Professional Girl Wrestling Association
Acronym | PGWA |
---|---|
Founded | 1992 |
Style | Women's professional wrestling |
Headquarters | North Carolina |
Founder(s) | Tom Randolph[1] |
Website | LadySports.com |
The Professional Girl Wrestling Association (PGWA) is an American
Purpose
The company sets up wrestling matches for independent female wrestlers—wrestlers that are not signed to a major company—video tapes the matches and sells them to help promote their careers.[1] Because the women do not sign exclusive contracts, they are free to wrestle in other promotions or major wrestling companies.[1] Unlike many female-only wrestling organizations, PGWA does not overly emphasize the sexuality of the female wrestlers, nor does it promote them as "eye-candy",[1] but rather stresses their skills and ability.
PGWA matches tend to run 15 to 30 minutes, as opposed to the usual 5 to 10 minutes often allotted female wrestlers by promoters. This allows wrestlers to display a full range of their abilities, rather than having to focus on a few key moves in the short span of time their match allows.
History
The Professional Girl Wrestling Association (PGWA) was founded in 1992 in North Carolina by sportswriter Tom Randolph.[1][3] Randolph brought a video camera to one of Susan Green's training sessions and later videotaped a match between her and Judy Martin.[1] Green later became the promotion's first champion.[1]
In 2002, the promotion began holding events in the United Kingdom and Europe.[2] The 2004 show "Summer Heat", filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, had the largest card in the promotion's history to that time with 16 women wrestling at the event.[4] In October 2004, PGWA co-promoted the first ChickFight tournament, which later became an annual event, with All Pro Wrestling.[5] In November 2008, after the death of Penny Banner, Susan Green became the new commissioner of the PGWA.[6]
LadySports
Concurrent with the launch of the PGWA in 1992, the promotion began selling a women's wrestling newsletter called Connections. Shortly, this was transformed into a quarterly magazine titled LadySports (3 issues of a sister magazine, LadyBoxer, were also published in the late 1990s). The PGWA staff also frequently supplied photographs and feature articles to such newsstand publications as Wrestling Eye,
PGWA Championship
Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
---|---|---|---|---|
Susan Green | 1 | 1992 | Charlotte, North Carolina | [3] |
Judy Martin | 1 | 1999 | [7] | |
Susan Green | 2 | 1999 | ||
Angel "Riptide" Orsini | 1 | 2000 | Thomasville, North Carolina | |
Lexie Fyfe | 1 | 2001 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Won the title in a three-way dance against Riptide and Brandi Alexander[8] |
Leilani Kai | 1 | July 2002 | Branson, Missouri | Won at the "Battleground: Branson" event |
Pippa L'Vinn | 1 | November 2003 | Raleigh, North Carolina | [2] |
Nikki Roxx
|
1 | April 23, 2005 | Manchester, England
|
Won at an event entitled "St. George's Daymes"[2] |
Tracy Taylor | 1 | November 15, 2008 | Millersville, Tennessee | Won at the "A Banner Night" event |
Nemesis | 1 | April 16, 2011 | Millersville, Tennessee | Won at "Spring Fling '11" |
ThunderKitty | 1 | August 4, 2017 | Wilmington, Ohio | Relinquished belt May 4, 2018 due to injury |
Allie Parker | 1 | July 4, 2018 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
Awarded belt after being recognized as the top contender |
Jennifer Thomas | 1 | June 15, 2019 | Los Angeles, California
|
Won at the SessionGirls all-women's PPV
Relinquished belt August 15, 2021 due to injury |
Kasey Fox | 1 | September 25, 2021 | Mount Airy, North Carolina | Won at the "Darlings of the Ring" all-women's event
Relinquished belt on May 1, 2023 due to inability to defend it in a scheduled match |
Savannah Sweet | 1 | May 27, 2023 | Covington, Kentucky | Won at the "Revolution Rising II: Queens of the Midwest" all-women's event |
Rookies of the Year
- 1994-Molly McShane[3]
- 1995-Regina Hale[3]
- 1996-Joanie Laurer/Lee (AKA Chyna)[3]
- 1997-Brandi "Babydoll" Collins[3]
- 1998-Strawberry Fields[3]
- 1999-Sweet Destiny (AKA Little Jeanne)[3][9]
- 2000-Amber Holly[3] (AKA Amber O'Neil)
- 2001-Mia Martinez[3]
- 2002-Christie Ricci[3]
- 2003-Venus[3]
RotY retired
- 2019-Nikki Victory (RotY award revived)
- 2020-Elizabeth
- 2021-Kasey Fox
- 2022-Riley Matthews
- 2023-Savannah Sweet
RingStar Award Winners
- 2023-Nikki Victory (inaugural award)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Selke, Lori (March 1, 2007). "Plenty of pain and gain". Curve. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ a b c d "Pippa L'Vinn to Face Nikki Roxx in England". GLORY Wrestling. April 13, 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "PGWA Announces 2003 Rookie of the Year". GLORY Wrestling. January 14, 2004. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ "Summer Heat Video Now Available". GLORY Wrestling. August 17, 2004. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ "Chick Fight VIP Tickets". GLORY Wrestling. October 25, 2004. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ "Professional Girl Wrestling Association announces Susan Green as new commissioner". Indy Wrestling News. November 10, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
- ^ Johnson, Steven (August 8, 2007). "Return of a "Glamour Girl"". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Lexie Fyfe's profile". GLORY Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ Sokol, Chris (August 11, 2004). "Little Jeanne's destiny is old-school". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)