Hollywood Champions: 1940 - 1945 (The World War II years)
During World War II there were several competing "leagues" in Hollywood. Young women from all over the country flocked to Southern California with stars in their eyes. They came to work in the defense plants that sprang up during the war years but many also hoped for a "big break" to get them into the movies. Many spent their days on a stool in Schwab's Drug Store waiting to be discovered, but others took a more direct route and signed up to fight. Not all the women featured in this section won championships, but all were worthy of the title.
In what was called the "first match of Hollywood's modern era" Susan Hayward beat Dorothy Lamour in March of 1940 in a bitter struggle that left both women hospitalized for several days.
In early 1941 Lamour got revenge (and then some) for her earlier defeat, wresting the title from Hayward while leaving the badly beaten Susan unconscious and bloody in the ring.
Dancer Ann Miller took advantage of Lamour's exhaustion after her battles with Hayward and forced her to submit in two straight falls to take the title. Miller successfully defended it numerous times until America entered the Second World War in December 1941.
Ava Gardner won a surprisingly easy victory over champ Ann Miller early in 1942. They met a month later and she defended successfully although feelings ran high and the match was hard-fought for all 3 falls during the 58 minute match.
Hungarian refugee Zsa Zsa Gabor beat Gardner to win the title, but after only three weeks she lost it back to Ava after promoters demanded, and got, an immediate rematch. Bitterly disappointed and charging she was a victim of 'America-firsters' Zsa Zsa never got to fight for the title again but she and her sister Eva held several tag team titles later in the 40's and into the early 1950's.
In 1943 Jane Russell won the championship of the "B" League, beating Ann Miller who wasn't in fighting shape at the time they fought.
Late in '43, singer Janis Paige won the right to call herself a "champion" when she won the "C League" title in the Colisseum. The victory also got her a part in Warner Bros. "Hollywood Canteen" the following year which put her singing career on the fast track.
Betty Grable returned from a USO tour in 1944. She announced her return by telling reporters, "I'm bored, I'm broke and I'm back." She celebrated by defeating Ava Gardner to winning the first several titles she would hold during a long and illustrious career.
Within a few months, however, big, strong Jane Russell came looking for Grable. She overpowered the petite dancer and sent the disheartened Grable off on her next USO tour with the bitter taste of defeat in her mouth.
In mid-1945 Ann Miller surprised both Jane Russell and the critics who thought she was over the hill. She twice pinned Russell during a grueling match to win the title again.
Strong and athletic, swimming star Esther Williams followed the path of the athletic dancers who had held the title. But barely two months after beating Ann Miller soundly to gain the championship, Williams was forced to relinquish it when she found she was pregnant. A tournament was held to crown the next champion.
In the finals of a 1945 elimination tournament, a petite pin-up girl whose main movie experience had been in "B" westerns surprised everyone by coming out on top. Dale Evans was her name and although she held the title for only six months, the notoriety she won propelled her into the lifelong role as "Queen of the West" as Mrs. Roy Rogers.
A pretty young band singer from Cincinnati, Ohio named Doris Day beat Dale Evans to win the title, something Doris would do FOUR times during a long fight career that continued into the 1960's. Like many who held the title, Doris had a dark side. She enjoyed sexually humiliating her beaten opponents. This behavior stood in stark contrast to her "goody-goody" screen image and was a source of amusement to everyone in Hollywood except the unlucky women in the ring facing her.
