The Grapplers were a loosely organized band of female wrestlers, each of whom had superhuman strength and some of whom have other abilities. The original Grapplers were four protégés of Ann "Auntie Freeze" Fraley, one of the premiere female wrestlers of the 1950s, who retired after two decades in the ring to become a trainer. The original Grapplers became renowned for their colorful personalities and ringside antics, but despite Auntie Freeze's tireless promotion, they were denied the opportunity by the wrestling federation to make the amount of money their male counterparts made. Titania, the leader of the team, was contacted by an unrevealed representative of Roxxon Oil Corporation in charge of covert operations who happened to be a wrestling fan. This representative offered the four the opportunity to earn supplementary income by performing a covert operation for the company. The four agreed and were given special paraphernalia to assist them in their mission. Poundcakes was given a pair of boots capable of creating strong seismic vibrations when stamped. Screaming Mimi was given a special vocal-amplifier enabling her to create vertiginous effects. Letha was given special leather belts and straps with various weaponry stitched within. Titania was given special 1 inch diameter discs containing explosives and other devices. The four were then sent to accompany the woman warrior Thundra to infiltrate and destroy Project: Pegasus, a government energy project Roxxon believed threatened its energy interests. The mission failed and the original Grapplers were tried and jailed for their misdeeds. When they were finally paroled, they discovered that the women's wrestling movement had lost its momentum without them. They undertook certain petty crimes to support themselves but were never caught.

Auntie Freeze, in the meantime, was scouting out new candidates for wrestling stardom, and succeeded in finding several promising candidates. When wrestling promoter Edward Garner organized the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation for the increasing number of wrestlers who were barred from the other wrestling associations because of their superhuman levels of strength, Auntie Freeze contacted him to negotiate a women's division. Auntie Freeze, like many of the managers and trainers of male wrestlers, was contacted by Power Broker, Inc., an agency which promises to augment an individual's strength to superhuman levels for a very high price. Auntie Freeze sent all of her new clients, as well as the originals, to the Power Broker to undergo treatment. Auntie Freeze's stable of female wrestlers, are now all collectively known as the Grapplers, and are legitimate professional wrestlers in the U.C.W.F. The original Grapplers have resented the newcomers to a certain extent, but are mostly pleased at now being able to earn money without having to resort to crime. Shortly after losing a bout for leadership of the Grapplers to newcomer Battleaxe, Titania was slain by the criminal-killer Scourge. Letha became a victim of Scourge months later.