With a WWE Hall Of Fame induction looming for Torrie Wilson, Steve Cook takes at the oft overlooked female talent from WCW!

The induction of Torrie Wilson in the WWE Hall of Fame has generated all sorts of lively discussion. Torrie certainly had many memorable moments in WWE, but we know that isn’t where she got her start. Wilson first broke into the wrestling business during an era of WCW where there were many different ladies vying for our attention.

Since it was the late 1990s, WCW’s women mostly served as valets. Most of them had limited at best in-ring skills or promo ability & were largely there for T & A purposes. I’m not saying anything mean by saying that’s what got Torrie a spot on the WCW roster. Torrie stuck with it & eventually developed into a serviceable in-ring talent & compelling performer.

Most of the women that debuted around the same time Torrie Wilson did faded out of the business in pretty short order. Here are five of them that I feel have become overlooked with the passage of time.

5. Gorgeous George

Randy Savage wanted to change things up when he returned to action in 1999. One way to do that was add his twenty-three year old girlfriend to his act. George had her first match not long after her debut at Spring Stampede 1999, as she competed in an intergender match against Charles “Little Naitch” Robinson in order to get Savage re-instated.

I rate George vs. Robinson as my favorite intergender match of all time. Neither was a regular wrestler, but they did a great job of appropriating Savage & Flair’s movesets & making it as ridiculous & entertaining as possible. Check out Slamboree 1999 on the Network sometime and watch it if you haven’t before. That’s funny intergender stuff done right, and nobody had to throw up on anybody.

4. Midajah

Scott Steiner & the NWO had an entire army of women accompanying them to the ring at one point. April Hunter & Tylene Buck were also involved, but it was Midajah who would outlast them all and become Steiner’s #1 freak.

Midajah stuck with Steiner through the end of WCW & also appeared alongside him in the short-lived WWA. She did a little training in UPW but gave up on it & went back to the fitness competitions she had been doing before she got into wrestling.

3. Tygress

Tygress started out as one of the Nitro Girls, but once 2000 hit & the established girls moved on, she joined up with the Filthy Animals stable. Torrie Wilson was also involved in this, along with Billy Kidman, Konnan, an unmasked Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrero & Disco Inferno. Torrie & Tygress would eventually have issues, as all WCW women hated each other at one point or another. She also feuded with Major Gunns & competed in some matches with men.

She was most known for her variation on the broncobuster, the “face full of stuff”.

2. Leia Meow

Leia originally broke in with ECW under the name of Kimona Wanalaya & served as one of Raven’s many valets. Her highlights there included making out with Beulah McGillicutty & dancing atop the ECW Arena. A couple of years later she popped up in WCW alongside, of all people, the Varsity Club. It wasn’t a great fit, but she eventually became the manager of the Jung Dragons.

I was a fan of the group, and definitely a fan of the look Leia adopted once she joined up with them.

1. Miss Madness

Before joining Team Madness, Starla Saxton was a young wrestler occasionally appearing on WCW & WWF B-shows. She got a permanent gig in WCW helping Madusa train the bevy of females hired during this time period, and ended up in Randy Savage’s group of ladies that constantly interfered in his matches during the summer of 1999. Once that wrapped up, Miss Madness used her first name of Mona & had mini-feuds with women on B-shows until her release in August 2000.

Of course, she went on to greater fame once she signed with WWE & adopted the persona of Molly Holly, cousin of Bob & Crash. Molly became a favorite of the online crowd and was one of WWE’s most reliable female perfomers for the entirety of her stint with the company. She certainly hasn’t been forgotten like other favorites of late-period WCW, but many would tell you she’s overlooked.

After all, she’s still waiting on her Hall of Fame induction.