Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion known for its deathmatch style. The promotion based its style on hardcore wrestling, featuring many dangerous matches.
From April 2000 until March 2003, XPW ran a locally televised TV show, simply known as XPW TV. In November 2002, Kris Kloss was removed from XPW TV's announcing booth and replaced with former ECW commentator Joey Styles.
Let's delve into the history of some of the notable female wrestlers who have been a part of XPW and other promotions, leaving their mark on the wrestling world.
Chyna
Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 - April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, fitness model, bodybuilder, actress, adult actress, and television personality. She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 1997, where she was billed as "The Ninth Wonder of the World".
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A founding member of the stable D-Generation X as the promotion's first female enforcer, she held the WWF Intercontinental Championship (the only female performer they wrote to do so) twice and the WWF Women's Championship once. She was also the first woman to participate in the Royal Rumble match and King of the Ring tournament, in addition to becoming number one contender to the WWF Championship. She is considered one of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era.
With singles victories over several prominent male wrestlers - including multiple-time world champions Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Jeff Jarrett - she left what WWE called "a lasting legacy as the most dominant female competitor of all time". After leaving the WWF in 2001, she wrestled sporadically, with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2002 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2011. The latter was her final appearance in the ring.
Outside of wrestling, Chyna appeared in Playboy magazine twice, plus numerous television shows and films. She was considered a sex symbol. In 2005, she was a cast member on VH1's The Surreal Life, which led to several other celebrity reality appearances on the network, including The Surreal Life: Fame Games in 2007 and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008. Chyna was posthumously entered into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of D-Generation X, making her the first woman to be inducted as a part of a group or team.
Wendi Richter
Victoria "Wendi" Richter (born September 8, 1960) is an American former 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 held the NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship twice.
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In the 1980s, she joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). She held the WWF Women's Championship twice and feuded with The Fabulous Moolah over the title. She was also involved in a storyline with singer Cyndi Lauper called the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection". Richter, however, left the WWF after losing the championship in controversial fashion.
Mean Gene Okerlund has a laugh at Wendi Richter's comments: TNT, May 24, 1985
Angelina Love
Lauren Williams (born September 13, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in TNA/Impact Wrestling under the ring name Angelina Love. She is signed with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
Between ROH and TNA/Impact, Love is a seven-time women's world champion, having held TNA Knockouts Championship six times, along with her one-time reign as TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Winter. She was also a one-time Women of Honor World Champion while in Ring of Honor (ROH).
She debuted in wrestling on February 29, 2000, in Hardcore Wrestling Federation in Ontario, Canada, and she wrestled in various independent promotions around Canada under the ring name Angel Williams. Her all-time favorite wrestler Shawn Michaels was her inspiration to get into wrestling.
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Mercedes Martinez
Jazmin Benitez (born November 17, 1980) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a former ROH Women's World Champion.
Debra Marshall
Debra Gale Marshall (born March 2, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestling valet, professional wrestler, and actress. She joined the WWF in 1998, where she managed the tag team of Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart until Hart's in-ring death in May 1999.
Later that year, she won the WWF Women's Championship from Sable in an evening gown match. She later appeared on-screen with her second husband Stone Cold Steve Austin until 2002, when the duo left the company.
Jeanne Marie Basone (Hollywood)
Jeanne Marie Basone (born May 19, 1963), better known by her ring name Hollywood, is an American professional wrestler, actress, model, and stuntwoman. She was selected for women's wrestling promotion, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) in 1986 by its founder, David McLane. Basone won the United States Championship in a match against Tulsa on the 1993 pay-per-view. She is the only contestant to star in both the pilot and all four seasons of the promotion.
After the cancellation of GLOW in 1989, Basone continued to compete on the independent circuit as Hollywood. She appeared in several all-female wrestling promotions, including CRUSH, Beauty Slammers, Hottest Ladies of Wrestling, and NWA.
Misty Blue Simmes
Simmes got into wrestling after learning to box and being part of an all-female boxing show. From there, she was invited to Killer Kowalski's wrestling school where she trained for 18 months prior to her first match.
When the NWA phased out the women's division in late 1989, Simmes wrestled on the independent circuit and eventually joined the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association. She and Heidi Lee Morgan competed as Team America and won the LPWA Tag Team Titles. They lost the titles to The Glamour Girls.
Jumping Bomb Angels
The Jumping Bomb Angels members include Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki. Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki formed one of the most well-known teams on the Japanese Woman's Wrestling circuit.
On January 5, 1986, the Angels defeated Bull Nakano and Condor Saito to win the vacant WWWA World Tag Team Championship.
Wingo Sisters
Betty “Babs” Wingo, Ethel Wingo Johnson, & Marva Wingo Scott were three sisters born in the early 1930’s in Decatur, Georgia, to Gladys Chase and Clifford Wingo. To escapethe Jim Crow South, the family moved north to Columbus, Ohio while the girls were still very young. Ethel was about 12 years old when she began going to the gym with her older sister, Betty, lovingly known as “Babs.” At the local YMCA, Babs and Ethel learned tumbling, judo, wrestlingand strength training.
Their younger sister, Marva, joined the girls later when she was old enough.
Columbus, Ohio was a hot spot for women wrestling due to the efforts of a man named Billy Wolfe. Wolfe managed at least thirty white women wrestlers, making many wrestling stars. He wasalso married to one of the better-known woman wrestlers, Mildred Burke, the first woman to win the original World Women’s title.
Wolfe, inspired by the integration of baseball by Jackie Robinson, went on a search for young black women to integrate women’sprofessional wrestling. He discovered 16-year-old Babs and she became the first Wingo sister to turn pro. Soon after, Ethel, their childhood friend Kathleen Wimbley, and then Marva would become professional wrestlers, fully integrating the sport of “lady wrestling.
Here is a table summarizing some of the wrestlers mentioned:
| Wrestler | Notable Accomplishments |
|---|---|
| Chyna | WWF Intercontinental Champion, WWF Women's Champion, WWE Hall of Fame |
| Wendi Richter | WWF Women's Champion |
| Angelina Love | TNA Knockouts Champion, TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion, Women of Honor World Champion |
| Mercedes Martinez | ROH Women's World Champion |
| Debra Marshall | WWF Women's Champion |
| Hollywood (Jeanne Marie Basone) | GLOW United States Champion |
| Misty Blue Simmes | LPWA Tag Team Titles |
| Jumping Bomb Angels | WWWA World Tag Team Championship |