The Legend of Panther Girl: Ann Casey

Rob Faint

Lucille Ann Casey, professionally known as Ann Casey, was born in 1938 in Alabama.  Her wrestling career began with a chance meeting with the Fabulous Moolah while she worked for a wrestling promotion.  Moolah agreed to train her, so she relocated to South Carolina.  Casey wrestled all around the country, including becoming the 1^st woman to wrestle in Hawaii. 

Casey attracted notoriety — and legions of fans — across the country for wrestling without boots. The shoeless style came naturally — by choice she always had spurned footwear as a child on the farm.

Christened Panther Girl by Moolah, Casey worked across the United States, wrestling stars like Mae Young and Cora Combs.  In 1972 she discovered her son was dealing drugs.  To keep him out of jail Casey agreed to be an informant for the DEA.  She spent most of her time at truck stops observing the interactions between the truckers.  One of the truck drivers discovered her role as an informant and one evening while Casey sat at an intersection the truck driver opened fire, hitting her left thigh, her head, her back and her liver.  Somehow, she drove to a gas station and the attendant summoned help.  Once at the hospital she almost died, her doctor explained that her heart stopped twice on the operating table.  Casey miraculously survived her injuries and was back in the ring several months later.

In 1974, Moolah offered to let Casey win the USA Women’s Wrestling Championship from her, and Casey was subsequently never defeated for the belt.  In December, Casey also won the vacated NWA United States Women’s Championship by defeating Toni Rose in a match.  She held the championship for approximately four years before losing it to Joyce Grable.  Meanwhile, wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated recognized Casey as the “Girl Wrestler of the Year” in 1975.

Casey continued wrestling on and off for several years until her retirement in 1990.  Once retired she went back to school and became a paralegal.  She also opened a restaurant and became a bail bondsman.  She died from a heart attack in 2021 at 82 years old.