We talked with Roxy Astor, one of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. She shares her unlikely journey into the squared circle, the ups and downs of the history of the promotion, and that one time she made actress Britney Young from the Netflix GLOW series cry!

Jim Phillips, author of this article and one of the great wrestling historians here at Pro Wrestling Stories, is in the challenge of his life after being paralyzed on January 21st, 2023. Learn his story and how you can help him reach his goal of taking his first steps again!
GLOW Wrestler, Roxy Astor
Growing up as a child in Auburn, Washington, Tracee Meltzer never had wrestling on her radar. She was more likely to be found watching Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Saturday mornings than the Portland Wrestling program on her local Seattle television during the early โ70s.
After graduating high school, the aspiring young hairstylist headed south to the City of Angels to seek her fortune. She piled everything she had into her little 924 Porsche, cranked her favorite music from Pat Benatar, and hit the road.
She thought for sure that she would land a job behind the cameras, working in the make-up side of show business, but as so many young hopefuls find out, the dream and reality donโt always meet in the middle. Roxy talked to us about the time she first got to Los Angeles.
"I moved to California to restart my life after a bad break-up. I got obsessed with Flashdance and just wanted to get to California, get my own place, and this was the way it was going to be. But it was not like that. I ended up sleeping on my sisterโs couch and floor just to be able to stay in L.A."
Discovering GLOW
Tracee found herself in front of the television one Saturday morning. She had tuned into the WWF product being broadcast on the West Coast at that time. It was followed by a new program that instantly took hold of her.
"All of a sudden, this show came on called GLOW, and Iโm watching like, โWhat is this?โ Itโs glitter, itโs big hair, theyโre beautiful, but theyโre not perfect. This is for ME! So I can actually relate to a lot of the GLOW fans because I had the same feelings that they did. I loved it."
Once bit by the wrestling bug, she kept tuning in, week after week, to learn about the characters and storylines. Fate intervened one particular Saturday morning when a banner came across the screen that read: "Do you want to be a GLOW girl?"
She knew immediately that the answer was yes. She placed a call to the number provided and set up an audition at their Sunset Blvd. office. She was going to make it work one way or another. As we spoke, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts fall back to that time.
"I wasnโt physically fit, and my hair looked like crap, but I knew I was going to try no matter what. I thought, โIโm a hairdresser. Iโm gonna perm my own hair, and bleach my own hair, and Iโm gonna rat it out two feet.โ I thought I was โ80s, you know? Iโm rockinโ. Itโd be cool to be a GLOW wrestler, and maybe Iโll fit in. I just knew I wanted to do this."
She donned a black outfit with her hair properly poofed and strode into the office with her best bad girl attitude in check. She slammed her hands on the desk and acted as much the part as she knew, thinking that they would be wowed into handing a part to her. The only sign of wow was the expression on Matt Cimberโs face. She left, not knowing whether or not she had just blown her only chance.
She was about to learn his first lesson about the business.
There would be no plane tickets or bus provided to take her there. If she wanted this break, she had to make the sacrifices and rely on her own strengths to see her through. She loaded her tiny 924 and hit the road to Sin City, where an uncertain future awaited. That lesson of self-reliance that she learned on Interstate 15 still sticks with her.
"It was so exciting. This is something so out of who I was. I had no idea where I was going. Now, I recommend everyone to follow their dreams. If there is something that you really want or feel like you have to do, then do it. Indy wrestlers, anyone, I tell them, โDo not let anyone tell you that you canโt do it because I did.โ"
She arrived in Las Vegas, not knowing anyone, and went to the address that the office had provided her. She came to an apartment building that was full of tryouts. Close to a hundred girls of all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life, had gotten the call to show up. With up to four girls per room, they began to size each other up pretty quickly.
Some girls knew straight away that this was not going to be for them, and a few started to trickle out the door before the first audition ever took place. This only served Tracee well because with every girl that left, her own chances of getting picked up slowly ticked higher. Just feeling out the lay of the land was her starting point.
"Iโm just like, I donโt know how or where Iโm going stand out, but Iโm going try. I kinda played it neutral, and I was just so happy to be there, that I didnโt care if I had to room with eight girls, and they stack us, I will be there."
She continued, "You did whatever it took to be there if you wanted it bad enough. Some just left, or if they caused drama, Matt cut them. He didnโt have time for that, and I just remember thinking, โMore room for us!โ"
Training to Become a Wrestler
Like most of her fellow trainees, and most students for that matter, the first day of wrestling training hit her like a Mack truck in twelfth gear. With each bump wearing on and days feeling likes weeks that made minutes ache like months, she began to condition her body to working sore.
The in-ring training went all day with acting lessons taught in the evenings after dinner. Debi Debutante put them through the paces of hitting the ropes, doing three-quarter rolls, and learning to lock up and do basic mat work. Even the most basic stuff can be frightening sometimes when youโre not used to doing it.
"I have to say one thing that really scared me, even though it was such a simple move. It was nothing that anybody did wrong, but when Mountain Fiji picked me up for a body slam, I wasnโt ready. I curled my back and didnโt land flat like I was supposed to, and I thought I had broken my back."

Becoming Roxy Astor
As they progressed in their ring training and evening acting classes, Matt Cimber kept a close directorโs eye on his troupe. He had his own vision of what he was looking for, and once he was satisfied that he had found it, he called a meeting to announce the new additions to the GLOW family and gave each girl her name and character.
Tracee was now Roxy Astor, the Park Avenue Knockout. Her hope of being a heel was dashed, but she later found out that she was getting the spot made for Tina Ferrari, who would later find her fortunes in the WWF as Ivory. It wasnโt long after that Cimber put Roxy with a tag partner, Tiffany Mellon, and they continued as The Park Avenue Knockouts, with Jackie Stallone on board as their manager.
Stallone had become a fixture at GLOW by season three, and she was a natural fit for the two ladies and their rich girl personae.

Roxy Astor feuded with Godiva during her time there and had a hard-hitting match with Cheyenne Cher during the Run for the Rubies, where she was temporarily knocked out in the ring.
"She kicked me in the head, and you see my eyes roll back, and they cut to the audience really fast. Steve Blanch told me I was out for nearly thirty seconds, and they didnโt know if I could finish the match or not. They didnโt know what I was going to do, but I pulled like a Rocky Balboa, got back up, and finished the match. I donโt know how I remembered it, but I finished it, and they were so shocked. Watch the match, and you can see how pissed off at her I was in my eyes. That was real."
With hundreds of amazing Pro Wrestling Stories to dive into, where do you start? Get the inside scoop โ join our exclusive community of wrestling fans! Receive 10 hand-picked stories curated just for YOU, exclusive weekly content, and an instant welcome gift when you sign up today!
Watch: GLOW Wrestling Roxy Astor vs. Cheyenne Cher

"We really sold it, though," Roxy continued. "There were times when we just beat the crap out of each other, but we didnโt care. Weโd get to the back and be breathing hard but so excited about how much fun we had just had in the ring. We were just going for it."
Roxy was GLOW to the core and had no aspirations of working for any other promotion. She carried on with Johnny Cafarella and the remaining GLOW crew, but things began to change. The show went off the air abruptly in 1990, with a short pay-per-view airing a year later, but they never got the original brand going again. The GLOW chapter of Roxyโs life was far from being closed; it would see a re-birth a little over two decades later.
Life after GLOW
Roxy Astor raised three children during the years that the brand was on hiatus. Her middle child, Kayla, has chosen to follow in her motherโs footsteps and is getting her feet wet in the wrestling biz. Roxy is the only member of the GLOW roster that has a second-generation wrestler in the family.
The launch of the GLOW Netflix series has revitalized the brand, allowing all the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling the opportunity to get closure for themselves, after the way the brand just ceased operations in the early โ90s.
"We really have a good relationship with the Netflix cast. We had no idea that they were going to be there that day. We were like, โHey! Itโs you!โ They were doing the same thing with us. It was really great. I love Britney Young. Sheโs so amazing in person. I told her that Mountain Fiji would be so proud of the job sheโs doing, and it made her cry. I love her story that she was a production assistant, and this was her big break. You go, girl! Iโm one of her biggest fans."
"The whole thing with AfterGLOW is that we were going to do the movie, and that never got done. Iโve always kinda been the type of person that likes to finish what I start and go all the way with an idea. When I worked as a designer for nearly sixteen years, I sold clothes to Kris Jenner and her Sax Fifth Avenue store and did all that, but my heart was still with GLOW.
"We tried to revive it with Ursula in the nineties, but it just never went. So I decided to try again and tell our stories of what has happened with us wince the promotion closed, and you have AfterGLOW. I wanted to put things on a good note, and the only way I could do that was to get the girls together."
We want to thank Roxy for sharing these memories with us and for letting us in on the story of how she took a chance opportunity and turned it into a lifelong passion. Be on the lookout for future AfterGLOW events and all things related to Roxy Astor on Twitter at @GLOWWrestling1.
These stories may also interest you:
- Netflix Gets GLOW Right โ A Female Wrestlerโs Perspective
- Mildred Burke | Embarrassing Men & Blazing Trails for Women in Wrestling
- Women of ECW โ Beautifully Extreme
Canโt get enough pro wrestling history in your life? Sign up to unlock ten pro wrestling stories curated uniquely for YOU, plus subscriber-exclusive content. A special gift from us awaits after signing up!
Want More? Choose another story!
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and Flipboard!
Pro Wrestling Stories is committed to accurate, unbiased wrestling content rigorously fact-checked and verified by our team of researchers and editors. Any inaccuracies are quickly corrected, with updates timestamped in the article's byline header.
Got a correction, tip, or story idea for Pro Wrestling Stories? Contact us! Learn about our editorial standards here. Ever wanted to learn more about the people behind Pro Wrestling Stories? Meet our team of authors!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us provide free content for you to enjoy!