Interview: Sue Sexton - 21st May 2003

What's your background?

Born in Australia, Perth, small town, started learning out of boredom and needing to get out of the house. No one else in my family did anything like this, just the normal type jobs. My dad wanted a son and had me riding horse from the age of 5, so I programmed pretty well to move into a "man's world."

How and why did you get in the wrestling business?

Went to the matches at Perry Lake Stadium one night and saw an ad on the side of the ring for a wrestling gym so called and started learning with a guys club. There were no women wrestling in the state of Western Australia, just me. I had to go and find and train a girl to wrestle if I wanted to be included on the guys local shows. I had watched wrestling my whole life, and had been riding horses since I was 5, so when I saw the sign on the ring it seemed like a good way to get out of the house.

Who trained you?

Ali Musa the Turk. He wrestled in England most of his career. He was old school and knew all the great technical moves and reversals.

What are the worst injures you encountered?

Bent coxit when in Japan, being knocked unconscious didn't particularly appeal to me either. Dislocated jaw stayed with me for a long time also.

What are your stats?

Height, 5' 6" Weight in the "day" 150lbs, now 121 lbs.

Who have you found to be the better promoters?

For the most part promoters are sharks, and I don't mean to be insulting to sharks. There have been a couple of small time guys who did the promoting as a way of being involved with the sport that would treat you with some respect, or another wrestler putting on a show, would often be fair with you, but for the most part you were happy to get paid what you were promised.

What championships have you won, and what do they mean to you?

I was the L.P.W.A champ for four and a half years, it was nice to have a little be of clout, and it's hard not to buy into it when your the "champion"but once it's over, it's over. But being a champion was a lifetime goal, so I was glad to reach it, for whatever it was worth.

What are a few of your favorite opponents and matches?

I loved wrestling people like Lelani Kai, Judy Martin or Velvet McIntyre. I also enjoyed some of the matches with really green girls who were hungry to learn. The match was more of a "classroom" and I love the art of wrestling so much, any chance to pass it on, I seize it. I had very few opportunities to use most of the moves I knew because the American girls didn't know them, and the match would just go no where. Wrestling is like a dance, the other person needs to know the reversals or the "get outs" for the match to move forward, and if the hold wasn't a finishing hold, merely a strategic hold and they didn't know what to do with it, you just had to let the hold go and start again. It could be frustrating at times.

What media coverage have you previously received?

Been in lots of wrestling magazines, even before I left Australia. Did the Mike Douglas show, that was a 100 years ago, other stuff, probably tons I don't even know about.

What TV shows have you appeared on?

Mike Douglas, some celebrity shows in Australia, like fund raisers that sort of thing. Not having a press person, I didn't get a lot of the promotional exposure that other athletes received.

What information can you share about the wrestling business that may not have been documented in book or wrestling documentary so far?

For me it is a lot like other "creative" careers. The only time it means anything was when you were in the ring "doing your thing" and also for me, when I was training people who were hungry to learn. It's a tough sport, beyond the physical aspect. You have to toughen up inside, close off your heart, and every one is your enemy and your friend, usually at the same time. It's the kind of life that takes over every aspect of your whole existence. Everything is your life is somehow connected to wrestling and you find yourself unaware of what is going on out in the world that isn't directly related. News, new bands, trends, you get out of rhythm with world as a whole. It can feel like family when it's working for you, and like you are trapped in a place you can't get out of when it's not working for you.

What is the biggest misconception about you?

Who knows? I stay away from the main stream places where people run into the fans a lot. I'm surprised how many people have been following my career, especially when they contact me through my website. But, I know I'm not sounding like a lot of fun, but wrestling was what I did and outside opinion never concerned me.

How and why did you expand your skill set to include writing, acting and metaphysical practices?

Always have been psychic. Shut it down for a lot of my life because it caused me feel more weird than I already did. Tough question. Came to a point in my life where the wrestling wasn't happening anymore and I needed answers. I needed to survive, to transition to my next step and I turned to metaphysics and acting as options, and it turned out I was good at them. Writing was just a natural progression.

What motivates and inspires you?

What motivates and inspires me is watching people grow and "get it". Get life, get what they are doing that is not working for them and making the changes to move past it. To watch people become more tolerant and compassionate. To be given the opportunity to effect someone's life in a positive way whether through my writing, readings or wrestling. To watch myself grow also. To look back on my life, and see how far I have come from point A, and pretty much, by my own doing.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

I think in the context of wrestling, when the L.P.W.A wanted me to be a "good guy" champion and I ran into Greg Valentine, and I asked him, what did he do when he had to become the "good guy" and his answer was, " don't change anything." Wrestle the same you always have, and the let the crowd decide whether or not your the "good guy."

What do you do to relax?

Ah yoga, hide out at my house, walk my dogs. Write.

Any plans to return to Australia?

I'd love to return to Australia. No plans, but yeah it would be cool. Actually I have a film I have written that starts in Australia and moves to America, I 'm hoping when I get that off the ground, I'll be able to visit then.

What else would you like to share with our audience?

Just that is it nice to do something for an Australia media company. For the most part I don't think Australians even know my name. That makes me sad. When I started everything about me promoted Australia from my boots, to my ring jackets to my image, I was determined to put Australia on the map as far as women wrestlers went, and for the rest of the world I did, but Australians don't know and probably for the most part don't care. But I wouldn't change a thing about it, and I will always hold being Aussie as my "flag," and that's what counts the most.

p.s. if you want to get an interview with my trainer, write me and e-mail and I will forward it to him for you. I'm also attaching an article that I wrote for a metaphysical magazine about how I went from wrestling to the spiritual path, best Sue aka Shanon.

...end.

Interview - 4th April 2004

Links

Sex Sexton official website

Lelani Kai official website

Lelani Kai tribute website by Greg Tingle

Amy Action official website

Glory Wrestling

Interviews

Malia Hosaka

Profiles

April Hunter

Articles

Screem Test - 5th January 2004

The Glory Days of Australian Professional Wrestling (project)

WRESTLING WARRIOR TO SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

I was born in Perth, Western Australia. The product of a disrupted childhood, I developed different gifts just to survive my physical reality that constantly threatened me. I could always see spirit. They were always guiding me, but I leant at an early age when someone would ask me "what are you looking at?" to always answer, "oh, nothing."

One of the few things my family did do together was watch the wrestling on television every Saturday. All the greats like Bobo Brazil and Killer Carl Cox. It was our weekend ritual. I spent many a happy afternoon wrestling myself out in the yard. Quiet a feat in itself. Actually, it only looked like I was wrestling myself, I had plenty of company!

By my teens I was going to see the matches when they came to town and this one night on the side of the ring was a phone number and address of the people who put up the ring. Within a week I was learning to wrestle in the annex attached to my local church. It was so close I could walk. The wrestling school was run by Ali Musa the Turk, a veteran wrestler who had wrestled extensively in London. He taught me well, and being the only girl I learnt to wrestle like one of the boys.

Time passed. I became Sue Sexton and one of the top 10 women wrestlers in the world. Held the world title, and to this day, still the only woman wrestler to come out of Australia and international fame.

During the wrestling days my spiritual growth was probably non-existent. I was too busy trying to survive physically, the spiritual world was beyond my comprehension. But by the 1980's the wrestling was starting to dry up for the women. I was now in New York waiting tables and writing the music and singing with my rock band at night. I don't know how it started, but somehow I started getting tarot readings. I went through the co-dependant stage of calling my reader every other day wanting answers to my life. I'm sure I drove him nuts. Finances forced me to become more self sufficient and I bought my first deck and started reading for myself. Soon all my "old friends" started talking to me again. Back then, I was dabbling in white magic, burning candles, casting spells. It turns out my reader was the head of a witches convent in lower Manhatten. Who knew?

Hoping to get work with one of the local federations I went to Atlanta, Georgia as the south was one of few areas where wrestling still thrived.

Work was scarce, so I went in search of a reader to help me with my life. I found a place called The Inner Space. I had never considered reading for someone else, never the less for a living. Through a course of events I found myself sitting in the front room of the Inner Space day in, day out, waiting for my chance to read someone who wandered in who wasn't with one of the more established readers. It took time, but I held out.

I think the main thing I had to overcome as a reader: if I was going to be of any help to anyone I had to be okay with being the "bad guy." It was important to me to deliver the information to the people truthfully, not just telling them what they wanted to hear. In order to do that I had to first trust that my intent was pure and I was a "good person". I had been the "bad guy" for many years as a wrestler. I knew someone had to play that role in order for things to play out in the way that was necessary. I had perfected that. Trusting I was a good person took more work. It took a lot of work, but finally the two worlds did meet and the physical warrior transcended into a spiritual warrior and I've never looked back.

Profile (Credit: Glory Wrestling)

From the mid-70s through the mid-90s, Sue Sexton was one of the most-respected women competing in the wrestling ring. But the name also struck fear in the hearts of many women wrestlers who were finding out that their opponent for the night was the tough and nasty Ms. Sexton. Sue was quite an accomplished technical wrestler, but she never let that stand in the way of doing what she really liked: punishing opponents. A heel at heart, this legendary Australian-born beauty could dish-out the pain with the best of them...while still holding onto the highest standards of respect for the business. Although Sue has officially retired from public competition, she is still active in helping train new wrestlers who are just starting out. You didn't think Sue Sexton could completely give up dishing out a few bodyslams now and then, did you?!

How it started

I was at the local matches in my hometown and there was an advertisement on the side of the ring for a wrestling club. I was intrigued by it, so I went in and and joined! It was held in the annex of a church and just a few blocks from my house. I was the only girl in my town to wrestle, so I learned with the guys. My trainer had wrestled in England and was named Ali Musa "The Turk".

Sue Sexton's Personal Notes...

Nowadays, even though I don't wrestle public shows anymore, I still enjoy doing some training and try to pass on some of the skills I have learned.....My life mainly revolves around my movie writing, my spiritual work, the readings and energy work, etc.....Many times I just enjoy relaxing and hanging out at home.....I miss the music industry which I used to be a part of. That is on hold right now.....As for hobbies, besides writing, I do yoga. I find it a lot more rewarding than pumping iron, which is what i did when i was wrestling full time.....I'm also hoping to get more going on my web site for fans to buy and see.

Links:

Sue Sexton official website

Profiles

Leilani Kai Tribute website (Greg Tingle's)

Leilani Kai official website

Profiles

Women's Wrestling

Wrestling Directgory

Mind, Body, Spirit