Former SHIMMER and SHINE star Malia Hosaka recently announced on her Facebook page that she has started a fundraiser to bring past female wrestlers to the Cauliflower Alley Club’s annual reunion taking place in Las Vegas, NV in 2018.
In addition to her post on Facebook, Malia was gracious enough to share a few more sentiments with our website as to why she is currently working on this fundraiser:
“I am hosting the fundraiser because I, alone, can not afford to help bring these women together. We are losing more and more great talent each year and while I think there are many male wrestlers out there still doing shows and seminars there aren’t many women veterans around to guide and help the new generation. In addition, we’ve reached a time where even I am often unknown to the locker room, so I know that my veterans (with the exception of maybe Moolah, Wendi Richter and Madusa) are also being forgotten; what they sacrificed and did for women when it truly mattered, needs to be remembered.”
“I never really got to actually thank any of them, Debbie Combs especially, and Luna before she passed. This is my way of saying “you matter, you are remembered, you were the pioneers that gave me a place to perform, thank you” and it’s also a chance for the younger women who attend CAC to meet those who put up with prejudice, biases and being called the popcorn match so women would have a place in the ring.”
“And why CAC? Well, because I’m sure there’s some men they would like to see again, but mostly because it as an organization that already had an established function. It was easier to say let’s all meet there than trying to put together a separate reunion.”
Malia went on to list Princess Victoria, Velvet McIntyre, The Jumping Bomb Angels, The Glamour Girls, Sherri Lee, Cora Combs and Debbie Combs as some of the names she wants people to remember.
When asked if there was an overarching theme she hoped people would take away from this fundraiser, Malia stressed remembrance above all else:
“These are women wrestlers, they are the history and people to be honored and given the credit for women having a place in the ring today. They had to work hard to keep those doors open for others to follow, and choreographers and boot camps weren’t what they lived with, they lived with hard weekly training, not to learn what was needed to get a match done, but to prove they deserved a spot on the card. Men often looked at women wrestlers as taking 2-4 spots away from men who could have been booked, so they had to hit harder, bump harder, and learn the art as fast as possible just to be given a chance to share a locker room.”
Malia’s fundraiser has currently raised over $2000 and is hoping to reach her goal of $5,000.
If you can or are willing to donate, you may do so on the following link: https://www.facebook.com/donate/912740015556218/’
Below are videos of athletes mentioned by Malia Hosaka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hak30W3bBgk
Aside from the wrestlers mentioned by Malia, who are some of your favorites from this era in wrestling? Who do you believe are undervalued workers from this era?
