Belles of the brawl take a swing at sexism
The League of Lady Wrestlers putting its own spin on equality
Toronto’s League of Lady Wrestlers is putting patriarchy in a full nelson.
Originally formed in Dawson City, Yukon, in 2013 with an inaugural “Hobo Showdown” match, the league has recently undergone a growth spurt, forming sister organizations in Montreal and now, in Toronto.
Armed with small budgets, homemade costumes and a statement-making cast of characters, the league is equal parts entertainment and empowerment.
Unlike other women’s wrestling organizations, the amateur group takes a humourous approach to the back-cracking violence — all within an inclusive, body-positive, trans- and queer-friendly space — in a beautiful albeit bruised ode to equality.
“If you are a group of women perform- ing, you can’t help it . . . the feminist message is there, and people will read and interpret that as they wish,” says league founder Aubyn O’Grady.
The Star caught up with some of the crew to learn more about the wrestlers’ stories — and why they fight.
Aubyn O’Grady (Big Jody Mufferaw) Age: 29 Origin story: Legend has it that the league’s matriarch hails from the Ottawa Valley, where she was born with a black eye. Based on the infamous logger from the mid-1800s, Big Jody has since left the square-timber trade for a chance to dominate the street brawling scene. Don’t worry, she didn’t forget her axe. Signature move: The Log Driver’s Waltz. Feels like: Big Jody grabs her opponent and waltzes with her around the ring until they’re dizzy. Bumping her opponent’s head off the post to disorient her, she climbs the ropes to deliver a double-handed axe throw while yelling “Timber!” as loud as she possibly can. Why she fights: The wrestling ring is no longer exclusively a “macho man arena,” according to league founder Aubyn O’Grady.
By combining the sport with raw physicality and comedic performances, the stage was set to up-end gender roles and expectations.
“We never initially posed ourselves as a feminist art league, but as we grow we have become more comfortable with our political messaging and sharing it.”
Caitlin Gardner (Beaver Fever) Age: 24 Origin story: This woodland warrior’s start came shortly after she took a dip in the Klondike River. Microscopic parasites living in the contaminated water infected the swimmer and transformed her into a human-beaver hybrid with a taste for tree trunks and human limbs. Signature move: The Tail Slap. Feels like: A rabid zombified beaver sitting atop your chest and swatting the surface of your skin with its giant, paddle-like tail. Why she fights: If having an event where a bunch of girls wrestle each other isn’t feminist enough, Gardner also credits the troupe’s gross-out factor for propelling its social messaging as well.
“Every time I tell people I am a wrestler, the first thing people — and it is usually men — ask me: ‘Is it sexy wrestling? Jell-O wrestling? Mud wrestling?’ ” she said. “Most of the time, women aren’t allowed to be funny and gross in the way that men can, but in this venue we can go hogwild in safe space.
“So there is actually a sort of gleefulness and joy when we go above and beyond those expectations.”
Acacia Christensen (Doughnut Messaround) Age: 28 Origin story: Doughnut Messaround’s story began when she tripped over an ill-placed square, raisin-filled, sugar-glazed pastry and fell into a deep fryer. Raised in a bakery and already brawny from carrying bags of flour all day, she emerged from the fryolator honeydipped and ready to fight. Signature move: The Boston Cream. Feels like: A submission hold based on the Boston crab pro-wrestling move, the grapple involves Messaround twisting her opponent’s legs while sitting on her back. Why she fights: According to Christensen, a LOLW-sanctioned brawl isn’t so much about who wins the match as it is the stories each wrestler tells while fighting.
“Wrestling is just a large soap-opera that takes place in a ring, with a touch of fighting,” she said. “A lot of the characters rely on the different dynamics of femininity, like women being tough, fragile and so on.
“We are playing into the stereotypes in order to destroy them.”
The modern-day throwback to a campier version of the sport hasn’t seen a lot of backlash, however.
“A lot of the other pro wrestlers in town don’t really think of us as a wrestling league because we’re all women,” she said. “Some point out that no one wants to watch women fight unless it’s a pillow fight.
“Yet we sell out at all of our shows and have a constant demand from people who want to see more.”
Erin Fleck (Kitty Stardust) Age: 32 Origin story: No one really knows where to draw the line between woman and cat when face to face with Kitty Stardust. After completing her college veterinary technician program, this glam rock ’n’ roll roadie is proof that cat ladies everywhere are a force to be reckoned with . . . except when distracted with anything shiny or attached to a string. Signature move: Only when she’s all out of psychedelic catnip will this sharp-clawed senior resort to unleashing “the Caterwaul.” Feels like: An army of cats scares you into submission with a deafening chorus of yowling and screeching while Kitty takes the upper hand. Why she fights: Having grown up watching wrestling with her brother, Fleck is no stranger to the world of grapple-and-scuffle combat nor its uneven playing field. Televised events that pit scantily clad female athletes against each other made her question how meaningful the matchups really were. It wasn’t until she witnessed her first LOLW fight that the playwright decided to jump in on the action. The DIY approach, combined with the lack of rules, was too unique to pass up. “This was a group of women who were not only performing a weird, crazy and entertaining spectacle, but it is also a group of women who had learned wrestling moves, trained to throw each other around and fall correctly,” she said.
Amy George (Garbageface) Age: 27 Origin story: Self-described as “a weird little monster,” this trash-talking creature was birthed in a Dumpster and, in lieu of wolves, was raised by rats. When she’s not fighting super-sized raccoons in the city’s back alleys, Garbageface takes her feral strength to the ring. Dumpster-divers be warned: Salvaging waste is no longer safe. Signature move: The Galleria Mud Mask. What it feels like: “Using a chocolate-covered banana, I took a poop on stage into my garbage can and smeared it all over (my opponent’s) face,” George said. “It was both triumphant and gross, and the crowd loved it.” Why she fights: At its core, the chance to create a weird character, construct a back story and act it out is an opportunity like no other. With childlike enthusiasm, George explained the planning process behind the Island Rumble that took place on Toronto Island.
“We all brainstormed the grossest bodily functions that we could inflict on one another,” she said. “Hair pulling and spitting can only get you so far.”