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Opening text is shown on screen. "GLOW premiered in 1986 as the first all-female pro wrestling company on TV. The woman of GLOW wrestled in over 500 matches and were watched by millions of viewers worldwide. At the height of its popularity, GLOW was abruptly cancelled in 1990." As we read this, clips are shown of a match between two of the GLOW competitors, Mountain Fiji and Matilda the Hun, a Gestapo match where both girls are allowed to use billy clubs as weapons, and just like I personally remember it, there was plenty of sweetened crowd noise and "thump-thump-thump" sound effects editing for the billy club hits.
Larry Zbyszko makes a brief appearance stating how pro wrestling in the 1980's was "male-dominated" and GLOW gave women now a chance to excel in the business.
Several women pop up for the next several minutes describing GLOW with terms such as "vaudevillian" and "cartoon characters coming to life", but none of the women are identified right away.
The first ones to be so are Roxy Astor and Little Egypt, who both remark of the popularity of the Chicago Bears' Superbowl Shuffle, which leads us to our first look at the GLOW girls all in a pink-roped wrestling ring singing their own rap song from the show. Susie Spirit is identified and she says GLOW poked fun at a lot of current events of the time such as the Cold War. Matilda the Hun says that GLOW went beyond what the WWF was doing at the time, calling it "bitch-fighting". A team known as the Housewives said it was like live comic strip characters come to life, which is what made it fun. Two girls who were known as MTV and Jailbait said that everyone would always call each other by their character names, so today some of the real girls' names were actually difficult to recall.
The first GLOW girl to identify herself by her real name to us is Lisa Moretti, who right away is recognizable to long-enough wrestling fans as Ivory from her WWE days. On GLOW, she was Tina Ferrari. Tina said she got the casting call for GLOW and at first had zero interest in any pro wrestling gig, but ultimately gave it a shot since it was a guaranteed payday at least just to show up. Hollywood tells us she was a phlebotomist and an aspiring actress, who was sent to a casting call by her agent, and there was no mention of it being pro wrestling at first. Tina said at the initial meeting there were over 100 girls there, and once they learned it was pro wrestling about a third of them left immediately. The casting call is further discussed by several of the other women who showed up to it not knowing there was pro wrestling involved, such as Americana, Ninotchka, Ashley Cartier and Lightning. They all said they gave it a chance because they were all aspiring actresses and perhaps this would springboard them. Ninotchka said there were no wrestling schools like there are everywhere today, so those who stuck around to give it a shot all arrived to tryouts, which was in a tent containing a nasty old wrestling ring with blood stains on it and spittoons in the corners. Tina Ferrari said in the room was one person who "fit", and it turns out it was Mando Guerrero of the famed Guerrero wrestling family. Mando remembers two blondes working out in the ring laughing and not taking it too seriously, so he grabbed one of them and put her out in a sleeperhold. All the girls then realized it wasn't so "fake" after all. Tina Ferrari saw this happen and that was the moment she realized she loved this and wanted to learn the craft. Babe the Farmer's Daughter is identified and she remembers after the first day of training being very tired and sore. Ninotchka said once the tryouts were completed, the girls who made it were in many cases not the ones you expected at first glance. All the girls who made it through were told to sell their apartments and move to Las Vegas, since the shows would be shot at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. They all were actually living there too. The Housewives remarked at first it was exciting being around the glitz and glamour all the time, but soon it was just "circus, circus, circus..." Big Bad Mama recalls one character she loved named Dementia, who was so great that she could stay in character and not blink her eyes for minutes at a time. A number of women recall living in Vegas as being exciting, but they were under such strict rules. They could only mingle with good girls if they were one, and bad girls if they were one. No late nights, no partying, etc. There was no free time and they had to be in character every minute. Godiva and Daisy recall sneaking around every night and there were fines when one would get caught.
We're introduced to our first male on-camera, Steve Blance. He was the head writer of the show who turned into an on-screen referee character in Season 2. Steve says women's matches were more of a special attraction at the time (as a clip if shown of a women's battle royale from Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1977). Matilda seconds this statement, saying midgets and women were thought of as something to sell a few more tickets on the card. She wanted to wrestle men but state athletic commissions at the time wouldn't allow it, so she offered to wrestle a bear. Not only did she wrestle the bear but she would outlast all the men who tried the same gimmick, and that actually opened up more doors for her since the promoters could see she was tough. One of Steve's favorite gags was that GLOW was so cheap, the on-screen Commissioner David McLane had his office in an outdoor phone booth along the Vegas strip.
Ashley Cartier talks more about David McLane, saying he dreamt of an all-female wrestling company since he was a child fan of the business. David wound up getting to know Matt Cimber, a famed Hollywood director who was at one time married to Jayne Mansfield. Matt was close friends with the owner of the Riviera, Meshulam Riklis, who wound up coming aboard as the financial backer. Johnny Cafarella is identified (as a "GLOW manager") and he tells us more of the Cimber/Riklis friendship. David was hoping to be the director but realized the backing of Riklis hinged mainly on Cimber getting the director's gig, so David acquiesced. David wanted the show to be a mix of action and comedy, while Cimber was completely and totally about it being campy. We know which vision won out.
Matt did name a number of the girls, with a specific example being on Day One of the Vegas shootings when he looked at one girl, pointed to her and said "Jailbait." However, the girls were allowed some creative input. Hollywood hated her assigned outfit so she created her own. Godiva half-jokingly asked for a horse to come to the ring on, but she got it. The Housewives were in their 20's and they were told to be sexy despite wearing bathrobes and mud masks. They couldn't pull it off, so they created new characters that were loved and approved, the Heavy Metal Sisters, Spike and Chainsaw. (As an aside, they were actually sisters in real life.) Cimber loved the new gimmick and specifically the name Chainsaw, so he handed her some money and told her to go to Sears and buy an actual chainsaw to use in the ring. Her reaction was, "My God, I'm a Jew from the valley, we hire people to do this. I'm not mechanically inclined!" Many of the girls said Matt could be brutally honest as he called several of them "fat ass" in front of the group on more than one occasion.
Susie Spirit and Big Bad Mama say that rumor had it, GLOW was expected to fail. It perhaps was even supposed to fail, a tax write-off. But they made money almost from the start. Steve and Matilda tell us that at the first television expo GLOW was at, they sold to over 200 stations.
GLOW became the water-cooler show of 1986. We see a lot of GLOW mainstream appearances such as the Phil Donahue Show, the Joan Rivers show, the Late Show with Ross Shafer and the Sally Jessy Raphael show. Johnny Cafarella says ratings went up week after week, in some markets even beating other wrestling programming. More clips are shown including the GLOW girls competing on "Family Feud" against men from the NWA in 1989. Jackie Stallone, Sylvester's mom, became the on-screen manager of the good girls, and many of the wrestlers started getting recognized on the streets. The soundstage at the Riviera held about 200 fans for tapings, but there would be 2,000 of them lined up beforehand to get in, so they got a bigger set.
Johnny said the biggest surprise was that kids became a huge audience for it. GLOW often pushed the envelope and they got away with a lot of un-P.C. material such as guns and Nazi characters saluting. Ninotchka said at a live show in Alabama, she actually feared for her safety.
We then get our first modern look at Mountain Fiji, described by Steve Blance as a former Olympic shot putter, Samoan, 5'10" and 350 pounds, a great athlete and the nicest girl possible. A lot of quick soundbites from the girls all rave about and love Fiji. We then meet her, introducing herself as Emily Dole. As she's introducing herself to us, we see she is bedridden. Fiji says she went to Los Angeles to try out for a fledgling all-girl football team, but that fizzled out so she checked out GLOW. Immediately, Matt Cimber saw her and wanted to know about her. He asked her if she could do impressions (she could, and did a Carmen Miranda for him) and if she liked children (she did). She was hired on the spot. Little Egypt said everyone totally loved Fiji, and she totally loved GLOW and what it was about. Unfortunately, after GLOW finished Fiji has had health problems, and she's been in a nursing home for years. Matilda said Fiji had bad knees, always grappled with her weight and perhaps even has diabetes. Matilda also had the weight issue but is lucky and glad she hasn't had diabetes too.
Egypt continued the injury theme, saying both of her rotator cuffs were torn, and she tore her ACL during a match and it ultimately ended her wrestling career. We see that injury as it happened during a taping. Egypt says it happened just from running to the corner, the wrestling ring wasn't set up properly and that's what caused the ACL to tear.
Godiva talks of the most famous (or infamous) injury that happened during GLOW's run, the Susie Spirit elbow dislocation. "They replayed it a million times." We see clips of the injury, which occurred by accident when Susie flipped over The Headhunter. Susie said it was both of their faults and unintentional. As Susie flipped over "Bobbi", Bobbi stumbled, Susie landed awkwardly and the tendon tore right off the elbow. Susie was told by doctors she'd need a cast and would also need 6-8 weeks to heal and rehab. The reality of the injury when it sunk in really bothered Susie at the time.
Matilda says she was 35 when she started with GLOW. Nowadays, her spine is a bit weak. We see her in a Hoveround-type chair getting to her van. She has no regrets and she loved being a wrestler. She didn't care about the abuse she took because she felt she had to jump off the ropes like the "little girls" did. Since retiring at age 50 in 1996, she did have two toes amputated, but she can still walk and swim, and she even recently delivered a "Slam-O-Gram" to a friend. Her husband also never questioned her choice of a career.
Americana and Susie Spirit remark that the problem some girls had was that GLOW didn't really deliver any guidance to what would happen for them after GLOW.
We then see a clip from the 1990 final program. Matilda says rumor had it that Riklis pulled out of financial backing because his then-wife, actress Pia Zadora, didn't like him cavorting around Vegas with the girls all the time. David McLane hoped to keep it going on his own but ultimately could not. The girls were never really given any advance warning when GLOW shut down.
The girls all reminisce fondly of GLOW, calling it a sorority and a sisterhood. Many didn't appreciate it fully until it was over. Americana was grateful that it opened up the acting career she had. Fiji worries about them even today.
We see on-screen, "Inspired by the making of this documentary, Little Egypt organizes the first GLOW reunion."
It was held in Orange County, CA, and we see a lot of arrivals and happy reuniting of the girls. Americana says she had doubts about going because while she loved the girls, she wasn't fond of many of those in production. Ultimately, she went and was glad she did.
Matt Cimber even showed up, as he really did love the girls and was proud of the product. Everyone, however, could not wait to see Mountain Fiji. Fiji says she was very nervous but excited. Upon Fiji's arrival, everyone was lined up to meet her. Once Fiji entered, the girls all broke into the old Superbowl Shuffle-type song, and Fiji joined in.
Fiji admitted to Matt that she always had a crush on him. "I heard rumours you were a womanizer, but I didn't care."
Eventually, Matt leaves the reunion and a graphic says that Matt declined to be formally interviewed for the film.
The documentary ends with many reminiscing further, and we see clips from the reunion of the GLOW crown (which was their "title belt") being passed around to all the girls to wear. Tina Ferrari said the wrestling industry angered her because many have died young, but she absolutely loved the girls.
The film closes with numerous quick clips and epilogue information for many of the girls. Fiji sings her rhyme at the reunion.
On-screen it says, "Mountain Fiji is currently undergoing knee rehabilitation therapy. She plans to walk in the near future."
Tina shows us the crown and says like the girls, it's a bit worn and broken, but it still sparkles. "Tina Ferrari continued wrestling after GLOW, eventually winning three WWE women's titles as 'Ivory'."
Big Bad Mama says even today, everyone calls her Mama. "Big Bad Mama worked as an auto mechanic for several years after GLOW. She survived ovarian cancer in 2009."
Hollywood had three goals in life. Be on TV, pose for Playboy and give out an Oscar. She doubts the third one will ever happen but she's glad she fulfilled two of her wishes. "Hollywood produces private wrestling videos for fans across the globe."
Spike and Chainsaw poke fun at their age and weight in true sisterly fashion. "Chainsaw works as an actress in Los Angeles. Spike works as a production designer and art director for television."
Godiva watches an old tape of her character and laughs that she had glitter in her hair for 10 years afterwards. "Godiva works in ministry as a mentor and community outreach leader."
Ninotchka cuts an old-school Soviet promo. "Ninotchka owns and operates a costuming company in Las Vegas."
Little Egypt is grateful she got the opportunity to enjoy this sisterhood. "Little Egypt was a successful real estate agent for 22 years before retiring in 2010."
Matilda says she loves when people she her in a wheelchair and think her weak, so she'll stand up and say, "Oh, yeah?" She punches her palm hard and smiles. "Matilda the Hun wrestled for 20 years after GLOW. She is currently writing her autobiography." This ends the film.
On a personal note, I watched GLOW as a teenager. At first, I found it horrible, forced camp. Even in 1986, I liked my pro wrestling as real as possible. In time, however, I thought the product improved and it became a guilty pleasure. Nowadays I think back to GLOW and I talk about it fondly. I had misgivings about this documentary as I thought it would be silly like the product was, but this actually turned out to be fascinating and more importantly, extremely respectful to the product and all the women who performed. I would have liked to have seen David McLane and a few of the other girls who were "top stars", but all in all, I think the documentary was primo.
The biggest takeaway I got from this was of Tina Ferrari, AKA Ivory, AKA Lisa Moretti. She wound up having a tremendously successful WWE career, but she never forgot what springboarded her there. She loved GLOW and she was one of the first arrivals at the GLOW reunion, never once showing even a trace of ego. A class act all the way, and a classy documentary.
According to an on-screen graphic during the film last night, the documentary can be seen on the LOGO TV network website in full and for free.
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