Vince McMahon will tell anyone who'll listen that he coined the phrase, "sports entertainment", but that genre had actually been around well before McMahon decided that his wrestlers were "superstars". Roller derby had become choreographed by the time the mid-80's rolled around (pun not intended).
David McLane came up with the idea of creating an all-women's wrestling "promotion", since instead of legitimate wrestlers, he held a casting call for actresses who would be trained in the craft.
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, or, GLOW, for short, spent four seasons in syndication (1986-90). McLane served as host for the first two seasons, and ring announcer during the first season. To help the Good Girls (babyfaces), McLane and his partners brought in Jackie Stallone, but I don't recall if there were any side references to her actor-son, Sylvester ("Rocky", "Rambo", etc.), in commentary.
A quick check of the roster over the course of the series' run reveals two women who moved on to bigger things. Lisa Moretti (Tina Ferrari) entered the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year under her other alias, Ivory. Taeler Hendrix joined the show late in the run, but is better known today for her runs with TNA (Impact) & Ring of Honor. Moretti was interviewed for the 2013 documentary, GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, but Hendrix was not, as the clips used focused on the first two seasons. Ursula Hayden (Babe, The Farmer's Daughter) obtained the rights to the original GLOW a while back, and authorized the documentary.
As you'll see, the rigors of the training under Mando Guerrero took their toll, as injuries cut short some women's careers. Mando's nephew, Chavo, Jr., is the trainer for the current GLOW, which begins season 2 at the end of this month, and will also join the cast.
Grab some popcorn, and enjoy.
Edit, 11/23/18: The video has been deleted due to a copyright claim. In its place is a trailer.
Some of the rapping and singing is of the so-bad-it's-actually-good variety. If you thought it was bad, well, McMahon topped it a year later with a cabaret act at the Slammy Awards.
Rating: A-.
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