Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, also known as GLOW or G.L.O.W., is a women's professional wrestling promotion begun in 1986 (the pilot was filmed in December 1985) and continued in various forms after it left television. Colorful characters, strong women, and over-the-top comedy sketches were integral to the series' success. Most of the performers were actresses, models, dancers or stunt women hoping to enter show business.

The exploits of a fictionalized version of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are the subject of Netflix's original series GLOW. The major characters Ruth Wilder ("Zoya the Destroya"), Debbie Eagan ("Liberty Belle"), Cherry Bang ("Black Magic," formerly "Junkchain"), Carmen Wade ("Machu Picchu"), with their creator, Sam Sylvia.

The characters are all stereotypes. Though Sam originally wanted a complicated script, producer Sebastian Howard simply wanted wrestling with girls. As such, Sam created characters such as Jenny Chey's "Fortune Cookie," a stereotypical Chinese girl even though Jenny is Cambodian, and Arthie Premkumar's "Beirut the Mad Bomber," a terrorist. ("The Wrath of Kuntar")

For the first two seasons of the program, the group had a television series on K-DTV. In the third season, the setting moves to the Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Though the show is initially contracted at the Fan-Tan for only three months, after a difficult decision it is extended to run an entire year. ("Freaky Tuesday") Some are wary of the extended schedule, especially Debbie, who has been separated from her toddler son, Randy. With some encouragement, however, she decides to remain with the group, bringing her child with her to Vegas. ("Outward Bound") Following the group's run at the Fan-Tan, Debbie concocts a scheme to buy out a television network and create a new wrestling program, with her as the producer and the network executive of the station. She offers Ruth a role as director, but Ruth declines the role. ("A Very GLOW Christmas")

Behind the scenes
The original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling began with local shows in Minneapolis, Minnesota and later touring around the state. At the peak of its popularity, it had 7 million viewers every week.