GLOW Star Matilda The Hun Passes Away At 73

Deanna Booher was best known to wrestling fans as Matilda the Hun from the campy 1980’s women’s wrestling promotion GLOW which was later fictionalized for popular Netflix series. Booher had been suffering from various health issues recently and spent a lot of time in the hospital. Booher has sadly passed away at the age of 73.

Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported on the death of Matilda the Hun. The California native was portrayed as a monster villain during her run with the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Booher stood 6’3″ and was billed at 315 pounds.

Deanna was a legitimate collegiate wrestler at El Camino Junior College. Booher spoke about her experience with wrestling on her website. The boys on the team were afraid of her, she wrote.

“The grappling grabbed my mind and body. I decided to enroll in the beginning class. At first I was laughed at and the coach told me a woman did not belong in that class. I threatened to report him to the ERA. He reluctantly let me join. After a few months I started to show great promise. I started running and lifting weights, and practiced countless drills.

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Then one day, I pinned the wrestling captain. Then all the boys became afraid of me. Often they would lose because my boob in their face would throw them totally off guard, or a very embarrassing bulge in their shorts would arise after an illegal crotch hold. I started winning matches by default.”

Deanna trained with some huge names in the wrestling industry. Booher learned judo from the legendary Gene LeBell. Mando Guerrero also trained her in pro wrestling before she joined GLOW. Matilda the Hun is fondly remembered as one of the many colorful characters in the promotion. May she rest in peace.

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