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  • About
  • Home
  • History
    • Development of the Organized Sport >
      • Armwrestling Eras >
        • The Beginnings
        • The Golden Age
      • The Beginnings
    • Event Histories >
      • World's Wristwrestling Championship - Part 1: 1954-1961
      • World's Wristwrestling Championship - Part 2: 1962-1969
      • International Federation of Arm Wrestlers
      • World Armwrestling Federation (WAF)
      • Carling O'Keefe World Championships
      • World Professional Armwrestling Association
      • Arm Wrestling International
      • World Police and Fire Games
      • World Super Heavyweight Arm Wrestling Championship
      • Over the Top World Championship
      • Yukon Jack Arm Wrestling Championships
      • North American Armwrestling Championships (Amos)
      • Power Armwrestling
      • Monster Arm Wrestling
      • World National Wristwrestling Association
      • Can-Am Armwrestling Championships
      • Armwrestling Capital of the Midwest
      • World Arm Wrestling Council
    • Early Origins of Armwrestling
    • Armwrestling Matches in the Cradle of Strongmen
    • The Ancient Hawaiian Sport of Uma
    • Armwrestling Firsts
    • Inaugural State Championships
    • Biggest Prize Money Tournaments By Year
    • How Organized Armwrestling Was Introduced to Eastern Europe
    • Top 10 Las Vegas Tournaments of All Time
    • Canada's Toughest Tournaments
    • The Stories behind the Matches >
      • Armwrestling’s First Supermatch
      • John Brzenk vs. "John Doe"
      • Dean vs. Mason
      • The Biggest Supermatch of All Time
      • The John Brzenk Challenge
      • The Champion Armwrestler vs. the Champion Powerlifter
    • This Day in Armwrestling History >
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - April Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - May Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - June Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - July Dates
  • Top Pullers
    • History's Most Successful Armwrestler
    • Champion Armwrestlers of Yore
    • All-Time Top Male Puller from Each State
    • All-Time Top Female Puller from Each State
    • All-Time Top Male Puller from Each Province
    • All-Time Top Female Puller from Each Province
    • Best Pullers by Year
    • Best Pullers by Year of Birth
    • Historical Rankings >
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Men - Right Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Men - Left Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Women - Right Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Women - Left Hand)
    • Top 10 Pullers of the 1960s
    • Top 25 Pullers of the 1970s (Men)
    • Top 25 Pullers of the 1980s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 1990s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 2000s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 2010s (Men)
    • Top 5 Pullers of the 1970s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 1980s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 1990s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 2000s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 2010s (Women)
    • Armwrestling's Best Generation?
    • Pullers Who Perfectly Peaked
    • Record Win Streaks
  • Event Results
    • Results from the Early Days >
      • IFAW Results (1966-1969)
      • USA Results (1969)
      • WWC Results (1955-1969)
    • Golden Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1978-1979)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1978-1979)
      • AWI Results (1978-1979)
      • Carling O'Keefe Worlds Results (1971-1979)
      • IFAW Results (1970)
      • NAWA Results (1977-1979)
      • WAWF World Results (1971-1979)
      • WPAA Results (1974-1979)
      • WWC Nationals Results (1974-1979)
      • WWC World Results (1970-1979)
      • Various US Nationals (1970-1979)
    • Silver Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1980-1989)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1980-1989)
      • AWI Results (1980-1989)
      • Carling O'Keefe Worlds Results (1980-1982)
      • Carling O'Keefe IAC Results (1989)
      • IWC Results (1980-1982)
      • NAWA Results (1980-1989)
      • Over the Top Results (1986)
      • Sands International Armwrestling Results (1980-1989)
      • WAWF World Results (1980-1989)
      • WPAA Results (1980-1989)
      • WPWA Results (1980-1981)
      • WWC Results (1980-1989)
      • Yukon Jack Results (1988-1989)
    • Bronze Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1990-1993)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1990-1999)
      • Arnold Classic Results (1998-1999)
      • AWI Results (1990-1999)
      • EAF European Championships Results (1991-1999)
      • Forsa Tropical Results (1998)
      • Golden Bear Results (1990-1999)
      • Main Event Results (1997-1998)
      • Reno Reunion Results (1999)
      • Super Bras-de-fer Results (1991)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (1995-1999)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (1998-1999)
      • WAF World Results (1990-1999)
      • WPAA Results (1990-1997)
      • WWC Results (1990-1999)
      • Yukon Jack Results (1990-1997)
    • Copper Age Results >
      • AAA Nationals Results (2000-2009)
      • All-Niagara Armwrestling Championships Results (2002)
      • Arm Wars Super Series Results (2008-2009)
      • Arnold Classic Results (2000-2009)
      • AWI Results (2000-2001)
      • Big Arm Classic Results (2004)
      • California State/West Coast Pro-Am Armwrestling Championship (2003-2006)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2000-2009)
      • GNC Results (2001-2004)
      • Harley Pull Results (2000-2009)
      • IAF Can-Am Championships Results (2000-2009)
      • Mike Gould Classic Results (2000-2009)
      • NAL Results (2006-2007)
      • Northeastern Armwrestling Challenge Results (2005-2009)
      • NYC Big Apple Grapple Results (2000-2009)
      • PAC World Championship Results (2005-2007)
      • PAL Results (2004-2009)
      • Reno Reunion Results (2000-2007)
      • Ruler of the Nation Results (2007-2009)
      • Sturgis Rally Professional Armwrestling Championship
      • Superstar Showdown Results (2004-2005)
      • Tournament of Champions Results (2001)
      • Ultimate Armwrestling (Las Vegas) Results (2004-2006)
      • Ultimate Armwrestling Championship (UAC) Results (2009)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (2000-2009)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (2000-2009)
      • US Open Results (2003)
      • World Armsport Federation Results (2000-2005)
      • World Armwrestling Federation Results (2000-2009)
      • WWC Results (2000-2005)
      • World Challenge (2009)
      • Zloty Tur/Nemiroff Cup Results (2000-2009)
    • Renaissance Results >
      • A1 Russian Open Results (2012-2015)
      • AAA Nationals Results (2010-2018)
      • Arm Wars Super Series Results (2010-2016)
      • Arnold Classic Results (2010-2019)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2010-2019)
      • IFA Results (2019)
      • Mike Gould Classic Results (2010-2015)
      • Moldova Open Results (2018)
      • NYC Big Apple Grapple Results (2010-2019)
      • PAL Results (2010-2019)
      • UAL Results (2010-2016)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (2010-2019)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (2010-2019)
      • WAL Results (2014-2019)
      • WAF Results (2010-2019)
      • World Challenge (2010-2012)
      • Zloty Tur/Nemiroff Cup Results (2010-2019)
    • Contemporary Results >
      • Arnold Classic Results (2022-Present)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2020-Present)
      • East vs. West Results (2021-Present)
      • IFA US Nationals Results (2021-Present)
      • IFA Worlds Results (2020-Present)
      • King of the Table Results (2021-Present)
      • Mr. Olympia Power Armwrestling Results (2021)
      • Over the Top Down Under Results (2022)
      • PAL Results (2021-Present)
      • Total Armwrestling League Results (2020-Present)
      • USAA International Pro-Am Results (2020-Present)
      • USAF Nationals Results (2022-Present)
      • WAF International Challenge Results (2021)
      • WAF World Championships Results (2020-Present)
  • YouTube
  • Miscellaneous
    • Armwrestling Amusement Devices
    • Armwrestling Matches in Professional Wrestling
    • 1975 NFLPA Arm Wrestling Championship
    • 1975 Esquire Gala Celebrity Tournament
    • A Legendary Tale
    • The Origin of the Wheelbarrow Contest
    • Legendary Powerlifters Who Could Also Pull
    • 1981: A Good Year!
    • The Bill Soberanes Wristwrestling Statue
  • About
THE ARMWRESTLING ARCHIVES

The Top 5 Pullers of the 1970s (Women)

Picture
In the 1970s, armwrestling really began to pick up steam with dozens of organizations forming and thousands of male competitors entering the sport. But it took a few years for women’s divisions to catch on. During the first half of the ‘70s, only a few organizations featured a class for women, and those that did offered a single open weight class. By 1976, both of the top professional organizations (those that gave the biggest prize money) started featuring two classes: a lightweight class and an open, or unlimited, class. This helped attract more women to the sport. Who were the top female pullers of the decade? I did some research to try to find out.
 
To develop this list, I focussed mostly on results from the major events of the era (that obviously featured women’s divisions). These were the biggest tournaments, which attracted the best pullers. They include national and world championships organized by the World’s Wristwrestling Championship (WWC), the World Professional Armwrestling Association (WPAA), the World Arm Wrestling Federation (WAWF), the American Armwrestling Association (AAA), and the National Arm Wrestling Association (NAWA).
 
Based on my analysis of the results I’ve managed to find, in my opinion, these are the top 5 female armwrestlers/wristwrestlers of the 1970s.
​

#5 - Vicky Vodon

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A student from Lancaster, California, Vicky Vodon won the women’s division at the inaugural WPAA U.S. Pro Armwrestling Championships in 1974, where she downed the arm of Donna Myers, the reigning World Wristwrestling Champion. She added two major titles in 1975, winning the WWC Nationals (again over Donna) and the WPAA U.S. Pro title for the second year in a row.

#4 - Cel Rutledge

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Cel Rutledge, a 32-year old lab technician and shot-putter from Concord, California, is only known to have competed in a single event. But it was a big one: the 1975 World’s Wristwrestling Championship. The women’s division included four former world champions, and she won the class with relative ease (with Vicky Vodon being the only puller to put much of a fight). Cel was considerably bigger than her competitors, and her win prompted the heads of the WWC to add second class to the women’s division in 1976 to keep things fair. Just how strong was Cel? It’s impossible to know, but the fact that she finished at the top of a class that featured virtually all of the top female competitors of the early ‘70s warrants her inclusion on this list.

#3 - Cindy Baker

Picture

Bristol, Connecticut’s Cindy Baker, daughter of legendary puller Maurice “Moe” Baker, achieved success of her own at the armwrestling table. Her first major title was the WAWF world title, which she won in May 1977 at just 16 years of age. Four months later, she added a WPAA U.S. Pro title to her résumé, defeating Mildred Choplick. She capped off the decade by winning the AAA Sit-Down Nationals in 1979, defeating Rocky O’Shaughnessy, the reigning AAA heavyweight champion.

#2 - Mildred Choplick

Picture

Between 1976 and 1978, there’s little doubt that the top active female armwrestler was Mildred Choplick, a 6-foot tall weaver from Fairfax, Iowa. She won two WWC national titles, three WWC world titles, and the WPAA U.S. Pro/World Championships in two out of three outings.

#1 - Pam Carter

Picture

Pam Carter entered her first tournament in 1976 and won. In her second contest, she defeated Deborah Lyle, the reigning lightweight world wristwrestling champion. However she only started taking the sport seriously in 1979 hitting most of the top tournaments on the west coast. That summer, Pam won the NAWA World title. In October she then attended the World’s Wristwrestling Championship where she defeated Mildred Choplick in the finals in less than four seconds. Four weeks after that, she travelled to Wetaskiwin, Alberta, to win the WAWF World Armwrestling Championship. Judging by the way she soundly defeated the top competitors at the end of the decade and by the number of major titles she accumulated in rapid succession, I feel she was the top female puller of the ‘70s.




Written by Eric Roussin
Copyright Eric Roussin and The Armwrestling Archives. Original content found on The Armwrestling Archives may not be reproduced without written consent.