In-ring careers inevitably must end, that’s the nature of the beast. When it comes to women’s wrestling legend LuFisto, no one imagined it would happen this way. On February 22, LuFisto fell down the stairs in her home. She injured her right knee, and this caused her to miss a booking for NCW Femmes Fatales that day. Urgent care determined that it was a sprain, with possibly more severe damage. She would follow up with an orthopedic doctor on February 25 with results she did not anticipate. LuFisto’s knee is basically bone on bone at this point, with no ACL, MCL or much cartilage to protect it. (Through lifestyle changes in 2019 and other rehabilitation, her knee has improved and retirement is off the table, for now.) She injured her knee originally back in 2002 and had surgery. During this era of wrestling, one was expected to rub some dirt on it and get back to work. LuFisto would return to wrestling just two short months later.
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And aside from other major injuries that would crop up, LuFisto would soldier on despite the pain. She even suffered a stroke in 2010 and returned from that. However, even the indomitable warrior that is LuFisto must admit her humanity. The thought of not being able to wrestle, the one thing she has fought for her entire career, has, of course, affected her mentally. Due to the severity of the situation with her knee, LuFisto has decided that 2019 will be the final year of her career. The final date has not yet been set, nor has the venue. With such a life-changing decision, time is needed for her to be able to decide who her final dances will be with. Time often changes things. Through lifestyle changes and other rehabilitation, LuFisto has decided she is able to continue in wrestling! Let’s take this time to look back at the trail-blazing career of the Wounded Owl.
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The Sorel, Quebec, Canada native LuFisto began her career in 1997, training initially under Pierre Marchessault and Patrick Lewis. She would go on to receive additional tutelage under Len Shelley, Serge and Ludger Proulx, Akino and Mariko Yoshida. Her first match took place on June 20, 1997, when she was just 17 years old. She was first known as Lucifer, which evolved to Lucy Fur. Other names she would use before settling on LuFisto would be Luscious Lucy and Precious Lucy. In 1999, she would become the first woman in the province of Quebec to win a men’s championship. She defeated Serge Proulx for the ICW Provincial Championship. 2000 would see her become the first woman in Canada to win the major men’s championship of a promotion. It was also in this time period that she began to branch out into hardcore wrestling.
LuFisto would not only continue to make history in the ring but outside of it. In 2002, she had been booked in the province of Ontario to wrestle a man by the name of Bloody Bill Skullion. When the Ontario Athletic Commission learned of this, they threatened to shut down the show. This was due to a regulation they had at the time that prevented men and women from wrestling each other. LuFisto lodged a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission against the Athletic Commission. This unfair regulation essentially barred LuFisto from competing on the Ontario wrestling scene, as during this time she was doing a lot of intergender and hardcore wrestling. It was not until 2006 that the OHRC was able to convince the Athletic Commission to get rid of this and other cumbersome and bureaucratic regulations on wrestling in Ontario.
As the First Lady of Hardcore, she would compete regularly in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) starting in 2006. That year she also defeated Kevin Steen (Owens) to win the CZW Iron Man Championship. To date, she is the only woman to have won a CZW title. She also competed in the Cage of Death in December 2006, the first and to date only woman to do so. In 2007, she won the IWA Mid-South Queen of the Death Match tournament. LuFisto would also be the first woman to compete in CZW’s Best of the Best tournament in 2008. She also would become a regular for SHIMMER Women Athletes, NCW Femmes Fatales, Women Superstars Uncensored and Shine Wrestling. In addition to her large body of work in the United States and Canada, LuFisto has competed in Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Throughout her career, she’s competed against many of the biggest names in wrestling: Cheerleader Melissa, Awesome Kong, Faby and Mary Apache, Meiko Satomura, Toni Storm, Mercedes Martinez, Necro Butcher, Kevin Owens, Adam Cole, Sami Callihan, and so many others. Currently, she’s the longest reigning champion in Shine Wrestling, having held the title for over 500 days. She had to relinquish the title due to health reasons and didn’t lose it in a match. Due to the suddenness and unplanned nature of the twilight of her career, there are some threads that may be left undone. In 2017, LuFisto began teaming with Jordynne Grace and they became known as Team PAWG. PAWG stood for Professional Athletes With Glutes. They became like sisters, complimenting each other well as a tag team.
At Shine 54, Jordynne turned on LuFisto unexpectedly. They first faced off after this betrayal at Shine 56, but the match was thrown out for violence against the official. It remains to be seen if this rivalry will have a final chapter, hopefully, it does. LuFisto had also teased on Twitter a possible feud with fellow veteran Saraya Knight. Of course, nothing is set in stone until LuFisto announces what her plans will be. One thing that she mentioned in her emotional revelation on her career is that she still mourns having never signed with a major promotion. The pressure for a wrestler to “make it” in a major promotion such as WWE, IMPACT Wrestling or Ring of Honor always must be difficult to grapple with. However, facing a finite end date to her wrestling love affair, the guilt is taking its toll on the Wounded Owl.
It should be pointed out though, that certain contributions by wrestlers transcend organizations known worldwide. In her 20 plus year career, LuFisto helped shape the women’s wrestling scene as we know it today. She helped blaze the trail for the infamous Women’s Revolution, especially in her home country of Canada. LuFisto made great strides in intergender wrestling as well, even though it still is viewed as somewhat taboo. In whatever may await LuFisto in her life after in-ring competition, she will surely bring her passion and dedication. She is well regarded amongst her peers and fans alike for her strength and character.
Matches of hers are available on YouTube, Powerslam.TV, IndependentWrestling.TV, and on her own Pivot Share site. This isn’t the end of LuFisto, but the starting of another chapter in an incredible story.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
