Cora Combs

Cora Svonsteckik
Ring name(s)	Cora Combs[1] Lady Satin[1]
Born	March 17, 1923[1] Hazard, Kentucky[1]
Resides	Nashville, Tennessee[1]
Trained by	Billy Wolfe[1]
Debut	1949[1]
Retired	1985[1]

Cora Svonsteckik is an American former professional wrestler, better known as Cora Combs.

Early life

Cora Svonsteckik was born in Hazard, Kentucky on March 17, 1923. While attending high school, she was a star on the girls' track team and won honors in the high jump category. On graduating, Svonsteckik moved to Nashville, Tennessee with the dream of singing at the Grand Ole Opry. A country western group called the Trail Riders were impressed enough with her vocal talents to make her a member.^[1]

During her time away from singing, Cora attended wrestling matches at the Hippodrome in Nashville. It was her first exposure to live professional wrestling and she was easily drawn to the spectacle. Here Cora witnessed the acclaimed Women's World Champion Mildred Burke. In 1949, Cora was able to get in the backstage area and meet Nashville promoter Nick Gulas, who introduced her to renowned women's wrestling promoter and trainer Billy Wolfe. Cora was inspired to become a professional female wrestler, put her music career to an end, and moved to Columbus, Ohio to begin an intense training regime at Wolfe's wrestling school.^[1]

Professional wrestling career

In the early 1950s, Cora joined the World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA), which lead to the immediate rise of her career. In addition to wrestling all over the United States, Combs competed in Canada, Mexico, Japan, pre-Castro Cuba, the Fiji Islands, and Nigeria, and competed with many greats including her original inspiration Mildred Burke, Mae Young, The Fabulous Moolah, Kay Noble, June Byers, and many others. In 1967, she was proclaimed the United States Women's Wrestling Champion (belt no longer in use) after a reported series of elimination matches.^[1]

Her most famous match was on March 3, 1972 in New York City. Her match with Princess Ti Ti was the first female professional wrestling match in New York State, effectively breaking the 50-year ban on women's wrestling. The match was extensively covered by television, radio, newspapers, and other media outlets throughout the city. After that, Combs continued to wrestle and signed with a new wrestling promotion based out of Cleveland called the International Wrestling Association (IWA). During her time in the IWA, Cora wrestled as Lady Satan, wearing a mask and changing her clothes to create the character. In the mid-1970s, Cora's daughter Debbie joined the ranks of s professional wrestling. Cora and Debbie then formed the only mother-daughter tag team duo in wrestling history.^[1]

Cora was considered one of the best-dressed women in the wrestling business. Her ring attire, which was made by her sister, consisted of a wide variety of colorful jackets and robes. Combs differentiated herself from her competition and established new ground for female wrestlers. Combs finally retired in 1985.^[1]

Championships and accomplishments

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Southern Women's Champion (1 time)

• NWA Mid-America
  • NWA United States Women's Champion (1 time)

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • (Class of 2007)

Filmography

• Wrestling Women USA! (2001)^[2]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} "Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame". PWHF. http://www.pwhf.org/halloffamers/bios/cora_combs.asp. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
2. ^ "IMDB Profile". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1291679/. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 

Persondata
Name	Combs, Cora
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 17, 1923
Place of birth	Hazard, Kentucky
Date of death
Place of death