Going To The Mat Joanne Mccartney Is Pinning Down A Career In Wrestling.
September 21, 1990|By JORGE MILIAN, Staff Writer
Lisa Handzel and Joanne McCartney have gotten into two knock `em down, drag `em out fights in the past two weeks.
Each time Handzel has gotten the worst of it. Last week for example, McCartney picked Handzel up twice and body slammed her. Then she put Handzel in a full nelson until she screamed in agony and begged McCartney to stop.
But Handzel doesn`t seem to know when to quit. As the two were being seperated Saturday, Handzel was hurling epithets and threats McCartney`s way.
A third fight, and probably a fourth, fifth and sixth, appear imminent. Such is the world of professional wrestling.
-- Joanne McCartney, an Oakland Park bodybuilder and part-time housekeeper, never wanted to become a professional wrestler and fight with foes such as Lisa Handzel. It was only because of the incessant nagging of her husband, Gary, that she became involved in the business three months ago.
Gary, a Broward County fireman, is a wrestling fanatic. He knows all the holds and all the wrestlers` names.
Joanne couldn`t have cared less. She couldn`t have told you the difference between Hulk Hogan and Hogan`s Heroes before entering the ring for the first time two weeks ago.
Things began to change last June when the organizers of a group called Major League Wrestling approached McCartney about promoting the fledging outfit. MLW president Howard Brody was hoping to cash in on McCartney`s popularity as one of the top names in women`s bodybuilding.
The subject of McCartney actually wrestling was never broached.
``But I figured, with Joanne`s body type, she`d be a great wrestler,`` Gary McCartney said.
Joanne wasn`t quite as sure. At first, she rejected her husband`s prodding. Then she gave in. But just a little.
``I told Gary that I would try it for just one week,`` said McCartney, 31.
Three months and two matches later, McCartney is still a pro wrestler. And there are some people in the business who think McCartney will be to women`s wrestling what Hulk Hogan is to the men.
``She has everything going for her,`` said Rusty Brooks, who trains McCartney at Pro Wrestling Academy in Hallandale. ``She has a great physique and her looks could make her a lot of money. Plus she`s five to six times stronger than her opponents.``
McCartney is so strong that Brooks has her practicing her moves with male wrestlers.
``We have her working out with the junior heavyweights, guys in the 220-pound range,`` Brooks said. ``She handles herself pretty well, too.``
McCartney is 5 feet 7 and weighs a muscle-sculpted 165 pounds. Most of the men she trains with don`t have McCartney`s physical presence.
``She`s so dominating it`s funny,`` Gary McCartney said.
McCartney`s strength has come from six years of weight training that have made her one of the country`s top women bodybuilders. She`s won various titles, including Ms. North America in 1987, but McCartney said she tired of the political battles and low earnings asssociated with bodybuilding.
``I never had any interest in wrestling,`` said McCartney who lives in Oakland Park. ``Rusty (Brooks) would name a wrestler during practice and I had no idea who it was. But I`m willing to give this a shot. Some people seem to think I have a good future in it.``
Brody, the president of MLW, figures it will take McCartney another six months to refine her techniques. He already has McCartney scheduled for a couple of television appearances in the coming months and thinks she could bring the MLW, which solely features women`s wrestling, to the heights the World Wrestling Federation has reached.
``Her potential in this business is phenomenal,`` said Brody, who has had McCartney on wrestling cards at Brothers 3 in Pompano Beach and at the Pompano Beach Civic Center. ``In another year, she could be a household name in wrestling.``
What name she goes by will be decided by McCartney in the near future. She might keep her given name or pick another to give her wrestling persona more flair.
Then there is the decision of being a ``good guy`` or a ``bad guy.`` Through her first two matches, McCartney has been the good guy.
``I like being a good guy because people in the audience like you,`` said McCartney, who was born in Manchester, England. ``But I could easily be the bad guy. They have more fun. They get to cheat.``
For now Handzel will play that role against McCartney. McCartney claims Handzel is a ``mild and meek insurance adjuster and just a regular girl.`` You might have a hard time believing that watching Handzel yelling and screaming at McCartney inside the ring.
But it doesn`t appear Handzel will beat McCartney anytime soon. McCartney is the MLW`s golden girl and her role is to win.
``I go in and just clean house,`` McCartney said.
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