Janet Wolfe
Janet Boyer Wolfe (June 13, 1933 – July 28, 1951), also known as Jeanette Wolfe, was an American professional wrestler who had a very short but promising wrestling career, being booked to come out on top of Mae Young on several occasions. She was the foster daughter of Billy Wolfe and Mildred Burke, one of the most successful female professional wrestlers of all time.[1] She was trained by her father, who operated a troupe of women wrestlers associated with the NWA.[2]
| Janet Wolfe | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Janet Boyer Wolfe |
| Born | June 13, 1933 Orr, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | July 28, 1951 (aged 18) East Liverpool, Ohio, U.S. |
| Family | Billy Wolfe, father Mildred Burke, mother |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Billed height | 5'3" |
| Billed weight | 120 lb (54 kg) |
| Trained by | Billy Wolfe |
Death
On July 27, 1951, Wolfe was body-slammed hard on the mat by Ella Waldek, to whom she lost the match in approximately seven minutes, which might have ruptured a vein in her stomach. Later that same evening, in the final contest of the benefit show at Patterson Field in East Liverpool, Ohio, she was scheduled to be the tag-team partner of Eva Lee, but she was complaining of a major headache minutes prior to this. Nevertheless she wrestled for a few minutes before tagging Lee, who then saw her partner collapse on the ring apron.
The match was stopped as people attended to Wolfe, who never regained consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital where she died at 4:00 a.m. on July 28. The official cause of death was a brain hemorrhage, and the doctor found that a blood clot had formed possibly six or seven days before, signifying that Waldek was not to blame for her death, even though police questioned all three women involved in the match and ultimately let them go.
In the aftermath, Waldek continued to perform and was labeled as a murderer by the crowd, something which is said to have helped her notoriety. Additionally, Waldek always believed that the huge meal that Wolfe ate between the two matches contributed to her death.[3]
References
- "Janet "Jeanette Wolfe" "Violet Wolfe" Boyer". geni_family_tree. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- Hornbaker, Tim; National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 291, ECW Press, 2007, ISBN 1-55022-741-6
- "Ella Waldek: A life of triumphs and tragedy".