Midget wrestling

Midget professional wrestling had its early origins in the vaudeville shows of the United States.[3] In these shows, comedy was as important as athletics. The sport is also indebted to professional wrestling's carny origins, where a premium was placed on the visually unusual.

In 1949, Sky Low Low won a thirty-man battle royal to become the winner of the first NWA World Midget Championship, a singles midget championship promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance.[4] Sky Low Low, one of the most prominent midget professional wrestlers, had a longtime feud with Farmer Brooks.[5]

The 1950s have been called the "golden age of midget wrestling".[6] During the decade, Sky Low Low, Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, and Fuzzy Cupid all toured the territories of Canada, wrestling in promotions such as Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling.[7][8] The dominant promoter and booker for midget wrestling at the time was Jack Britton, who was stationed in Montreal, Quebec.[9] In Ontario, Larry Kasaboski also promoted midget wrestling shows.[9] In Canada, Sky Low Low and Little Beaver earned up to 15% of the gate proceeds at their events.[8][10]

The midget professional wrestlers had many gimmicks to attract audiences and revenue. One of Sky Low Low's gimmicks was an open challenge to any other midget professional wrestlers to beat him in a two out of three falls match for $100.[11] He often turned himself upside down and balanced on his head.[8] The duo of Sky Low Low and Little Beaver even squared off in a match for Elizabeth II and King Farouk of Egypt.[11] Sky Low Low also frequently teamed with Fuzzy Cupid in tag team matches. Meanwhile, Lord Littlebrook was credited as being one of the first wrestlers of any height to use aerial maneuvers in his matches.[12] In addition to North America, Littlebrook wrestled in Australia, Japan, and Thailand.[12] The midget wrestlers also performed in Cuba (prior to 1959), South America, Central America, England, Ireland, Scotland, and the countries on the mainland European continent.[9]

In the 1960s, Littlebook trained other midget wrestlers, including Cowboy Lang.[13] Female wrestler the Fabulous Moolah also trained midget wrestlers at her home in South Carolina, including female midget wrestler Diamond Lil.[14]

Female midget wrestlers were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in the mid-to-late 1960s, Diamond Lil wrestled Darling Dagmar, and in the 1970s, Lil mainly feuded with Princess Little Dove. Other prominent female competitors included Sheila Johnson, Cherrie Lamour, and Gypsey Rose. The women, as well as the men, competed regularly for promotions such as Georgia Championship Wrestling.[15]

André the Giant with midget wrestlers Joe Russell and Tom Thumb

Midget wrestling continued to be popular into the 1970s and 1980s, with foreign wrestlers coming to the United States to compete. Little Tokyo, a Japanese professional wrestler, made his way to the National Wrestling Alliance in the 1970s. British wrestler Lord Littlebrook continued to compete, but he became a manager for Jack Victory and Rip Morgan in World Championship Wrestling in the late 1980s.[12]

The World Wrestling Federation included several midget wrestlers on their cards in the 1980s. At WrestleMania II in April 1986, the Haiti Kid appeared in the corner of actor Mr. T, who was in a match against wrestling Roddy Piper.[16] On March 12, 1987, the WWF's WrestleMania III event — which is considered the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom — included a tag team match with midget wrestlers Haiti Kid and Little Beaver, with average sized wrestler Hillbilly Jim defeating Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook, with King Kong Bundy by disqualification.[17][18] During the match, Bundy slammed Little Beaver to the mat, which broke his back and forced him into early retirement.[3] Sky Low Low was also touring with the WWF in the 1980s.[11]

Promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling and Windy City Wrestling also had midget divisions during this time. Grand Prix Wrestling in Canada employed midget wrestlers, including Farmer Brooks until it closed in 1992.[5] In late 1992, Canadian Claude Giroux signed on with the WWF and teamed with the Bushwhackers in their feud against the Beverly Brothers, both of which were teams of full-sized wrestlers.[19]

Competitive midget wrestling declined sharply in the United States in the early 1990s. Midget wrestlers began to show up in more comedic roles, which has been criticized by the Little People of America as being "thoroughly degrading and puts little people out there as a sideshow and entertainment".[20] In these comedic roles, the wrestlers appeared as miniature versions of existing full-size wrestling stars. For example, Claude Giroux continued his tenure in the WWF by dressing up as a smaller version of larger wrestlers; most prominent was his Dink the Clown character, who was the "mini" of Doink the Clown. As Dink, Giroux appeared at 1994's WrestleMania X in a match where he teamed with Doink against Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon.[21] He made another appearance at that year's Survivor Series, teaming with Doink and two other midget wrestlers (Pink and Wink) in a match against Jerry Lawler and Lawler's "minis" (Sleazy, Queasy, and Cheesy).[22][23] In response to the growing popularity of using midget wrestlers as comedy, Lord Littlebrook, who was popular in the 1950s, stated, "I'm disgusted, I really am...I want midget wrestling, I don't want midget comedy."[24]

In the late 1990s, the WWF and Mexico's AAA had a talent sharing program that allowed several lucha libre midget wrestlers to compete on WWF television.[25] These wrestlers included Max Mini, El Torito, Mascarita Sagrada, Mini Vader, and La Parkita.[25] Like in the United States, these midget wrestlers played "mini" versions of WWF and AAA's full-size wrestlers. Sagrada, repackaged as a character named Nova, made his in-ring debut in a midget wrestling match at Bad Blood in 1997 where he teamed with Max Mini against Tarantula and Mosaic. The midget wrestlers appeared on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night and WWF Monday Night Raw. The WWF's midget wrestlers also appeared in matches at the Royal Rumble in 1997 and the Royal Rumble in 1998.[26]

World Championship Wrestling (WCW) also had an influx of Mexican midget wrestlers. In late 1996, full-size wrestler Máscara Sagrada wrestled in a dark match before Starrcade in 1996 where he teamed with Octagóncito (mini version of Octagón) and defeated Jerrito Estrada and Piratita Morgan, the latter of which was also a little person.[27] The next day, the teams faced again, this time on WCW Monday Nitro.[28]

Hornswoggle in World Wrestling Entertainment in 2007

On the independent circuit, there was an increased interest in midget hardcore wrestling matches, and groups such as the Half Pint Brawlers began selling DVDs and opening for musical acts such as Kid Rock.[3] World Wrestling All-Stars also included hardcore matches in 2002 through 2003, with performers such as Meatball, Teo, and Puppet competing in matches where they hit each other with trashcans and other foreign objects. In the early days of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (NWA:TNA) in 2002, the promotion included a hardcore midget wrestling division. Although the division was later abandoned, at Victory Road in 2004—the company's first monthly pay-per-view event—Mascarita Sagrada defeated Piratita Morgan.[29]

In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced the creation of a "juniors" division within their SmackDown! brand, which consisted of wrestlers at or below five feet tall, but it was discontinued in March 2006.[20][25][30] Despite releasing many of the "junior" talent, they hired Dylan Postl in May 2006, who played a leprechaun character (named Little Bastard and later Hornswoggle), who accompanied Northern Irish wrestler Fit Finlay to the ring.[31] At the Great American Bash in July 2007, he won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, a title normally held by full size male wrestlers.[32] Finlay and Hornswoggle also challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions in June 2008.[33][34] During his tenure with the company, midget wrestlers employed in the independent circuit, including Short Sleeve Sampson, were brought in to portray the mini versions of larger wrestlers with whom Finlay was feuding.

In February 2000, the Micro Wrestling Federation (MWF), a wrestling promotion made up entirely of little people, was established.[35] The promotion featured both serious wrestling matches and more comedic aspects.[35] In early 2008, the Entertainment Shack booking agency acquired the MWF. After the acquisition, the entertainment agency hired many new midget wrestlers, making the organization the largest midget wrestling show in the US. This show can be seen nationwide with a tour schedule that encompasses the entire US, Canada, and South America. The promotion usually books between 150 and 180 shows a year.[36]

In the 21st century, there has been substantial controversy surrounding the sport. The hardcore wrestling troupe the Half Pint Brawlers simulated sex, used staple guns as weapons, and performed using other hardcore antics in January 2008 during a Delta Upsilon fraternity event at Northwestern University.[37] The event caused the fraternity to face disciplinary actions.[37] In August 2008, the female performers in the MWF caused a disturbance when they appeared topless in a bar in Canton, Illinois.[38] In addition, the Little People of America began to frown upon the use of the word "midget" in 2007, considering it to be degrading.[3] The wrestlers involved in the sport do not always agree with this assessment, citing the longevity of the sport and the appeal of the term to audiences.[3]

In 2018, Texas-based organization Extreme Dwarfanators Wrestling, which has toured across the US for many years, decided to tour England and Wales in the UK due to the explosion of interest in the UK wrestling scene. They instructed Wales-based agency Degu Media to assist with the language, tone, and translational issues and beganto eliminate the word "midget" from all UK marketing material. At launch, the word Dwarfanators was substituted on social media, posters, advertisements, and banners. The Restricted Growth Association (RGA) opposed the event and describing it as a "freak show". The RGA's statement offended many in the wrestling community. Such notables in the Dwarf community such as James Luster (actor, former dwarf games participant, and councilor) spoke out against the organization, including former relatives of the founders of the RGA. Once three venues in England banned the dwarfs from appearing, a legal case for discrimination was started, quoting the Equality Act 2010. Coyote Ugly Saloons in the UK briefly suspended ticket sales while they took counsel on the matter, then gave the events their support.

In 2022, Major League Wrestling announced the creation of a midget division.