Original GLOW Girl “Hollywood” Jeanne Basone Talks Her Memoir, WWE Tryout on a Broken Leg, more
Guest: Hollywood
Date: 01/10/2025
Your Host: James Walsh
The original GLOW Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling was a wonderful combination of campy comedy sketches and wrestling matches. Featuring ladies of all sizes, shapes, races and creeds, it was a somewhat short lived but impactful piece of pro wrestlng history that broke ground for women in a male dominated world of pro wrestling. Oh, and I almost forgot, it was a lot of fun too!
The original GLOW girl, the only one to be on all 4 seasons, was “Hollywood” Jeanne Basone. The attractive California girl, who still models to this day, has written her memoir telling all the true stories of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling as well as her active life as a stunt woman, video game sex symbol, and a life long rock and roll chick. The book, available on Amazon now but also available autographed from her Etsy site, is a cool read written by a very interesting and unique person. If you loved GLOW, you’ll love this book!
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HOLLYWOOD:
On deciding to write the book:
“I’ve been working on this for a long time. I thought, “YOu know, I am the first GLOW girl that was signed. I did the pilot and I did all 4 seasons. If anybody is going to tell the story (of GLOW), it should be me. If anybody else wants to write the story, I hope they do. But, this tells the whole story. I started back in 1990! Thank goodness I wrote some of this stuff down! Because, some of the details would have been lost forever… You know, as you get older, you forget some fine details.”
On the topics of the book:
“I also wrote the book in parts. So, if you want to read about the GLOW audition process, you read part 2. If you want to read about Jeanne growing up, that’s part 1! And, if you want to know about everything since, that’s part 3 and beyond. So, it is pretty cool. So, you’re not missing anything if you jump around.
On if it was difficult to be introspective and look at her whole life, successes and failures alike:
“No, not at all because it is all the truth. No matter how you look, if you put the whole truth out there, you’ll see you have dignity in it. I have a lot in there, there is even some of that #MeToo movement thing in there… That’s my truth! So, if you jump in and you read about my upbringing and how my mom and dad taught me right from wrong, and they were right… The way I was brought up, there were lots of rules! Was I a rebel? Yes! Oh yes! But, it is all my truth. It wasn’t hard at all. There’s a little bit of heartache in there. It is all well rounded out. I will say, it is a classy book. It is not a trashy book!”
On how it compares to other female wrestling books like that of Missy Hyatt:
“I have Missy’s book. I love that book. Mine is different. But, hers is great too! Mine comes with a disclaimer on it and it says that this is my truth. I love that. I mean, if you read the “True Crime” part, you’re going to be like, “WHAT!?” (laughs) It is like Bonnie and Clyde or something! (laughs)”
On how the book is being received thus far:
“I’ve read some good reviews so far. So far, they’ve all been good. I’m sure there will be some bad ones. That’s OK! But, I haven’t seen any yet. I’ve been keeping an eye on the ranking on Amazon and I’ve been #1 in wrestling books. I’ve slipped down to #3 a few times. At one point, The Rock right below me. But, as long as I’m staying near the top, I’m happy and I think that is so cool!”
On the negativity some within the business have towards the GLOW legacy:
“I noticed it a lot more back then than now. Back then, it was like, “Don’t talk to them! They are not real wrestlers! They’re making fun of it.” You know what I mean? Well, I know what we did. Mondo Guerrero trained us. We were learning. It sucked when Mondo was gone and the girls were training the other girls. But, what do you do when you’re one of the first 12? All of a sudden, Mondo was gone. I can’t have one of the other girls train me. I do think if we would have had a lot more training, we could have been just as good as the girls of today who, by the way, are absolutely awesome! But, the negativity? I heard it. But, now, when we do conventions… Some of the legends come up to us and say, “I used to watch you! We weren’t supposed to. But, I know who you are!” (laughs)”
On the GLOW show being “camp”:
“Our show was different. It was just different! We were never, ever trying to make fun of wrestling. We would never have done that! I respect all of the legends that came before us. Because, if it wasn’t for them, you and I wouldn’t be talking!”
On GLOW featuring different types of girls:
“There wasn’t a cookie cutter GLOW look. We had girls of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I loved that. We had a lot of different types of characters. We had a lot of… Well, I was going to say we had a lot of freedom but we really didn’t have much freedom! (laughs) But, if you go back and you see the first 2 seasons of GLOW, you’ll see that we did have more freedom (than the 3rd and 4th seasons)! I mean, we got away with a lot, a lot of what you would never get away with today!”
On modern women’s wrestling now getting near equal time to that of the men:
“I love it! That is what comes with change. And, that is the way it should be! For me, when I auditioned for WWE, WWF as it was at the time, I did so in the middle of having a broken leg. But, for the girls today, I absolutely love what is going on. More power to them!”
On her long-time relationship with guitarist Ryan Spencer Cook:
“Ryan and I have been together for 22 years! We’re almost married by time even though we’re not married. Ryan has been in a lot of bands. But, he has played with Gene Simmons when Gene did his solo tour away from KISS and he is with Ace Frehley’s band. Before I ever met Ryan, I was a huge fan of KISS! I remember the kids in 7th grade had the KISS hats and KISS belts and I was like, “I’ve gotta get that album!” And now, I’ve met every one of the KISS band members. I was in Gene SImmons’ magazine called Tongue when he had that. It was wrestling! It was called “Headlock Hotties” and they had pictures and interviews of some of us girls who were wrestling. Ryan had quite a few years with Gene! And, you know what is great? When you have people who are in rock and roll and in sports entertainment, we’re both gone! That works out for us. I’ll be gone for 3 days and then he’ll be gone for 3 days. But, we come back and we make sure our kitties are taken care of!” She continues, “The book talks a lot about our relationship… How we met… Our ups and downs! When you’re with someone for 22 years, there has to be some ups and downs! But, again, it is very honest.”
On if any of her GLOW colleagues have read the book yet:
“So far, only one has. Corporal Kelly wrote a beautiful review. She was honest. We weren’t very close. She came in season 3. I was there but I wasn’t around as much in seasons 3 and 4 because I was also doing other stuff. But, she wrote that she was proud of me and that she appreciated my honesty. That meant a lot to me.”
On what she hopes people take away from her memoir:
“That is a good question… What you see is what you get! And, it is a very good, very positive read. It is a positive story. Anyone into my career, into the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, I think you’ll love it!”
Source: wrestlingepicenter.com
