Pioneer Woman
Kay Noble
Kay Noble was born Kay Bell in St. Joseph, Missouri. She was an American female professional wrestler whose career spanned from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Noble debuted in 1957 aged 18 after being approced by Gust Karras, a St. Louis wrestling promoterpromoter and was trained by Laura Martinez and Sonny Myers. Later she helped Ed Wiskowski, known professionally as Colonel DeBeers, break into the business. Noble was known as one of the toughest women wrestlers despite her five foot eight inch build resembling that of a swimmer more than a wrestler's, and is recognized as a pioneer of women's wrestling. Noble was also one of the first female wrestlers to work with African-American women in the ring.
In the United States she held the Texas Women's Championship and Central States Women's Championship and worked in Japan in the 1970s as well, and was named Girl Wrestler of the Year in 1971 by the WFIA. In 2001 the Cauliflower Alley Club named her a legend in wrestling, later attending the 2005 Las Vegas reunion as well.
Noble wrestled her last match in 1987 against Marie Laverne and entered into the pest control and upholstery industries.
She died on April 27, 2006 in Amarillo, Texas to an inoperable cancer
of the stomach, having been diagnosed the previous October.
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(compiled by Brett Schwan)
