Nicole Fuchs (''née'' Bass; August 10, 1964 – February 17, 2017) was an American bodybuilder, actress, professional wrestler, and professional wrestling valet. She worked for companies such as

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

and

XPW Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari. Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2003. He appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name Ro ...

. From 1993 until her death, she made numerous appearances on ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'' and took part as a contestant in Stern's 1993

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

television event ''

The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant Between 1982 and 1994, American radio and media personality Howard Stern hosted a number of pay-per-view specials and released various VHS and audio tapes. Home videos ''Negligeé and Underpants Party'' ''Howard Stern's Negligeé and Underpant ...

''. She then became a member of the show's Wack Pack and appeared in Stern's movie Private Parts. She made guest appearances on four soap operas: ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

'' and ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' in 1991, and ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' and ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' in 1992.

Early life

Bass was born in Middle Village in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Bodybuilding career

Bass was a bodybuilder in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. She won the 1997 NPC National Bodybuilding Championship. * 1985 NPC Eastern USA Championships – 2nd (HW) * 1986 IFBB

Ms. International The Ms. International female bodybuilding contest was considered to be the second-most prestigious competition for female bodybuilders (second only to the Ms. Olympia competition), from its inception in 1986 through 2013. It was first held in 19 ...

– 16th * 1986 NPC Nationals – 8th (HW) * 1987 IFBB North American Championships – 4th (HW) * 1987 NPC USA Championships – 7th (HW) * 1988 NPC Northeastern States – 1st (HW and overall) * 1989 NPC Extravaganza – 3rd (HW) * 1990 NPC Nationals – 2nd (HW) * 1991 IFBB North American Championships – 4th (HW) * 1993 NPC Nationals – 10th (HW) * 1994 NPC Nationals – 6th (HW) * 1995 NPC Nationals – 2nd (HW) * 1996 NPC Nationals – 2nd (HW) * 1997 NPC Nationals – 1st (HW and overall) * 1997 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 14th

Professional wrestling career

Trained by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), she started her professional wrestling career in Japan in August 1998 for NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, where she won a tournament by defeating Kyoko Inoue. Bass debuted in

(ECW) during the first half of 1998. She aligned herself with

Justin Credible Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco (born October 16, 1973) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible. He ...

, Chastity and

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

. She participated in feuds with

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) prom ...

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a trainer, and global ambassador. He is best known for his career w ...

and

Beulah McGillicutty Trisa Laughlin (née Hayes; born March 14, 1969) is an American author and retired professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 ...

. Bass soon joined the

(WWF), debuting as

Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...

's villainous

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

at '' WrestleMania XV'' on March 28, 1999. She became involved in an extended feud with Debra McMichael, which culminated in a mixed tag match pitting Bass and Val Venis against

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

and Debra at the 1999

WWF Over the Edge WWF Over the Edge was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The first event was produced as the 22nd In Your House eve ...

, which took place directly after the death of

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...

at that pay-per-view. Bass was then aligned with Venis until she accidentally whacked him with Jarrett's guitar after losing a bikini contest to Debra. The following week, she interfered in a match between Debra and

Ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

, with Debra losing her Women's Championship due to Nicole's interference. This led to a brief alliance between Bass and Ivory, which ended abruptly when Bass left the WWF and filed a lawsuit against the organization for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...

, claiming she was

sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whic ...

backstage by Steve Lombardi. In 2003 the case went to court and was ultimately dismissed. Bass continued to wrestle on the independent wrestling circuit and did bookings for public events and for

personal training A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

. She wrestled her last match in 2002.

Personal life

In 2006, Bass was hospitalized due to

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

-influenced

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic p ...

. She married Richard "Bob" Fuchs in 1985. In 2005, Bass was involved in a domestic violence case with him. Fuchs died in his sleep in 2013 at age 64. In September 2000, Bass spent a night in jail after biting a New York police officer who was trying to break up a fight in which Bass was involved. In June 2015, she was arrested for shoplifting in a Queens, NY, supermarket. At the time of her death, Bass was in a relationship with her business partner, Kristen Marrone.

Death

On February 16, 2017, girlfriend Kristen Marrone posted a statement on Bass' official

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

stating that Bass had been hospitalized after being found unconscious at her apartment. Later that day, she was declared to be medically

brain dead Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...

following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. Her family and friends were with her that evening as she was taken off life support. Bass died on February 17 at the age of 52.

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

* Champion Wrestling Federation ** CWF Women's Championship (1 time) *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

** NWA Worldwide Intergender Championship (1 time) * NWA New Jersey ** NWA Jersey Women's Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Nicole 1964 births 2017 deaths American female bodybuilders American female professional wrestlers Bisexual sportspeople LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT professional wrestlers American LGBT sportspeople Professional bodybuilders Professional wrestlers from New York (state) Professional wrestling managers and valets American women radio presenters LGBT bodybuilders 21st-century American women Professional wrestlers from New York City