Toni Rose

Last updated
Toni Rose
Born (1945-12-22) December 22, 1945 (age 78)
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Toni Rose
Billed height5 ft 5 in (165 cm) [1]
Billed weight143 lb (65 kg)
Trained by The Fabulous Moolah [1]
Debut1963

Toni Rose (born December 22, 1945) is an American retired professional wrestler. During her wrestling career, Rose captured the NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship on five occasions; three times with Donna Christanello, and twice with her trainer, The Fabulous Moolah. Rose is also a former one-time NWA Southern Women's Championship (Georgia version).

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Rose grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. [1] She decided to become a professional wrestler at the age of seven, but first attended Terre Haute High School and college. [2] [1] She trained under The Fabulous Moolah in 1965. [1] During her first match, which occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, her opponent Bambi Bell knocked Rose unconscious. [1]

During a match in Australia in 1969, Rose was injured and left partially blind in one eye. [1] In the early 1970s, Rose held the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship twice with The Fabulous Moolah. [3] [4] They first won the title in May 1970, but lost it to Donna Christanello and Kathy O'Day. During a rematch in June, Rose and Moolah regained the title. [4] Later that November, Rose won the title, this time with Christanello. [4] In 1972 at the Superbowl of Wrestling, they defended the World Women's Tag Team Championship against Sandy Parker and Debbie Johnson. During their reign, there was an unrecorded title change; Susan "Tex" Green and Parker won the title from Christanello and Rose in November 1971 in Hawaii, but they regained it in February 1972 in Hong Kong. [4] [5] After a three-year reign as champions, they were officially defeated for the title by the team of Joyce Grable and Vicki Williams on October 15, 1973, in New York City. [4] It was not until October 1975 that Rose and Christanello regained the title from Grable and Williams, holding it for approximately four years. [4]

During this time, she also wrestled against Susan "Tex" Green in Leroy McGuirk's promotion. [6] During her career, Rose was also a contender for Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship, but never won the title. [7] In December 1974, Rose was in a match to crown the vacated NWA United States Women's Championship, but lost to Ann Casey. [8]

Personal life

Rose cites Penny Banner as her favorite wrestler growing up, who she later became friend with. [9] [10] She was married to Jack Laughridge for nearly 35 years, until he passed away in 2016. [10]

Championships and accomplishments

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Wrestling to the tune of $68,000 a year". The Sydney Morning Herald. January 5, 1972. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  2. ↑ "Local Female In Mat Debut". The Terre Haute Tribune. November 17, 1963. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
  3. 1 2 Ellison, Lillian. First Goddess of the Squared Circle, p.143–145.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). "NWA Women's World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  5. ↑ Pierce, Dale. "Interview with Susan Green". Wrestling Then and Now. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Steven (March 26, 2004). "Susan Tex Green: Prodigy to pro". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ Greenberg, Keith Elliot (2000). Pro Wrestling: From Carnivals to Cable TV . Lerner Publications. p.  35. ISBN   0-8225-3332-4.
  8. ↑ Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). "NWA Women's US Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 197. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ↑ Annino, Christopher (May 2, 2022). "A rare chat with Toni Rose". Slam Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Mooneyham, Mike (April 1, 2023). "For Hall of Famer Toni Rose, there was life after wrestling". The Post and Courier . Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  11. ↑ "World Women's Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com.
  12. ↑ Oliver, Greg (2017-12-07). "Oooooh yeaaahhhh! PWHF announces Class of 2018". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  13. ↑ "FIRST INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED FOR WOMEN'S WRESTLING HALL OF FAME | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved 27 March 2023.

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References

Further reading

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