Bungles the baboon did not kill a wrestler in Phoenix

Today’s question: Subject reputed lady wrestler killed in Phoenix Zoo in 1957. True? Circumstances? This is just a tad on the terse side, but I did manage to figure it out. It concerns a professional wrestler named Gina “Bronco” Bouza, who may or may not have died under rather lurid circumstances. Ms. Bouza’s gift to the world of professional wrestling was a pair of impressive thighs that she used to strangle cows.

If this is true I cannot say. I am sorry to say I can imagine people who would be willing to pay to see such a horrible thing.

Apparently, Bouza also was community-minded and appeared at a lot of charity events.

The story goes that, in 1957, Bouza agreed to wrestle an elderly baboon named Bungles who was about to be retired from public viewing at the zoo where he lived.

Heretofore, Bungles’ claim to fame had been his ability to ride a bicycle.

On that fateful day, Bungles pedaled into the ring, sized up Bouza, broke her neck and tossed her lifeless body out of the ring.

I came across several accounts of this, but I cannot say for sure any of them are true.

The gentleman who posed today’s question wants to know if this happened at the Phoenix Zoo. It did not. Legend places the event at zoos in San Diego, Cleveland and assorted other cities, but not in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Zoo we all know and love didn’t open until 1962, five years after Bouza’s fatal encounter with Bungles the biking baboon.