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PWInsider.com is sad to report the passing of Peggy Fowler, who was best known under her ring names Peggy Lee, Peggy Lee Leather, Thug and Lady X. Lee passed away this morning.
Lee first broke into professional wrestling in the 1980s under The Fabulous Moolah. She started in 1980 as a babyface opponent for Moolah. She toured All Japan Women in 1981, teaming with Richter, Betty Clark and others against the likes of Chigusa Nagoya, Jaguar Yokota and Tomoko Kitamura and would make return appearances in the early 1980s. During that era, she also working in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, Stampede, St Louis for Sam Muchnick and Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida.
In the WWF, she teamed regularly with Wendi Richter as a heel tag team, regularly wrestling Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria, challenging for their WWF Women's Tag Team Championships. After Richter turned babyface and defeated Leilani Kai for the title, Lee challenged her several times for the belt, including once on WWF television.
Beyond her work in WWF, Lee wrestled for the AWA (making her PPV debut at the Superclash 3 PPV in Chicago as part of POWW Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal). where she was a challenger to Madusa's AWA Women's Championship. She competed for David McLane's Powerful Women of Wrestling, where she feuded with Bambi, a rivalry that lasted for decades across countless independent promotions across the United States and even cascaded into WCW appearances. Lee, as Thug, defeated Majors during the 2001 WOW Unleashed live PPV.
Former professional wrestler Jack Lord remembered Fowler today via his Facebook page, writing:
If you attended a Southern independent promotion in the early 1990s, especially in the area of the Carolinas, chances are you saw Lee as Peggy Lee Leather working as the dominant heel against pure babyface Bambi. They feuded all over the place for South Atlantic Pro Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling in Georgia, The Pro Wrestling Federation in the Southeast, Maryland's MEWF (the spiritual predecessor to today's MCW) and even internationally for World Wrestlings Superstars (WWS) in Europe.
Under a mask as Lady X, Lee defeated Susan Sexton to become the Ladies Professional Wrestling Asssociation (LPWA) Champion and headlined the promotion's lone live PPV, Super Ladies Showdown in 1991, losing the title to Terri Power. She worked for David McLane again, now billed as Thug, for one of the incarnations of WOW - Women of Wrestling, reviving her feud with Bambi (now known as Selina Majors) and had a big hand in training talent for the promotion.
In 1994, Leather held the NWA Women's Championship in Tennessee , eventually losing the title to, you guessed it, Bambi. She made several appearances for Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, facing The Dirty White Girl. In the early 1990s, she returned to Japan, touring the JWP promotion. She again faces Madusa, this time in WCW, during that time period.
Susan Green remembered Fowler on her Facebook page, writing, "There are some days that you just wish there was a day with nothing but good news. Received a call telling me a sister/friend from my wrestling family passed away. Peggy Lee Leather my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families at this time. You will be missed by many. I'll see you when my number is called. Rest in Peace my friend."
There is no word currently on the circumstances of her passing. Fowler had been active on her social media as late as a week ago. It is believed she last wrestled back in 2013, losing to Jade (Jennifer Lee Chan) on a WOW - Women of Wrestling taping in Las Vegas.
WrestleReunion promoter Sal Corrente remembered Fowler today, writing:
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Peggy Lee Fowler. She was only 64 years old.
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