Going Through a Troubled Marriage, Female Bodybuilder Sally McNeil Wrestled With Men for $300 an Hour To Survive

The Netflix three-episode docu-series walks us through the journey of Sally McNeil, a professional bodybuilder during the ‘90s. Sally greatly aspired to be one of the biggest bodybuilders. Ray McNeil, a bodybuilding champion, and Sally met each other and had dreams of becoming pros.

They married in 1987. In 1991, Ray discontinued his job in the Marine Corps to focus on his bodybuilding career, while Sally worked as a cook at the mess hall to make ends meet. To address the rising need for more money, she started making wrestling videos. Eventually, Sally deployed her muscular physique, transitioned from making videos to conducting private sessions, and earned money.

‘Killer Sally’ wrestled men for $300 an hour

Sally opened up on several aspects of her career, personal life, and her struggles. Sally was a very promising bodybuilder. She drew inspiration from Lenda Murray, 8x Ms. Olympia. In 1990, she attacked a woman for having an affair with her husband.

It caused her to be suspended from the National Physique Committee. She shared that Ray considered himself the most important person in the family. “He was trying to get me to give up my dream so I could support him…I could finance his budding career in bodybuilding,” she revealed decades ago.

To support her family of three–husband and two children, she began making wrestling videos for a guy. She gave it a fictional touch with a storyline. Sally then made videos with her stage name, ‘Killer Sally’. Eventually, she moved to conduct private sessions in the 1990s. Men would pay on an hourly basis. It was something women bodybuilders often did for money.

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In the docu-series, Sally claimed she’d wrestle men for $300 an hour. Moreover, she said she wouldn’t use the word “schmoes” for the men as popularly described, because “I made a lot of money off of these men. I will never degrade them.”

Sally was viewed as a brawny bride

Speaking about the horrifying side of her marriage, she stated that she should have left him days after they were married. She recounted incidents of physical abuse she went through. In 1995, Sally was charged with the second-degree murder of her husband, Ray McNeil, a bodybuilding champion, and a 25-year imprisonment.

Recalling the day she shot her husband, she claimed that he was choking her, and she shot him twice to protect herself. The media instilled in her a feeling that she was the violent one. “But in my eyes, when I’m getting attacked, it’s my right to defend myself. I have a right to defend myself,” she added. Sally served her full sentence of 25 years in 2022.

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