Line #31 Wrestling/WendiRichter


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wendi_richter_pro.png]]
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3	Wendi Richter (born September 6, 1961) is a retired American {{professional wrestl\|ing}}er. Trained by Wrestling/LeilaniKai, Judy Martin and Joyce Grable, she began her professional wrestling career teaming with Wrestling/TheFabulousMoolah and Joyce Grable, the latter of whom she held the Wrestling/{{N\|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Women's World Tag Team Titles with twice. In the 1980s, she joined the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF), just as WWF owner Wrestling/VinceMcMahon brought in Music/CyndiLauper for a feud with Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano, which eventually resulted in Albano seconding WWF Women's Champion The Fabulous Moolah, while Lauper was in the corner of Richter. Richter defeated Moolah at Creator/{{MTV}}'s ''The Brawl to End It All'' for the Women's Championship on July 23, 1984, ending what was billed as the longest championship reign in professional wrestling history, Moolah's 28-year reign as recognized by the WWF.[[note]]In reality Moolah had lost the title several times between 1956 and 1978, and Richter's win had in reality only ended a nearly seven-year reign by Moolah as champion.[[/note]] This match was also the beginning of the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection", an era that combined both music and professional wrestling. Richter faced Moolah's protégé, Leilani Kai, who defeated Richter for the title, in early 1985 at ''The War to Settle the Score''. Richter regained the title at the first ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' one month later. Richter was also animated for a CBS Saturday morning cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/HulkHogansRockNWrestling''.
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5	After regaining the title from Kai, Richter was scheduled to defend it at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 1985 of that same year against a mysterious masked opponent known only as The Spider Lady. During the match, The Spider Lady broke from the pre-scripted events, and the referee delivered a swift three count, despite Richter kicking out after a count of one. Richter ignored the bell and continued to attack the Spider, unmasking the new champion to reveal that it was The Fabulous Moolah in disguise: Richter fell victim to a real-life "screwjob" finish who would be known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendi_Richter#The_Original_Screwjob "The Original Screwjob"]] (to differentiate it from [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob that other screwjob]]).
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7	Upon leaving the WWF, Richter wrestled in Puerto Rico, Japan, and throughout the United States in independent promotions. She resurfaced in the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation (AWA) in 1987 to challenge champion [[Wrestling/{{Madusa}} Madusa Miceli]] for the AWA Women's Championship, winning the title in December 1988, but the title would be vacated in December 1989 when Richter left the promotion. She would eventually mend her differences with the now renamed WWE and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.
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9	!!Tropes related to Wendi Richter:
10	* EightiesHair: A poofy ''Series/{{Dynasty\|1981}}''-like hairdo.
11	* ActionGirl: She had been one her entire life, working rodeos and training with horses before she started learning to wrestle.
12	* AllAmericanFace: Mainly in WWE during the Rock 'n Wrestling Era.
13	* AmazonianBeauty: She was very toned at the height of her fame, calling herself "150 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal". In fact, many of her promotional pictures featured her smiling like a beauty queen while also flexing her muscles.
14	* ArchEnemy:
15	** The Fabulous Moolah, off-screen, and maybe one on-screen too, considering the Spider Lady incident happened live in an arena for many to witness.
16	** She fought Princess Victoria a lot for a long time, only teaming with her once; unlike Moolah, their alliance ending after they proved unsuccessful in one [[Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling Zenjo]] match. So Victoria was a more obvious "on screen" case at least ''until'' the Spider Lady incident.
17	** In Stampede Wrestling, she and Joyce Grable were always feuding with the team of Velvet [=McIntyre=] and Judy Martin. Years later they rekindled their feud this time with Penny Mitchell(who would go on to become The Spider Lady) in Judy Martin's place. Richter also faced Martin in her initial AWA run, CSW (Heart of America in Kansas), Championship Wrestling From Florida, M&M Promotions, St. Louis Wrestling Club, the Mid-South territory, the Mid-Atlantic territory, Puerto Rico's WWC, the partners and venues changed a lot but hostility between Richter and Martin didn't...two WWF dark matches aside.
18	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.
19	* TheBusCameBack: She and Cyndi Lauper made a surprise guest appearance on ''Raw'' in 2012 as part of the lead in for the 1000th episode.
20	* CatchPhrase: She joked that "Girls just wanna have fun" was already her mission statement by the time she was paired with Cyndi.
21	* CowboysAndIndians: Cowgirl vs. Princess Victoria qualified at any rate. Usually avoided with Winona Little Heart, who was more frequently Richter's tag team partner.
22	* DoubleEntendre: "I've fought inch by inch for this, and I'm not about to lie down and let someone cover me".
23	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: She was a rather big ol' gal when she first started, being around 180 pounds, and with blonde hair. Then there was her first gimmick, a Heel Cowgirl with dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy's cheerleader.
24	* EverythingIsBigInTexas: From Dallas. Her initial gimmick was of a Texas cowgirl.
25	* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: {{Inverted}}, she had the eyeshadow as seen in the profile pic while she was a face.
26	* {{Face}}: She tended towards this and had natural likeability that made her a good fit. She did play heel several times in the territories but was WWE's favorite female face during her time there. She has stated she preferred being a face.
27	* FinishingMove: A reverse death valley driver known as "the widow maker" or Sitout DDT, depending on which channels you followed. During her time in WWC she used a powerbomb.
28	* GeniusBruiser: She has a business degree.
29	* GoodIsNotNice: Wendi said her preferred type of role was a "rough babyface", putting her in this category.
30	* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: Those massive hoop earrings and zebra patterned leotards.
31	* LeotardOfPower: This was the standard garment for women wrestlers at the time but it still fits.
32	* LovelyAngels: After Joyce Grable, Richter most frequently teamed with another trainee of Grable and Martin, the much bulkier biker thug Peggy Lee Leather.
33	* MasterApprenticeChain: She learned the arts of professional wrestling at the same school her three trainers did, who all had received direct instruction from The Fabulous Moolah. She would frequently wrestle against or tag with one of them as well as with and against Moolah several times in her career.
34	* OddFriendship: Wendi - a down-to-earth country girl - and Cyndi Lauper - a pop superstar. Wendi confirms that they were great friends when they worked together.
35	* PoisonIsEvil: In Mid-South Wrestling she would slip Wrestling/JimCornette the ether he would use to try and suffocate the baby faces his clients were against.
36	* RingOldies: She stepped into the ring for some Wrestle-Reunion events when she was in her forties.
37	* TagTeam: She and Joyce Grable went by "The Texas Cowgirls".
38	* SignatureMove: A self respecting cowgirl almost has to use the lariat.
39	* TheRival
40	** Leilani Kai and Sabrina the Wonder Girl are wrestlers she'd otherwise be fairly amicable with if not for being associated with the Fabulous Moolah and Princess Victoria respectively.
41	** Heidi Lee Morgan over the AWA and National Wrestling Federation women's title belts, Richter being her [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Minnesota Fats]].
42	* UrExample: The first WWC Women's Champion, as they were reluctant to or couldn't find a Puerto Rican to build around for another seven years, so she defended the island's honor against Monster Ripper.

Context Wrestling / WendiRichter