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 Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

and

XPW Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari and operated by Extreme Gifts. The promotion is known for its deathmatch style. From 2000 to 2002, XPW held an annual death match tourna ...

. 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 radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

'' and took part as a contestant in

Stern's Stern's was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey. The chain was in business for more than 130 years. In 2001, Stern's parent company Federated Department Stores opted to retire the Stern's bran ...

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 ...

television event '' The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant''. She then became a member of the show's

Wack Pack The Wack Pack is the name given to an assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of ''The Howard Stern Show''. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, Stern biographer Richard Mintzer has labeled them a key part of the show. Memb ...

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 ''Th ...

'' 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 aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' in 1991, and ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' and ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'' in 1992.

Early life

Bass was born in Middle Village in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

Bodybuilding career

Bass was a bodybuilder in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. She won the 1997 NPC National Bodybuilding Championship.

Professional wrestling career

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998–1999)

Trained by

, 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 is a Japanese female professional wrestler currently signed to World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue is the founder of NEO J ...

. Bass debuted in ECW during the first half of 1998. She aligned herself with

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

, Jason Knight and

Chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

. She participated in feuds with

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he was an ECW Triple C ...

and Beulah McGillicutty.

World Wrestling Federation (1999)

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 Kaz ...

's villainous

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

at ''

WrestleMania XV WrestleMania XV was a 1999 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 15th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 28, 1999, at the First Union Center in Philadelp ...

'' 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 Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 20 ...

against

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

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 wrestling, professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

at that pay-per-view. On the June 7th episode of Raw Is War, 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 Tooth, 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 mamm ...

, with Debra losing her

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

due to Nicole's interference. This led to a brief alliance between Bass and Ivory, which ended abruptly when Bass left the WWF in July 1999 and filed a lawsuit against the organization for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

, claiming she was

sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse 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 sexua ...

backstage by

Steve Lombardi Steven Kenneth Lombardi (born April 18, 1961) is an American professional wrestler and road agent, better known by his ring name, the Brooklyn Brawler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he performs as an on-screen per ...

. In 2003, the case went to court and was ultimately dismissed.

Independent Circuit (1999–2002)

Bass continued to wrestle on the independent wrestling circuit and did bookings for public events and for personal training. Worked for

Xtreme Pro Wrestling Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari and operated by Extreme Gifts. The promotion is known for its deathmatch style. From 2000 to 2002, XPW held an annual death match tourna ...

and

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the p ...

. She wrestled her last match in 2002.

Personal life

Bass was married to Richard "Bob" Fuchs from 1985 until his death in 2013. At the time of her death, Bass was in a relationship with her business partner, Kristen Marrone. In 2006, Bass was hospitalized due to

steroid A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes t ...

-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 hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...

Death

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

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

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

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. 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

Professional wrestling

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

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

** NWA Worldwide Intergender Championship (1 time) *

NWA New Jersey NWA most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization * Northwest Arkansas, the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan ...

** NWA Jersey Women's Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Nicole 1964 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American professional wrestlers 20th-century American sportswomen 20th-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century American sportswomen Actresses from Queens, New York American bisexual actresses American bisexual sportspeople American female bodybuilders American female professional wrestlers American professional bodybuilders American women radio hosts Bisexual sportswomen LGBTQ bodybuilders LGBTQ people from New York (state) LGBTQ professional wrestlers People from Middle Village, Queens Professional wrestlers from New York City Professional wrestling managers and valets