Billy Wolfe

Wolfe was the husband and manager of Mildred Burke and ran a traveling troupe of women wrestlers alongside her.

[1][2] He was drafted into the military in World War I and began pursuing wrestling at a Kentucky duty station.

As a competing middleweight, Wolfe claimed the Missouri State title in 1923, and established himself as a challenger to Charles "Midget" Fischer of Wisconsin.

Changing her name to Mildred Burke, she defeated Clara Mortensen for the Women's World Championship in January 1937.

[1] In late 1949, Wolfe joined the National Wrestling Alliance, making his stable of 30 women available to all promoters.

[3] At each show, he received a percentage of the gross, and his promotion of women grapplers earned him riches that resulted in extravagant living.

Eight months later, Hoff named Wolfe as administrator and was approved by Franklin County Judge William Bryant.

The result was that his son's wife June Byers (real name DeAlva Eyvonnie Sibley), was touted as world champ following a tournament in Baltimore.

Despite the fact that the NWA declined to recognize women's wrestling, the Alliance was still at the center of many conflicts between Wolfe and Burke.

In a letter to Alliance members on November 4, 1953, Burke refuted Wolfe's claim that she would wrestle only one woman grappler.

In her autobiography, Moolah ultimately felt great sorrow for Wolfe because of the number of personal tragedies he suffered later in life.

Part of Wolfe's contributions to women's wrestling was the creation of a tag team title and the integration of African-American wrestlers.