A local author and wrestling historian is writing a book about the history of pro wrestling in the area.
During his research for his book 'History of Pro Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario', Jamie Greer found that Windsor's wrestling community has many ties to the LGBTQ+ community.
Speaking on AM800's Live and Local, Greer says the first LGBTQ+ world champion lived in Windsor and trained in Detroit.
In the late 1960s, Sandy Parker moved from Vancouver to Windsor when she was 19, taking the tunnel bus to cross the border and train with Lou Klein.
He says she faced many struggles due to her sexuality.
"After her training with Lou Klein, she went to go train with the Fabulous Moolah. Because she was a lesbian she was kind of held back by Moolah and it was incredibly hard on the women back in the '60s."
Greer says Parker had great success all over the world.
"Women's wrestling was just taking off with a company called All Japan Women's Wrestling. Sandy went there and in 1973 she won their top title, their world championship, so that makes Sandy Parker the first LGBTQ+ world champion."
He says Windsor became a central hub for many pro wrestlers.
"A lot of wrestlers I discovered lived here because we were such a central hub for a lot of the big wrestling cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, New York City and Boston. We were kind of a good location"
Greer expects the book to be completed by next summer.
Sandy Parker made her wrestling debut in 1969 and had matches in Canada, the United States and Japan.