The Story of Holly "Jack" Harley

OVERVIEW

Holly "Jack" Harley is one of the most infamous and recognizable names in hardcore wrestling. Known as the Duchess of the Deathmatch, Our Lady of Laceration, and the Queen of Hardcore, Holly Jack's work in Fully Uncensored Wrestling set a new standard for violence in the sport and helped reshape the perception of the role of female wrestlers in their relationship with violent and bloody matches. One of the first female wrestlers to regularly compete in intergender matches, Holly Harley is the only woman to ever hold the FUW TV Championship. Her use of extremely dangerous weapons and high pain tolerance helped bring greater prominence to deathmatch wrestling, influencing countless wrestlers, both male and female, to follow in her bloody footsteps.

Born Samara Harley, the name "Holly" comes from her own mispronunciation of her surname as a small child, which became a nickname given to her by her family, jokingly referring to her as "Holly-Harley." Neighborhood kids and school mates knew her as Sam, although Holly gradually became her calling card there as well. Her nickname "Jack" was given to her by neighborhood kids mocking her for her masculine appearance/behavior.

"Well the 'Jack' in Holly Jack comes from back when she was a kid, you know all that extra...scruffy fur everywhere, that's really more common on guy possums, on Jacks, instead of Jills, and it just so happened that Holly already dressed like a dude and kinda even sounded like a dude so I guess they figured they were teasing or something by calling her Jack. I bet that didn't feel too good at first but you know, somebody like Holly, she's not gonna cry about it at least not for long, and I think she figured, fuck it, if they're gonna call me Jack, then I'm gonna be the roughest, toughest, baddest, nastiest Jack in the whole damn neighborhood. I heard stories of Holly biting into glass beer bottles, picking fights with neighborhood bullies twice her size and usually winning, and I think she decided that the name Jack was going to be one you put some respect on, not something you make fun of her with. She wanted all the other boys and girls around there saying 'oh, that's Holly Jack, you don't fucking mess with Holly Jack.' So she just carried that right into her wrestling career and made it her own, as a kid it was her way of saying, I'm as tough as any dude in the neighborhood, and in wrestling it's her way of saying I'm just as tough, probably tougher, than any dude in that ring."

- "Sassy" Mitch Massie, Wrestling Promotor, Manager, and Historian

Various, mostly unverified reports suggest that Holly's home life may not have been the happiest, perhaps contributing to her personality and later, her struggles.

"Holly's mother had her boyfriends around a lot and by the sounds of it, she wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing. I don't have all the details, but it sounds like it might not have been a happy time for Holly growing up. In some ways I think that might have contributed to her personality, and how she didn't want to be seen as feminine, or pretty. I don't want to speculate too much because she doesn't want to talk much about any of it."
-Massie

Largely alone in her journey to become a professional wrestler, Holly's experiences in youth perhaps helped her to take care of herself in an industry long rumored to be one of risk for the women trying to break through.

"Well one story I can confirm, because it's one of the few stories she loved to tell, is that early in her career, when she was working indie dates, she needed to get to a show four hours away and had no ride, so another worker headed to the same show told her, hey, you can ride with me, I already got a room setup and everything. Holly was probably suspicious as hell about that but you don't work, you don't get paid, so she takes the ride, and I'm sure she told him hey, don't get stupid with me. But sure enough, middle of the night, she wakes up and he's trying something or other with her, and let me tell you something, don't put anything near a Jill's mouth that you ain't prepared to lose because the way she tells it she took a BIG ol' bite out of, well, the dude's...fuckin' coin purse! And he's screaming, he's bleeding, and he's just about doubled over, and she tells him, you better get the fuck out of this room before you bleed out, or you lose the other one, whatever happens first. I mean...I dunno how much of that is true but, it served as a pretty good warning to any of the other guys in the locker room who thought they were gonna try to pull something on little Holly Jack, and I think that's why she liked telling that story."
-Massie

EARLY CAREER

Holly's quest to become a professional wrestler started in backyard promotions run by friends or acquaintances, and small time, local promotors.

"She was doing these backyard shows, usually kind of frowned upon as not serious by the big wigs, and Holly was in there, doing whatever it took to get a reaction, breaking bottles over her head, or the heads of others, sometimes taking a bite out of them. Tapes started getting shared around about this apparently insane opossum girl running around town, wrestling the boys."
-Massie

Although some of Holly's tapes would end up in front of promotors, most were unimpressed by the rough around the edges, violent young jill's lack of polish. However, promoters at Fully Uncensored Wrestling, a burgeoning promotion looking to bolster its reputation as an extreme, adults-only alternative to mainstream wrestling products, saw something in Harley that looked perfect for their brand.

"The boys at FUW basically said, holy shit, that bitch is crazy. Let's bring her in!"
-Massie

Harley's debut in Fully Uncensored Wrestling marked her first foray into a company of some national repute. Her early portrayal was that of a deathrow inmate from a fictional prison, as explained by the commentary team:

"And this is an...interesting business arrangement between Fully Uncensored Wrestling and Morningside State Penitentiary, allowing one of their more...aggressive inmates to, as they put it, blow off a little steam, for the safety of the Morningside staff and other inmates."

She would be led to the ring in handcuffs and ankle shackles by two performers dressed as state troopers. Harley would stand perfectly stoic as the two men would apprehensively remove her cuffs and shackles, staring downward, with her scruffier head and neck fur intentionally brushed over her eyes to obscure the upper half of her face. Once the bell rang, Holly's demeanor would immediately morph into something more feral as she would maul her opponent with crude punches and strikes, simulating the look and feel of a prison brawl. During her first appearance, she wore a stereotypical orange jumpsuit, but abandoned the look immediately after because it 'looked stupid.' For her following appearances, Harley instead wore a shirt with the fictional prison's name printed on it, with a longer-sleeved white shirt underneath, and standard, denim jeans.

After a few months of this character portrayal, it was eventually dismissively announced that Harley had been 'rehabilitated' thanks to her work with FUW, and would begin appearing in street clothes and also take on a somewhat more energetic, deranged demeanor, moving forward. Furthering her reputation as a psychopath, Holly increasingly incorporated weapons and other painful objects into her matches, hallmarks among these including barbed wire, baseball bats, flaming tables and two-by-fours, and just about anything Holly could find under the ring, backstage, or even among the fans.

"Holly wasn't that great of a wrestler if we're being honest, what set her apart was that she was kind of the first female wrestler willing to do the things, to put her body through the things that she did. As I like to put it, she was the first female wrestler to be just as dumb as the male wrestlers!"
-Massie

Holly Harley's brand of violent wrestling, however, was leaving her with a depleted pool of potential opponents, as most female wrestlers at that time weren't accustomed to hardcore-style wrestling, and were unwilling to work Holly's hard-hitting, dangerous, and painful style.

"She was starting to get pissed off because they wanted to keep putting her in there with the other girls, but women's wrestling just wasn't what it is now, the girls were mostly just still eye candy, and you did have a few legit workers but they were only so many to go around. Holly was always fighting the same ones, or having to go easy on the...cute little models they trotted out who weren't ready to work her kind of match. Coming up in the locals and the indies, Holly was used to wrestling with the guys as kind of a spectacle and that's what she figured she'd do in FUW. Eventually, they didn't really have a choice, and you'd see her start mixing it up with the guys more often until finally one of them, tired of Holly beating up on his girl, challenges her to a match directly."
-Rig "Hardway" Hardwick
Professional Wrestler, former colleague

Holly's first intergender match in FUW is against Ricky Valiant, a loud-mouthed, self-absorbed striped skunk heel with a talent for making an audience ravenous to see him get his comeuppance. It was the start of what would become one of FUW's most enduring rivalries.

"Ricky's obnoxious, pretty-boy schtick was already enough to make FUW's working-class, Easton crowd hate the guy, so if you're planning to stick a gal in there against a guy and have them accept it, a tough-as-nails take-no-crap psychotic bitch like Holly was the perfect pick to take on somebody like Valiant."
-Massie

The match was the typical, violent affair fans had come to expect from Harley, and the Duchess of the Deathmatch would pick up the win after delivering a piledriver through the splintered wood of a table, shutting Valient up for good (or at least, for the week).

From that point on, Holly Jack's participation in matches against male opponents was commonplace and soon enough considered a typical featured of FUW programming, even as other female wrestlers were still competing only with each other. As time went on, Holly's legend as FUW's Queen of Hardcore only grew, and her reputation would spready beyond the small, regional promotion, as fans around the nation found themselves having to tune it to see if all these rumors about this scruffy and maniacal opossum girl were all they sounded. And in most cases, Holly did not disappoint her new fans.

"Watching a Holly Jack match was like watching something you know you shouldn't. It was almost like, watching porn or something, especially with how many of her most famous matches were only available on home video or whatever. It was something you passed between friends, like hey man, you have GOT to see this crazy shit."
-Beulah "Jule" Fox
Professional Wrestler


HALLMARKS

-Entrance-

Holly Harley's "Classic" entrance is one of many rituals. Earlier on, one of several songs from the catalog of hard rock band Black Volt would play through the AP system of the arena (thus bypassing licensing laws) alerting savvy fans to Harley's impending arrival. Later, Holly Jack would settle on one song in particular, Martial Law, and it's now famous opening line during the power-chord heavy intro, a decades-old audio sample of the phrase "DRASTIC TIMES CALL FOR DRASTIC MEASURES!" Holly would then sometimes come through the crowd toward the ring, but would also come from the standard entrance, particularly if she was bringing cache of weapons with her. If carrying weapons, Holly often stores them in a variety of containers such as a shopping cart, travel luggage, or a simple, large sack thrown over her shoulder. Entering the ring, Harley would climb the corner, often with a weapon in hand, and always with an unopened can of beer in the other, before biting into the can and sucking it dry, then tossing it away.

-Character-

As a character, Harley's motivations were usually ambiguous at best, with her feuds often beginning with random attacks on her part, either with no clear reason or a result of some kind of previous slight on the part of her victim. Holly Jack rarely gave interviews and when she did, they were brief and to the point.

KIP STYLES: I'm here at the Easton Municipal Dump where I'm told I can have a rare, exclusive interview with Holly "Jack" Harley, so...oh, oh there she is now. Excuse me! Holly!

[Camera zooms in on Harley in the distance, rummaging around the landfill, dragging an old shopping cart full of assorted junk behind her. She stops to pull an object from the pile, a light curtain rod, seemingly assessing its combat potential, striking herself in the head with it, before tossing it aside.]

STYLES: Holly! Excuse me! H-Holly if we could just -

[As Kip catches up with Harley, she quickly and frighteningly turns around]

STYLES: I um - Holly, thank you for -

[Harley snatches Kip's microphone from his hands and studies it, testing its weight, once again striking herself with the object in a few places before grunting annoyedly and shoving the microphone back into Kip's chest.]

STYLES: Uh...Holly, hi, Kip Styles here, I was just hoping to get your thoughts on your upcoming match with Contessa.

[Harley pulls what appears to be a led pipe from the rubble, rotating it in her hand and swinging it into her palm a few times before tossing it into the cart.]

STYLES: Well um...Holly, this rivalry has gotten so personal between you two, and the match promises to be a brutal affair. What is it about Contessa that frustrates you so much?

[Harley stops, and turns slightly toward Styles, appearing to think about the question for several moments. She turns to face him]

HOLLY HARLEY: ...Sucks.

[Harley takes hold of the front of the cart, once again dragging it deeper into the landfill with her]

STYLES: Um...well, what can you tell us about your strategy going into this big match?

[Harley finds an old hand rake and studies it, before smashing and grinding it over her forehead, immediately grabbing her head in pain-

HARLEY: [Bleep] [Bleeeeeeeeep] [Bleep] God [bleep]ing damn...Fff[bleep]...

[Harley wipes a small amount of blood from her head before studying the hand rake again, giving a knowing nod before tossing it into the cart].

STYLES: ...thank you Holly. Back to you, guys.


-Beer Bite-

During a match against Bro Landa, a particularly rowdy crowd was throwing objects into the ring, with one fan throwing a full can of beer at Harley. Acting quickly enough to catch the can, Holly immediately turned the can sideways and bit into it with her mouth full of razor sharp teeth, piercing the aluminum and downing the entire contents of the can there in the ring. The stunt was actually a not-uncommon trick within the opossum community but nonetheless was an instant hit with the fans, and quickly become a regular part of Holly's entrance ritual, wherein she would climb the turnbuckles with a beer-in-hand and bite into the can, sucking dry its contents. This would occasionally cause Holly to cut her gums, with the mix of beer and blood flowing from the can just further solidifying her image. the Interestingly, those who worked with Holly noted that she had mentioned not being a fan of the taste of beer, despite her eventual, well-documented struggles with alcohol addiction.


-Ms. Sally-

One of the most recognizable aspects of Holly Jack's character is her signature weapon, a chainsaw named Ms. Sally. The origins of Sally come from early in Harley's career, during an FUW match with D.H. Skinner. The scene, at first, appeared to be the first instance of Harley's opponent wielding a more deranged instrument of maiming than Holly Jack herself, with Skinner producing a fire axe from beneath the ring. Bleeding heavily from the events of the brutal match up to that point, Harley stumbled into the dimly lit utility area of the arena, where Skinner followed her with the axe, spouting crude insults and threats of violence. Once backstage, Skinner, seems to lose track of Harley's whereabouts and the camera focuses on his face as he scans the area for her. Suddenly, the sound of a revving engine is heard from off screen, and a visibly startled Skinner slowly turns around as the camera pans to the right to reveal Harley wielding a small, gas-powered chainsaw, with a disturbing, bloody, toothy, twisted grin on her face. In a stunt that would be widely criticized for its recklessness, Harley would chase Skinner further into the backstage area, before cornering and lunging at him with the saw. Skinner holds the axe up horizontally to block the attack, allowing Harley to saw through the wooden handle, at which point Skinner ducks out of the way and makes a hasty retreat through an emergency exit. Holly Jack gives pursuit, while Skinner pulls an uninvolved motorist out from his vehicle, and jumps into the driver's seat. Harley catches up just as the car begins to move and saws up the body as it's speeding away, ultimately scoring the victory by forfeit. However controversial, the image of the bloody, chainsaw-wielding Holly Jack was instantly iconic, and Harley would periodically produce the saw in future matches or segments (although it was not always the same exact saw). Eventually, the name Ms. Sally would be emblazoned onto the saw blade in red lettering, officially christening the power tool with the name by which it's known, today.

A common trope in matches which involve Ms. Sally is that the saw won't start for anybody other than Holly Jack, with those who manage to get a hold of it before her trying to power the engine to no avail, only for Harley herself to eventually take the saw back, and start it effortlessly with one pull of the cord. For obvious reasons, Holly can't directly attack opponents with the chainsaw without inflicting grevious injury, and often finds aways to utilize the saw in the match which satisfies the audience's expectations without disfiguring her opponent, such as performing her finisher, a double-armed DDT, onto the saw as it lays on the mat.

-The Ear Incident-

In the culmination of her heated feud with Contessa, Holly Jack faced off with her bitter rival in what was billed an "Ear for an Ear" match, which stipulated that the winner would be allowed to sever a portion of the loser's ear. Most onlookers expected that the stipulation would ultimately go unhonored, with the match ending with no clear winner. Instead, Contessa would ultimately steal a victory when her client and Harley's formal rival Ricky Valiant doused Holly Jack's eyes with furspray, allowing Contessa to get a quick roll up for the victory. Per the stipulation, a wooden chair with restrains was brought into the ring and was to be the sight of the post-match mutilation now in store for Holly Jack. As Valiant was setting up the chair, Holly struck him with an upward swing of her barbedwire bat between the legs. When Contessa attempted to come to his aid, Holly struck her in the head with the bat, knocking her out cold. However, despite having incapacitated her adversaries, Holly nevertheless took the shears from Contessa, and to the shock of the onlooking crowd, cut off a portion of her own, left ear, before throwing the severed chunk down onto Contessa's chest, and stomping out of the ring. Some say Holly applied a numbing agent to her ear before the match, while others claim she made the cut without anesthetic.

The sensational stunt would turn out to be one of the most memorable moments of Holly's career, adding to her legend as an icon of ultra violence in wrestling. The stunt was reportedly Holly Jack's own idea and came after months of pressuring management to allow it, which they finally did, on the condition that it only happen on one of the company's direct-to-video special broadcasts. Holly's shredded, left ear has since become an indelible part of her look.


FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP WIN

In what could be called a culmination of their longstanding feud, Holly Jack and Ricky Valiant once again squared off against each other, this time in an Easton Street Fight, with no rules, where pinballs and submissions could happen anywhere in the arena. Notably, Valient's FUW TV Title was on the line, the first time a female had competed for a typically male-competitors' belt. The spectacle saw Valient and Holly perform numerous acts of brutality on each other, with Valiant's various allies doing all they could to stack the odds against Holly. The most famous visual of the match would come when Holly would take a pair of pliers, and use them to tear out one of Valient's ear piercings (an effect achieved though an attached but removable ring) in an apparent bit of poetic justice from Valient's role in the loss of Holly's ear, previously. Holly would ultimately win the match with by delivering her finisher, the Death Row Drop, onto the blade of Ms. Sally, pinning Valient and claiming her first title win, in grand fashion, to raucous applause from long time fans of the Queen of Hardcore.

LATE CAREER

Amid falling revenue, and unable to keep up with the larger, national wrestling promotions, FUW would eventually be headed for bankruptcy. With FUW having closed its doors, and no major promotion willing to take a chance on the wild and volatile hardcore legend, Holly was relegated to the indie scene, putting her body through the same agony she always had, for as few as a dozen fans at a time. Over the course of the next decade, Holly's physical and mental health would see a decline as she succumbed to addictions to alcohol and pain pills. Her wrestling dates dwindled, and for those who did see her in public from time to time, they saw a thinner, frailer looking Queen of Hardcore as the years wore on.

"It got to the point where I just hated to pick up the phone because I was sure it was gonna be the one where the coroner tells me, you know, she died in her sleep in a skeezy motel somewhere."
-Willa Hansen,
friend of Holly Harley.

Having become more reclusive over the last several years, Holly was reportedly entering rehab, in an effort to turn her life back around with the help of a partner.

Massie: "When I think of everything she's been through, all the pain she endured both emotionally and physically throughout her life, it frustrates me - no, it pisses me off to think she could be done in by something like this. If Holly Jack is even half the Jill, or Jack, I know that she is, then she'll be tough enough to beat this. But she has to want to. And I think she owes it to herself to do it. If anyone's earned one last ride into the sunset, one more chance to go out with their head high, it's Holly Jack."