Pioneer Woman
Mildred Burke
Mildred Bliss was an American professional wrestler, who wrestled under
the name Mildred Burke. A member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of
Fame as well as the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, she is widely regarded
as the best female American wrestler of all time. Her heyday lasted from
the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, when she held the World Women's Championship
for almost twenty years.
Mildred Burke started out in 1934, wrestling men at carnivals. She was managed promoter Billy Wolfe (her second husband). Burke was almost always victorious and soon became a main event-level draw. In 1937, she defeated Clara Mortensen for the World Women's Title. She carried the belt until 1954, when she lost it on August 20 in Atlanta, Georgia to June Byers. The match which, which was a grudge match, allegedly quickly became a shoot fight due to genuine hatred between the two women.
In the early 1950s, Burke started the World Women's Wrestling Association in Los Angeles, California, creating the WWWA World Heavyweight Championship and recognizing herself as its first champion. She vacated the belt in 1956, when she retired from professional wrestling.
In 1970 the belt was revived by All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (AJW) as their top prize. Marie Vagnone won a tournament to decide the new title-holder, and Burke presented the belt herself.
In her later years, Burke ran a women's wrestling school in Encino, California. [1] Among her students was Canadian Rhonda Singh, who would go on to fame as WWWA Champion, Monster Ripper, and WWF Women's Champion, Bertha Faye.
Burke died from a stroke in Los Angeles, in 1989. She was 73.
If anyone is deserving of being inducted into the Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame it would certainly be Mildred Burke.
