Magnificent Ladies Wrestling

Confident, fearless, classy and cool

Height: 5-foot-8
Weight: 139 pounds
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

There was never any question Nikki St. John belongs in the glare of the spotlights over a wrestling ring. She is, after all, an accomplished glamour and swimsuit model, so it was only a matter of time before a male wrestler asked her to manage his career.

The surprise is that St. John's work at ringside ignited a competitive fire within her, a growing hunger not simply to manage outside the ropes but to step through them and lock up with some of the toughest and meanest women warriors in the land.

"Being at ringside taught me to respect and admire the wrestlers I was managing so much," she explains. "There came a point where I knew that if I didn't take things to the next level, I would always regret it. The only thing I wish I could change was that I'd have realized that sooner."

She began training at POWW Entertainment in suburban Chicago in 2009, where she studied under the keen eyes of stars including Ruff Crossing, Jimmy Blaze, Kanoa, Chris Cairo and Marco Cordova.

St. John soon proved herself an adept pupil and a surprisingly strong fighter considering her background. Few swimsuit models can brawl toe-to-toe or deliver such brutally high-impact maneuvers as the head butt, flying clothesline and tilt-a-whirl head scissors with the kind of focus and ferocity St. John demonstrates every time she wrestles.

Her on-again, off-again feuds with POWW stars Taylor Made and Melanie Cruise, the bruising beauty nicknamed the Windy City War Machine, have made her a top draw for the promotion. After winning Manager of the Year honors in 2010 at POWW, St. John followed in 2011 by winning Woman of the Year

"Cruise always puts up a great fight. She's one of the toughest girls I've ever met," says St. John, who adds with a sneer, "Taylor Made? She's a conniving little rat and she needs the beatings I give her."

It's clear St. John delights in her new status. In fact, there is more than a little bit of arrogance in her ring persona -she sometimes wears a jeweled tiara to the ring-- as her experience and successes keep growing.

"I am looking forward to becoming the Magnificent Ladies Wrestling champion," she declares. "But it would really be ideal to take it from Melanie Cruise. I usually try to mind my manners and play by the rules, but I'll do whatever it takes and cross whoever I have to in order to win."

Credit: Jeff Borden