| Toni Rose | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 22, 1945 Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Toni Rose |
| Billed height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 143 lb (65 kg) |
| Trained by | The Fabulous Moolah[1] |
| Debut | 1963 |
Toni Rose (born December 22, 1945) is an American retired professional wrestler. During her wrestling career, Rose captured the NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship on five occasions; three times with Donna Christanello, and twice with her trainer, The Fabulous Moolah. Rose is also a former one-time NWA Southern Women's Championship (Georgia version).
Rose grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1] She decided to become a professional wrestler at the age of seven, but first attended Terre Haute High School and college.[2][1] She trained under The Fabulous Moolah in 1965.[1] During her first match, which occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, her opponent Bambi Bell knocked Rose unconscious.[1]
During a match in Australia in 1969, Rose was injured and left partially blind in one eye.[1] In the early 1970s, Rose held the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship twice with The Fabulous Moolah.[3][4] They first won the title in May 1970, but lost it to Donna Christanello and Kathy O'Day. During a rematch in June, Rose and Moolah regained the title.[4] Later that November, Rose won the title, this time with Christanello.[4] In 1972 at the Superbowl of Wrestling, they defended the World Women's Tag Team Championship against Sandy Parker and Debbie Johnson. During their reign, there was an unrecorded title change; Susan "Tex" Green and Parker won the title from Christanello and Rose in November 1971 in Hawaii, but they regained it in February 1972 in Hong Kong.[4][5] After a three-year reign as champions, they were officially defeated for the title by the team of Joyce Grable and Vicki Williams on October 15, 1973, in New York City.[4] It was not until October 1975 that Rose and Christanello regained the title from Grable and Williams, holding it for approximately four years.[4]
During this time, she also wrestled against Susan "Tex" Green in Leroy McGuirk's promotion.[6] During her career, Rose was also a contender for Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship, but never won the title.[7] In December 1974, Rose was in a match to crown the vacated NWA United States Women's Championship, but lost to Ann Casey.[8]
Rose cites Penny Banner as her favorite wrestler growing up, who she later became friend with.[9][10] She was married to Jack Laughridge for nearly 35 years, until he passed away in 2016.[10]