Her attempts at creating a quasi-villainous wrestling persona include characters called the Homewrecker, Mint Julep, "a bitchy southern debutante type," The Aunty Christ, an "evil person" who "gives out raisins to kids on Halloween," and after her research at motel proprietor Gregory's family bris, Gittel the Orthodox Warrior.
Discovering she is pregnant the day of Sheila's roller rink birthday celebration, Ruth calls Sam for a lift to Planned Parenthood the next morning.
After the duo reconcile with each other, Ruth continues to provide story ideas for the show and also portrays a non-wrestling character Olga, the good twin sister of Zoya, in numerous skits.
In Season 3, Ruth feels extremely guilty for cutting a heel promo when the Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on live television, prompting her to have the rest of the Ladies observe a moment of silence backstage before their first show in Las Vegas.
While trying to convince her to join GLOW, Sam theorizes that despite her popularity in Paradise Cove, she was being held back by the show's writers and her character was put in a coma for a whole season as punishment for improvising too many lines before she was eventually replaced by another actress.
After Debbie discovers that Mark is seeing someone, she finds cocaine stashed in a pack of Sam's cigarettes and snorts it, causing her to become aggressive during the main event and break Ruth's ankle.
[3] In Season 2, Cherry quits GLOW for a starring role in K-DTV's new female detective series Chambers and Gold, but she struggles with remembering her lines and emoting in front of the camera.
After losing her Junkchain gimmick to Yolanda Rivas in her return match, Cherry reinvents herself as Black Magic, a voodoo practitioner loosely based on the real GLOW wrestler Big Bad Mama.
This results in a heated argument with Keith, who walks out on her and returns to L.A. She racks up $5,000 in casino debt and ends up mud wrestling with Carmen in order to make the difference.
Carmen's in-ring persona is Machu Picchu, a gentle Peruvian giant loosely based on the real GLOW wrestler Mount Fiji.
She gradually outgrows her stage fright during season 1 and we see her continue to grow out of her shell as the series progresses, enjoying dancing at a gay club and partying with the GLOW girls.
During the GLOW championship tournament, Sam has Ruth do a zip line entry on stage to win the crown after previously not allowing her to wrestle while in her cast.
When Bash signs an extension for GLOW to continue playing in Vegas until the end of 1986, Sam quits and returns to L.A. to help his daughter Justine sell her screenplay.
Later in the series, Justine reveals herself to be Sam's illegitimate daughter, as he had a one-night-stand with her mother Rosalie after being kicked out of a Black Panther Party rally in Sacramento nearly two decades ago.
Rhonda Richardson (Kate Nash) is a British model who takes the in-ring persona of Britannica, an English genius inspired by the real GLOW wrestlers Zelda the Brain and Godiva.
When GLOW faces cancellation due to its new time slot, Rhonda reveals that she has been working without a social security number, which poses a problem for her as the ladies prepare for job openings.
Not wanting to return to her drunk and abusive parents in Bromley, she takes Jenny's advice and visits the British Consulate to secure a work visa, but her request is denied and she is marked as an illegal alien.
Later on she talks to Ernest, who admits he found the portrayal offensive but the sight of his mother wrestling and "throwing that white girl" empowering, and Tammé is able to make peace with her son watching GLOW.
[6] In Season 2, Bash has the boxing gym converted into the official GLOW arena, but is once again strapped for cash due to Birdie funding him on a bi-monthly basis.
Their in-ring personas are Edna and Ethel Rosenblatt: The Beatdown Biddies - a geriatric tag team based on the real GLOW wrestlers The Housewives: Arlene and Phyllis.
As a compromise, The Beatdown Biddies wear Ku Klux Klan outfits (somewhat inspired by original GLOW characters The Hicks: Sara and Mabel) to completely put the match in favor of their opponents.
[6] In Season 2, Dawn and Stacey evolve their characters into The Toxic Twins: Nuke and Ozone, based on The Housewives' other persona The Heavy Metal Sisters: Chainsaw and Spike.
Arthie Premkumar (Sunita Mani) is an Indian-American pre-med student who takes the in-ring persona of Beirut the Mad Bomber, a Middle Eastern terrorist based on the real GLOW wrestler Palestina.
During her match with Rhonda in GLOW's first season final episode, Arthie's gimmick is met with extreme hostility from some male fans, who spit at her and yell racist insults at her.
Jenny Chey (Ellen Wong) is a Cambodian-American woman who takes the in-ring persona of Fortune Cookie, a stereotypical Chinese martial artist.
Jenny also reveals in Season 3 that she was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's Cambodian Genocide, where the rest of her family who remained behind more than likely died in the Killing Fields.
He initially declines to sponsor GLOW due to his lack of interest, but Sam convinces him to reconsider when Ruth cuts a promo as Zoya the Destroya during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Patio Town's new Calabasas branch.
After helming Quilting Bee Easy, the network's longest-running TV show, he is assigned to direct the female buddy cop series Chambers and Gold.
The production proves disastrous due to Cherry's inexperience in acting, causing Hollander to try another narrative direction by cutting her lines and making her change her hair.
Sandy Devereaux St. Clair (Geena Davis) is a former showgirl and the entertainment director of the Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the new home of GLOW starting in 1986.