Jane Russell vs Esther Williams (1951) by goldenerafan

Most in Hollywood considered these two vixens the toughest celebrity fighters in the early 1950’s. They had fought four times before this, each winning twice. Although Esther lost a couple of boxing matches to others, Jane had been the only celebrity who had outwrestled her. Jane entered in a low-cut red swimsuit that nicely displayed the awesome cleavage associated with her 38 1/2-25-37 figure. Esther entered wearing a two-piece white swimsuit that showed not only some breast meat, but also the strong adominals associated with her 37-26-35 1/2 figure.

The match started with a Test of Strength and Jane's strong arms forced Esther to bend, but her strong thighs firmed up and Jane wasn’t moving her. Jane finally shoved Esther back and grabbed her in a Full Nelson - but Esther quickly dropped out of it and reversed, catching Russell in a Full Nelson of her own! Esther really pulled Jane’s shoulders back, emphasizing the size of her bosom but Jane used her upper arm and shoulder strength to break the hold.

Esther immediately attacked Jane from the back and took her to the mat, putting Jane in a Surfboard. She was able to finally roll over and escape, but Esther, ever the aggressor, put the brunette in a painful Leglock and Toe Hold. The swim star pressed down hard with her whole weight as she pressured Jane’s calves with her own muscular thighs. Jane was able to finally grab Esther's hair and fling her off.

Jane pulled Esther to her feet and drove a couple of punches into the swim star's stomach before she picked the MGM star up on her shoulders and spun her around, slamming her to the mat with a Body Slam.

Jane reached down to grab Esther again, but was greeted by a violent kick by both legs that swept the ‘Outlaw’ star off her feet and dropped her to the mat. Esther jumped on Jane and maneuvered her into a Figure Four Leg Scissors but once again, Esther demonstrated the tremendous strength of her thighs as she really squeezed Jane’s head and neck. Choking, Jane tried to muscle her way out by bridging up and lifting using her strong arms to force Esther off of her. After over two minutes trapped in the hold, Jane finally was able to untangle Esther’s legs and escape, but she was panting heavily.

As Esther attacked again, Jane threw another hard punch to her stomach, then smacked her in the face. Jane wrapped her arms around Esther and had her in a face-to-face Bear Hug. Jane continued to squeeze and squeeze, giving the swim star great pain. Esther couldn’t break free until she finally head-butted Jane to gain her release.

Jane attacked, but Esther side-stepped and wrapped up Jane’s neck from behind, adding a one-arm Hammerlock as she bore Jane to the mat where Esther switched to a Full Nelson and really applied pressure until Jane was finally able to buck and kick her off.

Two tired amazons returned to their feet in what had been a fairly even match, but Esther was gaining the upper hand as they approached each other. She caught Jane with a Leg Sweep that tumbled her to the floor and Esther dove on Jane, again going after her right leg with a Stepover Toehold. Williams really turned on the pressure, hurting the brunette until Jane, using her free leg, was able to kick Esther’s shoulder and force her to release the hold.

Jane was limping badly when she regained her feet and attempted to attack Esther using her fists, but Esther ducked and again kicked Jane’s injured leg. Esther was able to use three Forearm Smashes to put the brunette back on the mat where she used a series of Leg Drops across the brunette's throat before returning to hammer that injured leg.

Further weakened, Jane managed to trip Esther and got behind her to applied another Bearhug. Esther was in trouble and trying to figure out an escape but Jane still had strong arms. Esther was able to kick Jane’s injured leg, forcing her to release the hold and, again, both fighters returned to their feet.

Williams moved into Russell and left her feet to land a solid Dropkick to her heaving breasts. Jane sprawled on her back on the mat and the swim queen quickly got Jane clamped in a Sleeper Hold. She locked it on good and Jane went limp in slghtly in slightly over one minute. Esther had a big victory over a tough foe in a little over twenty-one minutes.

In an interview after the fight, Williams was asked about her new-found wrestling skill such as the sleeper hold and she credited it to practicing with Mildred Burke, the professional womens champion. Esther said she had a couple more holds she was saving for her next match with young up-and-coming talent, Mitzi Gaynor. 1