Midget wrestler
Encyclopedia
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
or person of short stature who competes in professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
. The heyday of midget wrestling was in the 1950s and 1960s, when wrestlers such as Little Beaver
Lionel Giroux
Lionel Giroux was a Canadian midget wrestler who is best known by his ring name Little Beaver. His most famous appearance was in a six-man match at WrestleMania III for the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...
, Lord Littlebrook
Eric Tovey
Eric Tovey is a British former Midget wrestler best known as Lord Littlebrook. He enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, when he held the NWA World Midget's Championship.-Career:...
, and Fuzzy Cupid
Fuzzy Cupid
Leon Stap was an American midget professional wrestler better known by his ring name Fuzzy Cupid. During his career, he was the frequent tag team partner of fellow midget wrestler Sky Low Low....
toured North America, and Sky Low Low was the first holder of the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
's World Midget Championship. In the following couple of decades, more wrestlers became prominent in North America, including foreign wrestlers like Japan's Little Tokyo.
Beginning in the late 1980s, midget wrestling reached its peak at the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF)'s WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan....
. Afterward, promotions continued to feature midget divisions, but its popularity was slowly declining. By the mid-1990s, midget wrestlers were mostly featured in comical matches and segments, rather than serious competitive wrestling-type matches. In Mexico, however, this was not the case, as wrestler Mascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado and one of the most well known Mexican Minis of the modern era. He is the original Mascarita Sagrada although there have been several wrestlers who have used the same gimmick through the years...
continued to compete in prominent Mexican promotions such as Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
. By the mid-2000s in the United States, midget divisions were once again being featured in major wrestling promotions, and wrestlers such as World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the WWF)'s Hornswoggle were competing for and winning championships made for average-size male wrestlers.
The Little People of America
Little People of America
Little People of America is a non-profit organization which provides support, resources and information to individuals with dwarfism and their families...
(LPA) have criticized midget wrestling as reinforcing stereotypes that little people are no more than entertainment. The LPA also frowns on the use of the word "midget" in the name of the sport—stating that it is as offensive as a racial slur—but the performers themselves do not always feel the same way.
Early history
Midget professional wrestling had its early origins in the vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
shows of the United States. In these shows, comedy was as important as athletics. The sport is also indebted to professional wrestling's carny
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
origins, where a premium was placed on the visually unusual.
Heyday
In 1949, Sky Low Low won a thirty-man battle royalBattle royal (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner...
to become the winner of the first NWA World Midget Championship, a singles midget championship promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
. Sky Low Low, one of the most prominent midget professional wrestlers, had a longtime feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with Farmer Brooks
Farmer Brooks
Clifford Fraser is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known as the midget wrestler Farmer Brooks, and was a major participant in Grand Prix Wrestling throughout the 1980s and a longtime rival of Sky Low Low...
.
The 1950s have been called the "golden age of midget wrestling." During the decade, Sky Low Low, Little Beaver
Lionel Giroux
Lionel Giroux was a Canadian midget wrestler who is best known by his ring name Little Beaver. His most famous appearance was in a six-man match at WrestleMania III for the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...
, Lord Littlebrook
Eric Tovey
Eric Tovey is a British former Midget wrestler best known as Lord Littlebrook. He enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, when he held the NWA World Midget's Championship.-Career:...
, and Fuzzy Cupid
Fuzzy Cupid
Leon Stap was an American midget professional wrestler better known by his ring name Fuzzy Cupid. During his career, he was the frequent tag team partner of fellow midget wrestler Sky Low Low....
all toured the territories of Canada, wrestling in promotions such as Stu Hart
Stu Hart
Stewart Edward "Stu" Hart, CM was a Canadian amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, promoter and trainer. Hart founded Stampede Wrestling, a promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, and was the father of famous wrestlers Bret and Owen Hart...
's Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
. The dominant promoter and booker for midget wrestling at the time was Jack Britton, who was stationed in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. In Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Larry Kasaboski also promoted midget wrestling shows. In Canada, Sky Low Low and Little Beaver earned up to 15% of the gate proceeds at their events. 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. He would also turn himself upside down and balance on his head. The duo of Sky Low Low and Little Beaver even squared off in a match for Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and King Farouk of Egypt
Farouk of Egypt
Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....
. 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
Professional wrestling aerial techniques
Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...
in his matches. In addition to North America, Littlebrook wrestled in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. The midget wrestlers also performed in Cuba prior to the 1950s, South America, Central America, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and the countries on the mainland European continent.
In the 1960s, Littlebook trained other midget wrestlers, including Cowboy Lang. Female wrestler The Fabulous Moolah
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was an American female professional wrestler. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke, as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy...
also trained midget wrestlers at her home in South Carolina, including female midget wrestler Diamond Lil
Katie Glass
Katie Glass , better known by her ring name "Diamond Lil", is a retired professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...
.
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
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
.
Peak and decline
Midget wrestling continued to be popular into the 1970s and 1980s, with foreign wrestlers coming to the United States to compete. Little TokyoShigeri Akabane
Shigeri Akabane , known by his ringname Little Tokyo, was a Japanese professional midget wrestler who competed in North American promotions during the 1970s and 1980s including Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation, most...
, a Japanese professional wrestler, made his way to the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
in the 1970s. British wrestler Lord Littlebrook continued to compete, but he became a manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
for Jack Victory
Jack Victory
Kenneth "Ken" Rinehurst is an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Jack Victory. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001.-Career:Rinehurst debuted in 1985 in the Universal Wrestling Federation...
and Rip Morgan
Rip Morgan
Mike Morgan is a former professional wrestler from New Zealand who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as one half of the New Zealand Militia in WCW with Jack Victory...
in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in the late-1980s.
The World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
featured several midget wrestlers on their cards
Card (sports)
In sports, a card comprises a listing of the matches taking place in a title-match combat-sport event. Organizers divide overall cards into a main-event match and the undercard, which encompasses the rest of the matches. One can also further subdivide the undercard into midcard and lower card,...
in the 1980s. At WrestleMania II in April 1986, The Haiti Kid appeared in the corner of actor Mr. T
Mr. T
Mr. T is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry,...
, who was in a match against wrestling Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
. On March 12, 1987, at the WWF's WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan....
event—which had a record attendance of over 93,000 fans and is considered the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom
1980s wrestling boom
The 1980s professional wrestling boom was a surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and elsewhere throughout the 1980s...
—featured a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
match with midget wrestlers Haiti Kid and Little Beaver
Lionel Giroux
Lionel Giroux was a Canadian midget wrestler who is best known by his ring name Little Beaver. His most famous appearance was in a six-man match at WrestleMania III for the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...
, with average sized wrestler Hillbilly Jim
Hillbilly Jim
Jim Morris , best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s.-Career:...
defeating Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook, with King Kong Bundy
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...
by disqualification. During the match, Bundy slammed Little Beaver to the mat, which broke his back and forced him into early retirement. Sky Low Low was also touring with the WWF in the 1980s.
Promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
and Windy City Wrestling also had midget divisions during this time. Grand Prix Wrestling
Grand prix wrestling
Grand Prix Wrestling is a wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has currently stopped touring due to heavy traveling costs...
in Canada employed midget wrestlers, including Farmer Brooks
Farmer Brooks
Clifford Fraser is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known as the midget wrestler Farmer Brooks, and was a major participant in Grand Prix Wrestling throughout the 1980s and a longtime rival of Sky Low Low...
until it closed in 1992. In late 1992, Canadian Claude Giroux
Claude Giroux (wrestler)
Claude Giroux is a Canadian-born midget wrestler whose career spans over 20 years. He is still active in the Canadian Independent circuit. Giroux's biggest exposure came when he performed as Doink The Clown's sidekick Dink in the World Wrestling Federation between 1993 and 1995...
signed on with the WWF and teamed with The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...
in their feud against The Beverly Brothers, both of which were teams of full-sized wrestlers.
Competitive midget wrestling, however, 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
Little People of America
Little People of America is a non-profit organization which provides support, resources and information to individuals with dwarfism and their families...
as being "thoroughly degrading and puts little people out there as a sideshow and entertainment." 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
Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1995. Since Osborne's departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special...
. As Dink, Giroux appeared at 1994's WrestleMania X
WrestleMania X
WrestleMania X was the tenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on March 20, 1994. The central focus of the pay-per-view was the WWF Championship, which was defended...
in a match where he teamed with Doink against Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon. He made another appearance at that years Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1994)
Survivor Series was the eighth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Eve, November 23, 1994 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas...
teaming with Doink and two other midget wrestlers (Pink and Wink) in a match against Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
and Lawler's "minis" (Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy). 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."
Resurgence
In the late 1990s, the WWF and Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y AdministraciónAsistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
had a talent sharing program that allowed several lucha libre
Lucha libre
Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...
midget wrestlers to compete on WWF television. These wrestlers included Max Mini, El Torito, Mascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado and one of the most well known Mexican Minis of the modern era. He is the original Mascarita Sagrada although there have been several wrestlers who have used the same gimmick through the years...
, Mini Vader, and La Parkita. 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
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast...
and WWF Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
. The WWF's midget wrestlers also appeared in matches at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1997)
Royal Rumble was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas....
in 1997 and the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1998)
Royal Rumble was the eleventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 18, 1998 at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California....
in 1998.
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW) also had an influx of Mexican midget wrestlers. In late 1996, full-size wrestler Máscara Sagrada wrestled in a dark match before Starrcade
Starrcade (1996)
Starrcade was the fourteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the ninth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling , and it took place on December 29, 1996 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee...
in 1996 where he teamed with Octagóncito (mini version of Octagón
Octagón
Juan Escalera is a Mexican luchador enmascarado better known as Octagón. He is currently with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración , having worked for the company since it was founded in 1992. In 2011 he was inducted into the promotion's Hall of Fame...
) and defeated Jerrito Estrada and Piratita Morgan, the latter of which was also a little person. The next day, the teams faced again, this time on WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
.
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
, there was an increased interest in midget hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...
matches, and groups such as the Half Pint Brawlers began selling DVDs and opening for musical acts such as Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
. World Wrestling All-Stars
World Wrestling All-Stars
The World Wrestling All-Stars was a professional wrestling promotion founded by Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus in 2001. The promotion was operated by McManus' International Touring Company. WWA was one of several promotions to come into existence shortly after the closings of Extreme...
also featured the 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
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
(NWA:TNA) in 2002, where the promotion featured a hardcore midget wrestling division. Although the division was later abandoned, at Victory Road
Victory Road (2004)
Victory Road was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on November 7, 2004 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the first event under the Victory Road chronology, which became an annual event in 2006...
in 2004—the company's first monthly pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event—Mascarita Sagrada defeated Piratita Morgan.
In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) announced the creation of a "juniors" division within their SmackDown! brand, which consisted of wrestlers at or below five feet tall but was discontinued in March 2006. Despite releasing many of the "junior" talent, they hired Dylan Postl
Dylan Postl
Dylan Postl is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Hornswoggle or Little Bastard. He is employed by WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand...
in May 2006, who played a leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
character (named Little Bastard and later Hornswoggle), who accompanied Irish wrestler Fit Finlay to the ring. At The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2007)
The Great American Bash was the fourth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
in July 2007, he won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
, a title normally held by full size male wrestlers. Finlay and Hornswoggle also challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions
Night of Champions (2008)
Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on June 29, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It was the first annual event to be promoted solely under the Night of Champions name and the eighth...
in June 2008. During his tenure with the company, midget wrestlers employed in the independent circuit, including Short Sleeve Sampson
Short Sleeve Sampson
Dan DiLucchio is an American Midget professional wrestler best known by his ring name Short Sleeve Sampson. Sampson currently works on the independent circuit, mainly for Micro Wrestling Federation, and TNT Pro Wrestling...
, 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. The promotion featured both serious wrestling matches and more comedic aspects. 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.
In the 21st century, there has been a lot of 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
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
fraternity event at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. The event caused the fraternity to face disciplinary actions. In August 2008, the female performers in the MWF caused a disturbance when they appeared topless in a bar in Canton, Illinois
Canton, Illinois
Canton is the largest city in Fulton County, Illinois in the United States. The population was 18,288 as of the 2000 Census. The Canton Micropolitan Statistical Area covers all of Fulton County; it is in turn part of the wider Peoria-Canton, IL Combined Statistical Area .-Geography:Canton is...
. In addition, the Little People of America began to frown upon the use of the word "midget" in 2007, as they considered it a racial slur. The wrestlers involved in the sport, however, do not always agree with this assessment, citing the longevity of the sport and the appeal of the term to audiences.
Mexico
Mascarita SagradaMascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado and one of the most well known Mexican Minis of the modern era. He is the original Mascarita Sagrada although there have been several wrestlers who have used the same gimmick through the years...
is the most popular midget wrestler in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and has also been featured in World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
and World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in the United States. In Mexico, he has competed in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
(AAA), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
(CMLL), and a long list of independent promoters over the years. He debuted in CMLL, where he was patterned after popular luchador Máscara Sagrada and given his ring name which is Spanish for "Little Sacred Mask". During his first year working as Mascarita Sagrada he made guest appearances in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
working for the World Wrestling Council
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
(WWC) at their 17th Anniversary show teaming with Aguilita Solitaria in a losing effort against the team of Piratita Morgan and Espectrito. This match was one of the early pairings of Mascarita Sagrada and Espectrito, a rivalry that would last for a decade and span several promotions.
In the 1990s, when midget wrestling in the United States began to decline in popularity, it remained popular in Mexico. In fact, prominent Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
(CMLL) created their midget division the year before in 1989. In 1992, the promotion established its primary championship for midget wrestlers, the CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha libre wrestling-based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . The championship is exclusively competed for in the Mini-Estrellas, or Minis, division...
. Mascarita Sagrada was the first champion.
Mascarita Sagrada and Espectrito continued their feud in AAA, now with the newly created Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship
Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship
The Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship is a professional wrestling championship endorsed by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . The championship is exclusively for Mini-Estrellas or Minis, in Mexico...
in the 1990s. In January 1994, Espectrito became the first champion after winning a tournament final. On November 1994 Sagrada and Octagoncito teamed up to defeat Espectrito and Jerrito Estrada on AAA's first ever pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event When Worlds Collide. In 2002, AAA established the AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship
AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship
The AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship is a tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . The title is for teams of a regular-sized wrestler and a second miniature version, or mascot, of himself...
, which was a tag team championship that was held by a full-size wrestler and his "mini". The initial champions were Mascara Sagrada and Mascarita Sagrada, who held the title for approximately two years before losing it to El Alebrije and Cuije. The latter team held the championship until April 7, 2009 when they left the promotion and the title was vacated.
Championships and accomplishments
Sky Low Low (Marcel Gauthier) who was the National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
's first World Midget Champion, Little Beaver (Lionel Giroux), Lord Littlebrook, and Fuzzy Cupid
Fuzzy Cupid
Leon Stap was an American midget professional wrestler better known by his ring name Fuzzy Cupid. During his career, he was the frequent tag team partner of fellow midget wrestler Sky Low Low....
all have been inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Amsterdam, New York. It was previously located in Schenectady, New York...
. In addition, other awards were developed for the midget professional wrestlers. For example, Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
presented a Midget Wrestler of the Year award annually from 1972 to 1976.
The National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
promoted the NWA World Midget's Championship
NWA World Midget's Championship
The NWA World Midget's Championship was the National Wrestling Alliance's midget singles title.-Title history:-External links:*...
from 1949 until 1999. Little Tokyo held the title more than any other wrestler, with a total of three reigns. There was also a World Midget Tag Team Championship, which was held by wrestlers such as Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook. There are also several Mexican midget titles, including AAA World Mini-Estrellas Championship and Mascot Tag Team Championship
AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship
The AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship is a tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . The title is for teams of a regular-sized wrestler and a second miniature version, or mascot, of himself...
, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
's World Mini-Estrella Championship
CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha libre wrestling-based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . The championship is exclusively competed for in the Mini-Estrellas, or Minis, division...
, Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship
Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship
The Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship is a professional wrestling championship endorsed by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . The championship is exclusively for Mini-Estrellas or Minis, in Mexico...
, and the World Wrestling Association
World Wrestling Association
The World Wrestling Association is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora, Jr....
's Minis Championship.
Notable midget wrestlers
- Diamond LilKatie GlassKatie Glass , better known by her ring name "Diamond Lil", is a retired professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...
(Katie Glass) - Farmer BrooksFarmer BrooksClifford Fraser is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known as the midget wrestler Farmer Brooks, and was a major participant in Grand Prix Wrestling throughout the 1980s and a longtime rival of Sky Low Low...
(Clifford Fraser) - Fuzzy CupidFuzzy CupidLeon Stap was an American midget professional wrestler better known by his ring name Fuzzy Cupid. During his career, he was the frequent tag team partner of fellow midget wrestler Sky Low Low....
(Leon Stap) - Haiti KidRaymond KesslerRaymond Kessler was an American professional wrestler, who had dwarfism, wrestled under the name Haiti Kid in the World Wrestling Federation. He appeared in Mr. T's corner at WrestleMania 2 in his match against Rowdy Roddy Piper...
(Raymond Kessler) - Hornswoggle (Dylan Postl)
- Little Beaver (Lionel Giroux)
- Dink The ClownClaude Giroux (wrestler)Claude Giroux is a Canadian-born midget wrestler whose career spans over 20 years. He is still active in the Canadian Independent circuit. Giroux's biggest exposure came when he performed as Doink The Clown's sidekick Dink in the World Wrestling Federation between 1993 and 1995...
(Claude Giroux) - Lord Littlebrook (Eric Tovey)
- Little Tokyo (Shigeri Akabane)
- Mascarita SagradaMascarita SagradaMascarita Sagrada is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado and one of the most well known Mexican Minis of the modern era. He is the original Mascarita Sagrada although there have been several wrestlers who have used the same gimmick through the years...
(real name unknown) - TzukiTzukiTzuki is a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, who works as a Mini-Estrella or "Mini" division in Mexico. Throughout his career Tzuki has worked under various ring names, most notably Máscarita Sagrada, Jr., Mini Rey Misterio Jr. and Max Mini...
(real name unknown) - Mascarita DoradaMascarita DoradaMascarita Dorada is the ring name of a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, who works in the Mini-Estrella division, comparable to the U.S. Midget professional wrestling division. From 2000 until 2007 he worked under the name Mascarita Sagrada in Asistencia Asesoría y...
(real name unknown) - Short Sleeve SampsonShort Sleeve SampsonDan DiLucchio is an American Midget professional wrestler best known by his ring name Short Sleeve Sampson. Sampson currently works on the independent circuit, mainly for Micro Wrestling Federation, and TNT Pro Wrestling...
(Dan DiLucchio) - Sky Low Low (Marcel Gauthier)
- Dana CarpenterDana CarpenterDana Carpenter was a midget professional wrestler who worked for the World Wrestling Federation.-Professional wrestling career:Carpenter received his professional wrestling training from Killer Kowalski....
(Dana A.Magazu)
External links
- Micro Wrestling Federation website for The Micro Wrestling Federation
- Midget Wrestling Videos Real life midget wrestling matches
- Micro Championship Wrestling website for The Micro Championship Wrestling
- House of Deception Many photos of Golden Age midget wrestlers
- Wrestling Museum Some pictures and brief biographies of famous midget wrestlers