Frank "Masked Maniac" Goodman's old USA-Pro wrestling promotion was the three-ring -- and often six-hour! -- circus of the Metro NY indy wrestling scene, an overstuffed buffet of WWE/WCW/ECW vets, ticket-selling beginners, and assorted freaks and geeks on both sides of the ring ropes. And while Goodman was a self-avowed non-fan of women's wrestling, he actually presented a few memorable ladies' bouts over the years.
This is one of them, from a Long Island show in early 2004. The lady getting her armed chomped on, DAWN OF THE DEAD style, is Ronnie "Simply Luscious" Stephens, to date the only female graduate of Shawn Michaels' wrestling school and a classic Southern heel: mouthy, sneaky, and antagonistic. The chompee is Sumie Sakai, who at the time was the USA-Pro Women's Champ -- and despite her culinary habits and other less-than-above-board tactics, a longtime fan favorite.
(This was absolutely one of those "right place, right time" pictures; a second before or after and I would have missed it.)
Surprisingly, Luscious not only recovered from the bite, but went on to win the belt that night:
These days, Sakai concentrates mostly on martial arts, Luscious rarely ventures north of the Mason-Dixon line -- and Goodman, who moved to Orlando a few years back and ran a handful of wrestling shows, now concentrates on being a full-time dad taking his sons on daily treks to Disney World. And sadly, New York wrestling is the poorer for the absence of all three...
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