WRESTLING WOMEN USA! (2001) ***

Before Lingerie Fighting Championships, before mud wrestling, and even before G.L.O.W., there were female grapplers on Saturday Night Wrestling.  This compilation from Something Weird features six matches from the early days of women’s wrestling.  While it isn’t “weird” exactly, it’s certainly something.

First up is a bout between Lili Bitter and June Byers and it features a nice mix of body slams, hammerlocks, and hair tosses.  Next, Cora Combs locks horns with Lorraine Johnson in a match complete with headlocks, hip tosses, and full Nelsons.  The match between Clara Mortenssen and Rita Martinez eschews the typical play by play commentary in favor of dialogue by two fans over the match.  (They sort of sound like Amos ‘n Andy.)  It doesn’t help that the match itself is mostly confined to the mat as it involves lots of leg locks and scissor holds.  The two bleacher bums continue their conversation throughout the next match between “The Blonde Ballerina” and June O’Day.  Their banter is annoying once again, but at least there is a decent amount of action in the match. 

The bout between Ella Walldeck and Jane Mull is a lot of fun as it is full of reversals, dirty tricks, and fast paced action.  Curiously, it’s a two out of three match but only one round is shown. The final match is a tag team bout.  Betty Hawkins and Carrie Majors square off against Ida May and Violet Vian.  It’s probably the liveliest match in the collection and features lots of unsportsmanlike conduct.  However, as with the previous match, only one of the scheduled three falls is shown. 

For fans of moldy relics of sports history, Wrestling Women USA! will scratch a very specific itch.  Even as a fan of this sort of thing, I kind of wish the presentation was a bit better.  The camerawork is static for the most part, but that’s just how it was back in those days.  (The camerawork during the Blonde Ballerina match isn’t bad though.)  The fact that these matches have been preserved as well as they have is what’s really important.  Despite its shortcomings, some of the bouts manage to be quite fun. 

AKA:  Wrasslin’ She-Babes of the Fifties Vol. 1.  AKA:  Wrasslin’ She-Babes Vol. 1.