Wendi Richter

Born in 1961, Wendi Richter (that's her real name by the way) is without a doubt one of the most influential figures of ladies professional wrestling. For a while - at the peak of her career - she was more popular than Hulk Hogan himself. She was instrumental in steering professional wrestling (that's right, not ladies professional wrestling but professional wrestling in general) onto its current path.
Richter started wrestling in 1978. She was trained by none other than the Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison) with whom she developed a bitter feud later. Apparently, Moolah wouldn't give her younger wrestlers a break: according to many accounts, she was extremely rough with them and she actually managed to physically injure several of them. According to Wendi Richter herself, Moolah had attempted to put an end to her wrestling career a few times as well.

During her early career, Richter teamed with Moolah and later with Joyce Grable with whom she formed the tag team known as the Texas Cowgirls. Over her lengthy career, she wrestled for several promotions in the United States as well as in Canada. Stampede Wrestling was where she wrestled quite a bit north of the border. In 1983, she returned to the US and was signed by the WWF. She became a huge hit almost instantly, developing a feud with Moolah, keeping audiences entertained and filling up arenas like Madison Square Garden to the brink. In 1984, Wendi Richter became friends with pop singer Cyndi Lauper.
Cyndi would later act as her manager and she would actually accompany her to the ring. Their friendship was instrumental in bringing professional wrestling into the mainstream by introducing it to the MTV generation. Richter and Lauper’s friendship became known as the "Rock’n’Wrestling Connection" which has remained to this day one of the most iconic concepts in professional wrestling. The "Brawl to End it All" was the event which was quite possibly the culmination of Wendi Richter's illustrious career. The event saw her and Cyndi Lauper square off against reigning champion Fabulous Moolah who was accompanied to the ring by Lou Albano. Wendi Richter won the match thus putting an end to Fabulous Moolah's 28-year title reign. "The Brawl to End it All" was also a historic milestone for MTV, which registered its highest ratings during the match, up to that point in its history.

Wendi Richter would later lose the title earned in the Brawl to End it All to Fabulous Moolah's girl Leilani Kai in 1985, at the "War to Settle the Score". Richter would later regain the title, but she would lose it again to the Spider Lady in Madison Square Garden in 1985, after her masked opponent broke kayfabe and pinned her against the pre-agreed course of events in the match. The incident became known as the "Original Screwjob". Apparently, the incident was brought about by Vince McMahon's need to take the title away from Richter after the latter had refused to sign a new contract with the company.

After leaving the WWF, Richter hit the independent circuit and she wrestled in Puerto Rico and in Japan as well. She retired from professional wrestling in 2005.
A little while ago (June 2012), Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper were brought in by the WWE as a tribute to the duo, and they had an in-ring appearance, during which they were apparently shamelessly booed by the crowd and interrupted by an irrelevant male wrestler. The save was eventually made by Rowdy Roddy Piper, who managed to get the crowd under control somewhat, while paying his respects to Lauper and Richter. The incident was definitely one of the most cringe-worthy ones yours truly has witnessed during the recent history of professional wrestling's mainstream, showcasing the fans’ blatant disregard towards the history of the sport they apparently love. Wendi Richter has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and she has her own page at wwe.com.

Wendi Richter working an opponent’s leg

In the ring with Cyndi Lauper