Miss Elizabeth

Being a wrestling fan for most of my 31 years, you kind of get used to it when guys you've been watching for years or had watched years ago pass on. But the news today that Elizabeth Hulette, known to the wrestling world at large as Miss Elizabeth, had died came as something of a shock.

Like many wrestling fans in Britain, I became aware of Elizabeth in 1989 when Sky Television first showed the WWF. At the time the Mega-Powers tag-team of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan had just split up. Elizabeth, as their manager, was caught in the middle. She had trouble deciding who to side with at their upcoming WWF title match at Wrestlemania V. Eventually she decided not to take sides, to remain as neutral as she possibly could.

The relevance and importance that Miss Elizabeth had in the wrestling world is perhaps downplayed by journalists and fans alike. Long before the term "WWE Diva" had been coined, Elizabeth brought a touch of glamour to the WWF, at a time when huge, mountains of muscle paraded around the squared circle. She didn't need any plastic surgery to enhance her appearance. She didn't need an appearance in Playboy to win the hearts of the fans. She was Miss Elizabeth, the first lady of the World Wrestling Federation.

When I first heard the news that she had died, I didn't know what to think. Wrestling has lost a large number of superstars over the past few years or so, many of them leaving us way before their time. The same could be said about Elizabeth, who, aged just 42, has been taken away from us.

It's a sad fact of life that you only realise just how much someone means to you when they are no longer around. I get the feeling that this will be the case with Elizabeth. We didn't realise what impact she had on not just the wrestling business, but on the lives of everyone who watched her over the years.

My deepest sympathies go out to her family and friends.

Rest in peace, Miss Elizabeth.