October 9th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Gene LeBell 1932
Eddie Guerrero 1967
Happy Birthday:
Betty Niccoli (82)
Rockin Robin Smith (61)
Jun Akiyama (56)
Stevie Richards (54)
Daniel Puder (44)
Jay White (33)
RIP Memorial: We stop & remember those who have passed on this day and gave themselves to the business for us, the fans. We salute you and thank you.
Johnny Doyle 10-9-1969 at the age of 60
Raul Molina\El Mongol 10-9-2016 at the age of 86
Len Rossi 10-9-2020 at the age of 91
The Life and Career of Betty Niccoli
Betty Jo Niccoli, born on October 9, 1943, is an American former professional wrestler known for her impactful career in women’s wrestling during the 1960s and 1970s.
She competed across the United States, Canada, and Japan, earning multiple championships and playing a key role in advancing women’s opportunities in the sport. Niccoli’s tenacity and skill made her a standout figure in an era when female wrestlers faced significant barriers, including regional bans on women’s matches.
Betty Jo Niccoli was born in Missouri and growing up in a wrestling hotbed, Niccoli developed an early interest in the sport. According to accounts, she attended her first live event in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1958 at the age of about 15, where promoter Gust Karras recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue wrestling. She trained under Sandy Partlow and the midget wrestler, Lord Littlebrook. In a 2006 interview with SLAM! Wrestling, Niccoli said “Littlebrook worked with me more than anybody. He had ring psychology. He told me one day, “Betty, you’re a short girl. Let’s face facts. Unless you get in there and kick ass and make a name for yourself, you’re just going to be known as a loser” So he basically told me if I wasn’t going to get in there and fight like a pit bull, I might as well get out of wrestling.”
She decided to take his advice and stay in the business and made her professional debut November 12th in 1963 in a 6-Woman Battle Royal at the Convention Hall in Sedalia, Missouri. Her first singles match occurred right before the end of the year on December 30th in Des Moines, Iowa at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in a loss to Jessica Rogers.
Niccoli’s career spanned from 1963 to 1976, during which she wrestled for prominent promotions such as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), American Wrestling Association (AWA), Central States Wrestling, and All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling (WWWA). Known by the nickname “Powerhouse,” she stood at 5’1” and brought a fierce, athletic style to the ring. Her early matches included bouts in the World Wrestling Association (WWA), where she faced opponents like Jessica Rogers and Kay Noble. By the mid-1960s, Niccoli was competing in mixed tag team matches, often partnering with male wrestlers like Little Boy Blue or Gorgeous George Jr. against teams featuring Jean Antone. She developed notable rivalries with wrestlers such as Rachel Dubois, Jean Antone, Kay Noble, and Sandy Parker, which fueled many of her high-profile encounters. There is no doubt that Jean Antone was her most frequent opponent as the two were both booked out of the St. Joseph and Kansas City offices to travel to all the NWA territories to do singles matches or tag team matches against each other with various partners. Our of the almost 1,300 matches Niccoli wrestled in her career, 698 of them were against Antone. That’s an amazing 53.6% of her total matches. The next closet opponents are Kay Noble who faced Niccoli 100 times and Barabra Galento who had 82 matches with her. All the rest of her opponents are below 50 matches each.
Pictured Above: Niccoli holds Antone in a leg scissors.
Pictured Below: Niccoli holds an arm bar on Antone
In 1970, Niccoli achieved significant success by winning the NWA United States Women’s Championship in August, though she vacated it later that year. She also participated in mixed tag team series with Paul Peller against Jean Antone and Gil Hayes in 1971. Her international stint in Japan in 1974 was particularly noteworthy; while holding the AWA World Women’s Championship, she teamed with Sandy Parker to capture the WWWA World Tag Team Championship four times.
Throughout her career, Niccoli amassed an impressive list of titles, including:
AWA World Women’s Championship (2 times)
California State Women’s Championship (2 times)
NWA Central States Women’s Championship (2 times)
NWA Texas Women’s Championship (3 times)
NWA United States Women’s Championship (3 times)
WWWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times, all with Sandy Parker)
One of her key contributions was helping to lift the ban on women’s wrestling imposed by the New York State Athletic Commission. Although she advocated for the change, she never had the opportunity to wrestle in New York herself.
In the early 1970s, Niccoli met Japanese wrestler Akio Sato during a mixed tag team match in the Central United States promotion. Despite a ten-year age difference, the two married about a year later. Niccoli retired from wrestling in 1976 to focus on family, raising their two daughters at home. Post-retirement, she worked at a riverboat casino in the Kansas City area, where she continues to reside.
After stepping away from the industry for decades, Niccoli reconnected with the wrestling community at a Cauliflower Alley Club reunion in 2007. The following year, she was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in the “Lady Wrestler” category, recognizing her contributions to the sport. Niccoli’s career not only highlighted her athletic prowess but also paved the way for future generations of female wrestlers by challenging restrictions and expanding international opportunities.
Happy 82nd birthday today to the amazing Betty Niccoli.
Thank You for Reading
I’m Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
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