Meet the first black professional women wrestlers who brightened the sport in the 1950s

Kathleen Wembley — Cageside Seats

Kathleen Wembley

RELATED STORIES

The fearless African women who pushed for the end of the Second Liberian Civil War

Five most acclaimed female filmmakers from Africa you should know

Tanzeela Qambrani becomes Pakistan's first female lawmaker of African descent

The sad and lonely final days of Sita Bella, Africa's first woman filmmaker

She developed the interest in wrestling after seeing a girl wrestling on television in her native Columbus, Ohio, according to accounts.

Though she had considered music, modelling and dress-designing as career prospects, she decided to enter into girl wrestling because she realized it was fun and lucrative as she was good at sports too.

After signing up with Billy Wolfe, she became a pro after just 18 months, earned $5,000 her first year, and went undefeated for the first six months. Annually, Wimbley earned as much as $10,000 from the profession.