10 Wrestling Parodies That Became Real
4. GLOW Becomes Real (Sort Of)
The real GLOW was a quasi-parody of professional wrestling that (somehow) heightened its soap opera elements and newfound '80s glamour to become a camp, cult farce.
Netflix's fictionalised version of it garnered critical acclaim, and has proven quite influential, which is ironic, given that the original promotion came into existence through the WWF's rampant popularity. The Liberty Belle character is based on the original characters Americana and the Southern Belles. Liberty Belle is remarkably similar to Lacey Evans; Liberty is a patriotic southern belle, where Evans is a former Marine whose aesthetic and very nickname is based on the belle archetype. Evans never broke a fellow performer's ankle, mercifully. Her aggression is usually contained to the odd snarl and chinlock.
WWE actually drew inspiration from GLOW before Netflix even evolved into a streaming service. The performers of GLOW were mostly aspiring models, which would form the basis of Big Johnny's entire recruitment model in the early-to-mid 2000s.
Lurid and driven almost purely on sex appeal, GLOW was the proto-Diva Search, only with more actual wrestling matches and less talk of "C*m-burping gutter sluts".
It was a more faithful and sophisticated version of pro wrestling than WWE managed for a full decade.