Wrestling Herstory: Who was Judell DuLong?

Rob Faint

Who was Judell DuLong?

I was perusing a wrestling magazine from the early eighties, and I was struck by the content of the ads.  You could purchase several types of weapons, attain muscle gaining pills and equipment, and view an amazing number of “battling women” photos or videos.  One ad stood out amongst the rest: Judell DuLong, the proclaimed amateur girl wrestling champion. I began to wonder who she was and wanted to know more about her. 

My research concluded that Judell Du Long is widely considered to be the foremother of female submission wrestling.  She brought an underground event to the surface and brought legitimacy to the sport.  She also established organizations around the country and filmed hundreds of videos. 

Judell Du Long (b. Judell Ann Metz) was born on August 16, 1938, in Missoula, MT.  She moved with her husband Jack Du Long and moved to California where she began training with Mildred Burke.  There she learned submission wrestling and later claimed to have never lost a submission match. 

In 1973 she founded a company called California Amazon which produced over 700 submission videos, first on Super 8 then on VHS. It featured Du Long as well as other ladies like Cindy Brooks, Nancy and Susan Skarvan, and Liz Meles.  Later in the early 1990’s she launched Washington Women’s Wrestling (WWW) in Lynden, Washington. Wrestlers on the roster included Jeanne Hunter, Luraina Undershute, and Sophie Knight, Du Long also had several websites dedicated to her matches.

According to a YouTube video from 1995 she stopped wrestling at 68 years old.  Sadly, she passed away 2 years later. 

The question I could never seem to answer is why she wasn’t more well known and why she didn’t wrestle more established stars like Fabulous Moolah or Mildred Burke.  Was it the attire they wore (bathing suits and lingerie rather than more conservative wrestling garb) or the audience they catered to (most matches appear to have been shot in poorly lit areas and small, mostly male audiences) that prevented mainstream attention?  Either way, her contribution to wrestling should not be ignored.  

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