Evelyn Stevens

Retired

Real Name:

Evelyn Jardine Riegle

Billed From:

Tampa, Florida

Billed Height:

5′ 8″

Billed Weight:

100 lbs

Debut:

1961

Retired:

1984 (23 year career)

Birthday:

01/01/1943

Age: 83

Promotions Wrestled in:NWA

Eras Wrestled in:The Golden Era | The Territorial Era

Championships Won (1):

1x NWA World Women's Champion

Career Summary

Evelyn Stevens was a tall, athletic heel who made her name in the Great Plains and Midwest before becoming a fixture in the Texas wrestling scene. She worked a rough, physical style and was willing to lean into sex appeal and villainous tactics, fitting the kayfabe expectations of women’s wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s.

Her biggest career highlight came in October 1978 when she pinned The Fabulous Moolah in Dallas to briefly hold the NWA World Women’s Championship, a rare clean televised loss for Moolah that cemented Stevens as a legitimate top‑level performer. She also held the NWA Texas Women’s Championship five times, making her one of the most decorated women’s champions in that territory.

Outside the ring, Stevens’ life took a dark turn when she shot and killed her then‑husband, gym owner Frank Riegle, in 1986. She was found guilty of murder and received a 20-year sentence. She served about five years before being released on parole due to a movement for clemency for battered women.

Later accounts portray her as largely withdrawing from public life, with her story framed as both a trailblazing wrestling career and a cautionary tale of domestic violence and its fallout.