw. It was a hilarious, theatrical, and utterly unique blend of comedy, variety show and wrestling.
I'll never forget the main event: Tina Ferrari in her shimmering purple against the formidable Ninotchka, battling for the GLOW Crown. The announcer hyped the U.S. vs. Russia angle, and to my young mind, this match felt like it could spark an international incident! Ninotchka won, and just like that, the show was over. The next week, it was gone from the airwaves. My desperate search through TV Guide yielded nothing, but I found a couple of VHS tapes, GLOW 1 and GLOW 2, at a Pensacola video store. I devoured them, obsessed with those few matches on those tapes from the pilot episode as well as a random episode from Season 1.
A few months later, another glorious discovery! A commercial announced "THE NEW Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" would be airing Saturdays at 6 PM on WJTC channel 44. I was glued to the living room floor an hour early, determined not to miss it. The show had a slightly different vibe, a new group of girls alongside some familiar faces like Hollywood, Mt. Fiji, Sally the Farmer's Daughter, Vine and Ninotchka. This new iteration felt lighter, more playful. I was instantly hooked by Godiva, the bad-ass British woman, and her hilarious feud with Tiffany Mellon and Roxy Astor, the rich girl replacements for Tina Ferrari and Ashley Cartier. Then there was Babe the Farmer's Daughter with Tulsa, Hollywood teaming up with MTV, and an unforgettable arm-wrestling match between Mt. Fiji and Big Bad Mama, culminating in Aunt Kitty versus Jackie Stallone (who, incidentally, was the first GLOW-related person I ever met in person years later!). The new GLOW featured a brief run with Ninotchka as the champion before letting go of the crown, setting off the "Run for the Rubies" tournament to fill the vacated championship. There were also a few evolving storylines, like the saga of Daisy and Gremlina and extreme beef between the good girls and bad girls, it was different but just as captivating as the first episode I had watched months before.
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| Me with Tina Ferrari, checking her messages |
This show was more than just entertainment; it was a lifeline. As a shy, nerdy kid, bullied and afraid to be myself, GLOW was my joy. It was the vibrant light that helped me endure a dysfunctional home life and a horrible school experience each week. I even tried to learn some of the moves, practicing with my friend "Stig." While a Figure 4 leg lock might not work on a playground bully twice your size, GLOW gave me a sense of confidence and an appreciation for "out of the box" entertainment that shaped who I am today. I really did learn how to fight watching GLOW and it did help me become a kid no one wanted to fight with even though I would have been on the losing side mostly. In 2024, while on a cruise with Hollywood and Lightning, we cruisers were tasked to create our own GLOW character and dress as them so I rose to the ocassion and brought my original GLOW character, Wilshire, the valet to Hollywood and Vine to life, complete with his own rap. The bright colors, the glitter (which I'm still obsessed with!), and the cast of oddball characters taught me that it was okay to be different, to embrace my unique personality. Looking at other GLOW fans, it's clear we share this common trait: strong, individual personalities.
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| Me, Ashley Cartier, Pedro & Tina Ferrari 2017 |
My obsession was real. I'd call the 1-900 GLOW number constantly from every phone I could get my hands on—my house, my cousin's, my granny's, even the neighbor's! The recorded messages of the GLOW girls talking about "random weirdness" felt like hold music before a real GLOW girl would come to the phone, as if they were running a call center. The huge phone bills and subsequent "ass whoopin's" from my parents? Probably not worth it, but would I do it again? Probably.
As Season 3 progressed, new characters emerged and some old favorites faded. The most bizarre changes was Dementia, who in Season 3 was played by Nancy Daley and developed a second personality, the Widow Woman. Even more odd was the fact that the character of Dementia was played by a completely different lady during season 1 and 2. Season 3 ended with Cheyenne Cher winning the GLOW crown, thanks to interference from Roxy Astor—a grudge Godiva and Roxy (kayfabe) still hold to this day! Unfortunately, Season 4 never aired in my area, leaving the outcome of how tiny Cheyenne Cher could defend the GLOW crown and for how long a mystery for years until I found other fans on Facebook and YouTube. One of my favorite stories that I tell people, is how when my sister, cousins and myself would watch wrestling in my granny's living room or my Aunt Joan's den, we would emulate the wrestlers and copy what we saw on TV. While everyone announced they were The Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and whomever else they liked, there I was "Hollywood" or "Sally the Farmer's Daughter" getting pinned by my cousin Lynda, or shall I say, the "Macho Man."
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| Royal Hawaiian and myself, Las Vegas 2025 |
Finding GLOW merchandise was a struggle. No magazines, no mentions in Pro Wrestling Illustrated which I called (they told me it was a "TV show, not a promotion"—apparently a joke in the industry!). I even sent cash to the address advertised on TV for a GLOW T-shirt, only to have it returned with a note: GLOW was no longer in business, I made a long distance call to the Riviera Hotel to verify and they said GLOW hadn’t been there for a few years. The lady I was speaking to said it moved to film elsewhere before it ended. The only official merch I ever got was Brut Splash On and Deodorant (still a favorite!) as well as Faberge Organics Shampoo and Conditioner with Pro Vitamin B-5 in the new easy to use dispenser. So, I made my own neon-less GLOW sign out of posterboard, paper, markers, crayon, glue and glitter. It was a mess, but it was my cool GLOW sign.
When GLOW ended, nothing else quite filled the void. ESPN tried with a late-night ladies' wrestling show featuring David McLane and some former GLOW wrestlers under different names, (I see you California Doll, Angel, Amy the Farmer’s Daughter, Matilda, Dementia 1 and Tina Ferrari) but it was gritty and lacked the sparkle of GLOW. I even got into WWF for a while, hanging out with my cool neighbors, Eric and Tunda, who were a newlywed couple in their twenties and didn't judge my LGBTQ identity. I would go over to their house a few times a week to enjoy WWF and Tunda’s amazing crockpot dinners. I always liked hanging out with people who were older than me, it wasn’t their maturity as much as the fact that they were more interested in things that weren’t always on the top of pop culture trends. While I like pop culture as much as the next person, I like nostalgia and vintage also, not that Eric and Tunda were vintage, they were just cool people. I also had a little crush on Eric for a few years. Sadly, he was killed in a tragic accident after pulling to the side of the road to use his cell phone in the early 90’s. RIP Eric Cook, you were a great guy and your knowledge in pro-wrestling was appreciated. Tunda and Eric even took me to local wrestling shows as well as my very first live WWF show! I loved it but aside from the fun of watching the Bushwackers take on the Orient Express, the practiced moves and lack of "selling" pain in the other matches were a bit of a letdown compared to the theatricality of GLOW. My WWF fandom ended when Doink the Clown appeared—clowns are a real phobia of mine! I am grateful that I got into men’s wrestling for a little while, I wasn’t much of a Hulk Hogan fan like all the other kids, my favorites were the Genius, Lanny Poffo, who I met at that live WWF event, Jake the Snake, Brutus Beefcake & Mr. Perfect.
Years passed, but Season 3 of GLOW remained vivid in my memory, including many of the girls' pre-match raps, I know it's a little embarrassing but I know 3 guys who claim they know ALL of the pre-match raps so I guess I'm in good company. Then, with the advent of MySpace and Facebook, I stumbled upon Beastie the Road Warrior's page and befriended her. I was working as a telephone psychic at the time and offered her a free tarot reading. That 10-minute reading turned into a four-hour phone call that ended at 3 AM when my phone died. Befriending a GLOW girl is a unique experience; they seem to come as a package deal! My connection with Beastie led to friendships with other GLOW girls and a huge community of fans like Michael Karr, Richard Hughes, TeLisa McKinney, Manny Briana, Jennifer Chiola, Vanessa Bello, James Maher, Rick Howard Jr. and Mike Rand, whose YouTube channel, much like my channel, is a treasure trove of GLOW moments. Some of us fans have even been immortalized as GLOW girls through the creative artwork of Gener de Vera!
Soon after meeting Beastie, she shared an idea for a TV show, and I jumped in, helping her develop the concept. I spent a week at her home in Tennessee working on the package for a show that would star her and eight or nine other GLOW girls, including Daisy, Roxy Astor, Ashley Cartier, Hollywood, Lightning, Corp Kelly 2, Little Egypt and Evangelina. Sadly, the show concept wasn't well received by Matt Cimber, the original GLOW director. It seems we were pitching a show whose theme was at the tail end of a fad. Still, just working on something related to the show I loved as a kid was awesome.
So, that's how I became a fan. What did GLOW mean to me? While the GLOW girls often speak of the show's empowering effect on women, they might not realize its impact wasn't limited to just women. For a shy, bullied kid with no creative or assertive bone in his body at the time, GLOW opened my mind to "out of the box" entertainment. It’s why I was so receptive and able to jump into musical theater during my teens, and why bright colors and glitter still define my creative and artistic abilities today. The show's diverse cast of oddball characters showed me that it was perfectly okay not to blend in, not to try and fit into someone else's idea of "normal."
And my favorite GLOW girl? That's the question everyone asks! To be honest, I couldn't pick just one. Hollywood and Daisy are my all-time favorites, followed closely by Lightning, Tulsa, Debbie Debutante, Jungle Woman and Tina Ferrari. I was a fan of both the "Bad Girls" and the "Good Girls"! I definitely had my favorite matches, like MTV vs Vicky Victory, Roxy versus Dementia or basically any match with Beastie, because you just knew she’d pulverize her opponent and probably get disqualified. Evangelina's matches were pure fun, too, with her character like a grown-up refugee from Children of the Corn and her unholy (in a good way!) methods of teaching the gospel. And watching Sally and Hollywood go at it? You could tell there was something extra going on behind the scenes, which made it feel incredibly real on camera. Trying to pick just one favorite from four whole seasons would be like handing a kid a whole case of candy and telling them they can only have one piece. Every single girl brought something unique and unforgettable to the show.
Speaking of unforgettable, if you haven't seen it yet, you have to check out the amazing documentary GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It’s available on pretty much every major streaming service. It’s a fantastic blast from the past and gives you incredible insight into the behind-the-scenes magic (and sometimes not-so-magical realities) of the show that we, as viewers, never got to see. Ursula Hayden, also known as Babe the Farmer's Daughter, actually owned the trademark to GLOW since the late 1990’s until her untimely passing from cancer. She tried to get the promotion restarted, but it seems the stars just never aligned. Over the years, Babe released DVDs featuring episodes from each season, but sadly, she didn't have access to the complete archive of GLOW footage. Yes, it does exist, and maybe, just maybe, one day an arrangement can be made to get all those episodes out on DVD as complete season releases or even for streaming. For now, the only "officially" streaming matches are from Season 3 and a few from Season 4, under the name "Original Ladies of Wrestling," with some elements slightly doctored (like the music, probably to avoid copyright strikes on the original tunes).
A lot of people might remember GLOW as just an '80s "cheese fest" or a "T&A show." Some folks just didn't get it at all – my partner Terry, bless his heart, is one of those people. But for me, and for so many others, GLOW became a part of who we are. Not as wrestlers, though I did do some training to become a pro wrestler myself (it's way harder than they make it look on TV, trust me!). No, GLOW gave us the power to transform and bring the oddball, vibrant characters we knew we were on the inside, out into the world.
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| Daisy and David McLane, Las Vegas 2025 |
In 2016, I somehow convinced Terry to fly with me to Los Angeles for the very first cruise hosted by the original ladies of GLOW. We even met Daisy a few days before the cruise and hung out with her at Knott's Berry Farm! Sailing with the GLOW girls wasn't just fun; it cemented our friendships with these incredible women and with so many of the amazing fans. We also discovered something else: we absolutely LOVED cruising! In 2017, we hopped on another cruise and met even more GLOW girls, Tina Ferrari accidentally kicked me in the chest, it was incredible. Then in 2018, another cruise, and that’s when I became super close with Hollywood. To this day, she's one of my closest friends and Terry and I adore her. When COVID hit, Terry and I even started making soap, just like Hollywood was! We’d share our discoveries and progress with our soap-making ventures. Now, all three of us are pretty much "masters of soap," though Terry and Jeanne (Hollywood) have definitely surpassed me with their impeccable design skills.
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| Hollywood Jeanne Basone, Norwegian Encore 2024 |
Terry and I took a cruise by ourselves in 2019, and it was fun but just not the same for me without the GLOW girls. When March 2024 came around, we cruised once again with Hollywood and Lightning on the Norwegian Encore, alongside the greatest group of GLOW fans you could ever imagine. Lightning brought out the competitive aspect of my personality, racing go-karts, she beat me but I ran over her glasses so I guess we are even…lol. Last year, while I was on that cruise, I realized how not only the GLOW girls had great stories, the GLOW fans did also so when I started working on my blog, I wanted to feature GLOW in addition to other stories that I write because it’s as much a part of me as it is everything else I talk about. So I began to dedicate my Saturday entries to GLOW, calling it Saturday GLOWcase. I’ve slowed down a little on my block
And guess what? In February 2025, I started writing my first young adult book! It’s got a few characters inspired by some of the GLOW girls, so be sure to check out "Under the Lifeguard’s Watch" when it’s released – it's going to be a fun ride!
Something really, really cool happened just a few months ago when Hollywood invited me to attend the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion in Las Vegas and hang with her for a few days. So, last Monday, I quietly hopped on my Frontier Airlines Go Wild pass and flew to Vegas. I intentionally kept quiet because I wanted to surprise a few of the ladies that I knew who were attending the convention. I got to hang out with Hollywood, reconnect with Daisy, Ashley Cartier Roxy, and Sunny, and even met Royal Hawaiian from GLOW! And by sheer chance, I ran into David McLane again, just like we did while on the Queen Mary for a party in 2016. While at the convention, I also met Jimmy Hart and Bushwhacker Luke, two more WWF personalities I loved as a kid. Also an absolute sweetheart of a guy, author Kurt Nielsen, who was best friends with Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle…a gentleman who lived in Mobile and a friend to one of my uncles. Goes to show you how small the world is. Vegas has changed a lot since I worked there in the mid-1990s, and aside from the heat, it was an absolutely amazing trip. Ashley Cartier even took a little time out to teach me how to play the slot machines at the Plaza Hotel and Casino. I’ll definitely post some video footage of my wins (and losses!). Roxy Astor suggested I try the Whitney Houston machine, but I just didn't vibe with it, especially after playing a few bets and it not even giving me a minimum win of any kind. My favorite, by far, is the Casper machine—not just because I doubled my money on it, but because that’s the name of the main character in my book, "Under the Lifeguard’s Watch." When I flew back home, I was a little sad to leave, but I know this isn't the end of my GLOW story, or my friendship with the ladies of GLOW, especially my bestie, Hollywood.
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| Hollywood & Lightning along with the fantasy cast of GLOW, 2024 |
Not many people can say that their childhood idols are their friends as adults, but that’s exactly how my life played out.
With all that said, here are some little-known facts about the show that I’ve learned over the years, some good and some a little unsavory. I thought this would be a perfect place to share them, especially for those who claim that GLOW wasn’t a "real" promotion or try to diminish the incredible contribution the show and personalities involved brought to the world of wrestling:
The director, who massively influenced the show's creative direction, treated production more like a TV or film series. This is why you saw it in a season-to-season format with very few, if any, live "house shows."
The producers and director kept a super tight leash on the wrestlers. After the initial trainer left, they deliberately avoided bringing in external trainers. The first twelve girls, by the way, were trained by a pro, Mondo Guerrero. And get this: they actually got paid to learn professional wrestling back in 1985, at a time when so many others were emptying their savings or offering "favors" just to learn the sport!
This decision to control access stemmed from a desire to keep the cast from fully understanding the show's real popularity and scale. They literally withheld fan mail and even went as far as making sure the show didn't air in the Las Vegas area to further keep the ladies in the dark. Talk about sneaky!
David McLane’s original vision for GLOW was to build a legitimate wrestling promotion. However, Matt Cimber’s strong influence injected a distinct campiness that, in the end, totally overshadowed McLane’s more serious concept. This was compounded by the fact that the primary revenue source and trademark owner also owned the associated advertising sponsors, and he definitely favored Cimber over McLane.
The wrestlers were recruited through open casting calls. These calls attracted a fascinating mix: actresses, strippers, softball players, and yes, even call girls. The director and writers had very specific character visions, aiming to showcase women of all shapes and sizes. These characters were either completely original, inspired by other wrestling promotions, pulled from contemporary news events or adapted from classic Hollywood or pop culture narratives.
Sadly, with such a large ensemble of attractive women, those in positions of power sometimes exploited the situation by isolating cast members. This, unfortunately, led to an environment where a personal "harem" was established within the cast. While many resisted, others felt compelled to comply with the demands of these men. Such practices were, regrettably, pretty common in Las Vegas entertainment at the time, mirroring the widespread "casting couch" phenomenon in other parts of the industry. As a musical theater performer myself, I encountered similar situations on several occasions. It’s hard to blame ambitious individuals who saw a quick path to advance their careers, though tragically, this accelerated path didn't materialize for everyone who attempted it.
GLOW was truly a unique wrestling program that built a legendary cult following. At the time, there were no other ladies' wrestling shows,or even nationally televised women's matches on the larger promotions. Interest in the ladies' division in WWF had declined after Wendi Richter left and when GLOW burst onto the scene, it sparked a resurgence of women's wrestling that didn't involve the cookie-cutter "butch" bodybuilder types that came before it. It was eye-catching, full of glitter, and completely broke the mold of ladies' promotions that were gritty or involved mud, Jell-O or oil. When David McLane left GLOW and founded POWW, it appeared to be more of a genuine wrestling promotion than a television production, but it ultimately proved to be short-lived.
The GLOW wrestlers' often-criticized lack of refined training cannot be solely attributed to them, as they were denied adequate opportunities to learn. They did not have the benefit of dedicated training camps. Instead, they were assessed during auditions based on their ability to convincingly "sell" pain, execute moves they hadn't been properly taugh, and their susceptibility to injuries. Several cast members slated for Season 3 never appeared on television due to injuries; for instance, "Jailbait" suffered a blown knee and "Queenie" broke her collarbone during practice. Injuries arose not only from insufficient training, where cast members trained each other or emulated male wrestlers seen on TV, but also sometimes from improperly set up rings. Furthermore, the GLOW ring was not a standard wrestling ring; it featured carpet padding beneath the canvas, which likely contributed to different impact dynamics.
After their time with GLOW, several women pursued other career opportunities. Tina Ferrari, for instance, transitioned to WWF as Ivory, while Hollywood and Lightning competed on the independent wrestling circuit. Some also had brief stints wrestling in Japan. Taking their careers a step further, some of the former GLOW ladies, including Hollywood, Lightning and Tulsa, became stuntwomen.
Several former GLOW members have unfortunately exaggerated their contributions, attempting to diminish the efforts of some of the hardest-working wrestlers, some they have never actually worked with. Within the wrestling community, I've learned that true professionals do not tolerate such behavior. Negative comments are best kept private, as the wrestling world is tightly connected, and many individuals, no matter how little they worked, are highly regarded. While Hollywood and Daisy will always be my top favorites, I also have a deep fondness for many other wrestlers, not just GLOW girls.
So that's it, my long and drawn out story of how I became a fan of GLOW and what it meant to me. Call me a freak, I don't care, no matter how many years have passed, those 4 seasons of GLOW are still magical to me. I could ramble on for days and it seems that I already have.
So, what about you? Did GLOW spark something for you, too? Maybe a love for glitter, a fascination with quirky characters or just a deep appreciation for entertainment that dared to be different? I'd absolutely love to hear your own GLOW stories, your favorite wrestlers or even just your fondest 80s memories in the comments below!
If you've enjoyed taking this trip down memory lane with me, and if my sparkly tales brought a smile to your face, consider supporting my ongoing journey. Every little bit helps me keep these memories alive, share new adventures and maybe even get to that next GLOW reunion or bring another fun story to life. You can find ways to contribute to my creative endeavors right here on my blog. Your support truly means the world and helps me continue sharing these personal passion projects. Thanks for reading and may your life be filled with as much glitter and glorious madness as a GLOW match!
