Professional wrestling genre
Intergender wrestling, also known as mixed wrestling, is a type of professional wrestling match between a man and a woman and may also refer to tag team matches with both men and women on each team.
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Intergender wrestling, also known as mixed wrestling, is a type of professional wrestling match between a man and a woman and may also refer to tag team matches with both men and women on each team.
For most of its history, men and women would rarely compete against each other in professional wrestling, as it was deemed to be unfair and unchivalrous. Intergender wrestling was first utilized in the late-1970s/early-1980s by comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman participated in several filmed staged matches of this nature and proclaimed himself the "World Intergender Wrestling Champion," issuing an open challenge to any female challenger who could defeat him. [1] This was the beginning of a famous crossover feud between Kaufman and wrestling legend Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Cathy Davis sued the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) in 1977 because she was denied a boxing license because she was a woman, and the case was decided in her favor later that year, with the judge invalidating New York State rule number 205.15, which stated, “No woman may be licensed as a boxer or second or licensed to compete in any wrestling exhibition with men.” [2] [3] In his opinion the judge cited the precedent set by Garrett v. New York State Athletic Commission (1975), which “found the regulation invalid under the equal protection clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions”. The NYSAC filed an appeal of the ruling, but later dropped it. [2] [4]
After The MSG "Curtain Call" incident in 1996 when professional wrestling was exposed as being scripted, intergender wrestling became more common and accepted by the fans. Intergender matches experienced a surge of popular interest and were often introduced to the roster of events in major North American promotions such as Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. [5] [6] Perhaps the most successful female wrestler who competed in intergender matches was Chyna. A well-built ex-bodybuilder, she was regularly booked to wrestle her male counterparts during the WWF Attitude Era. She was a three-time Intercontinental Champion, a championship traditionally only contested by men, and was briefly the #1 contender for the company's world championship. Four women briefly held the company's now discontinued Hardcore Championship: Terri, Mighty Molly, Trish Stratus and one of The Godfather's Hos. The title had a distinct rule that it could be won by pinning the titleholder at anyplace, anywhere 24/7. The discontinued Cruiserweight championship has also been held by three women: Jacqueline (while under the WWE logo), Daffney, and Madusa (the latter while the title was under WCW's banner).
In the Japanese wrestling promotion FMW, Superstar H (unmasked Hayabusa) wrestled Kyoko Inoue in a singles match on pay per view on March 27, 2000. Inoue pinned H in a tag match earlier that month. While Inoue was presented as a credible threat to H and repeatedly downed him with her strikes, H would win decisively.
Harvey Whippleman holds the distinction of being the only male in WWE's history to hold the now-discontinued Women's Championship having defeated The Kat in a snow bunny match while disguised in drag as Hervina.
At WrestleMania 22, The Boogeyman defeated both Booker T and Sharmell in an intergender handicap match.
A prominent intergender six-person hardcore tag team match took place on WWE at One Night Stand 2006, when the team of Edge, Lita and Mick Foley defeated the team of Beulah McGillicutty, Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer, after male wrestler Edge speared and pinned female wrestler Beulah. [7]
This match-type continues to meet controversy across North America as matches often straddle the line between sporting events and pure erotic entertainment, and also allegations over the depiction of gratuitous physical violence against hapless women. [8] Although still commonplace on the independent circuit, WWE only permits intergender matches on a part time basis due to PG rating and if the timing was right due to its action figure contract with Mattel in order to avoid women being overpowered by men on TV), [9] although it has on past occasions featured some of their female competitors compete in the annual Royal Rumble event (a separate Royal Rumble match for women was introduced in 2018). To date, four women have competed at men's Royal Rumble: Chyna (1999 and 2000, the only one to do so multiple times), Beth Phoenix (2010), Kharma (2012) and Nia Jax (2019, the first since the introduction of women's Royal Rumble). In a reverse of this, at WrestleMania 25 wrestler Anthony Carelli (better known by his ring name Santino Marella) won a diva's battle royal while dressed in drag as "Santina Marella" (Santino's twin sister). There has however been a number of intergender matches after the PG rating was introduced, mostly in comedic matches; Lita pinned Heath Slater after he was attacked and left unconscious by several veteran wrestlers prior to the match on the July 23, 2012, episode of Raw . James Ellsworth was also involved in few intergender matches, notably losing one to Becky Lynch on the November 7, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live . At Fastlane (2021) Alexa Bliss was helped by Bray Wyatt to defeat Randy Orton in their cinematic style intergender match that was filled with supernatural gimmicks. [10]
In Mexican lucha libre promotions, intergender matches are more common in tag team matches. However, both male and female wrestlers are restricted to attack those of their own gender. Some tag teams of this kind are siblings (such as Cinthia Moreno and Oriental), trained simultaneously with the same instructor, or even are on a real-life relationship such as boyfriend/girlfriend (Cibernético and Estrellita) or, as an exceptional case, husband and wife (Billy Boy and Faby Apache). Lucha Underground has regular one-on-one matches between men and women, and Sexy Star held the Lucha Underground title for a day, after winning it in an elimination match and lost it to Johnny Mundo in an intergender match. [11]
In one extreme, a 2011 intergender match in Japan had Kenny Omega wrestle with a nine-year-old girl named Haruka. Video of the match went viral, made international news, and led to Omega receiving numerous death threats. However, despite the match going to a time limit draw, Omega wrestled in such a way as to not harm the girl, and even allowed her to have most of the offense. [12]
Impact Wrestling held the 2019 Slammiversary XVII event which featured a very high profile intergender wrestling match for its main event, where Sami Callihan defeated Tessa Blanchard. [13] At Hard To Kill in 2020 Tessa Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan in a rematch to win the Impact World Championship. [14]
Sean Allen Morley, better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 2009. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Samuel Alton Johnston, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former Impact World Champion. He previously wrestled for Lucha Underground under the ring names Jeremiah Crane, and later, Jeremiah Snake, and on the independent circuit.
Willie McClinton Jr. is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Willie Mack, currently appearing in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Ring of Honor (ROH). He is best known for his tenure with Impact Wrestling, where he is a former Impact X Division Champion.
Brian Christopher Joseph Button, better known by the ring name Brian Cage, is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Don Callis Family and one-half of Murder Machines with Lance Archer. He is also a former one-time FTW Champion. Cage also performs in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion and a former two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He also competes on the independent circuit.
Jacob Southwick, better known by his ring name Madman Fulton, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently performing on the independent circuit mononymously as Fulton. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrestling, where he was a member of Ohio Versus Everything; and in WWE on its NXT brand under the ring name Sawyer Fulton, where he was a member of Sanity. he also makes Appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
Chelsea Anne Cardona is a Canadian professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Chelsea Green. She is the current and inaugural WWE Women's United States Champion in her first reign and is a former one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.
Sarah Rowe is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Valhalla. From 2017 to 2019, she was a member of the stable The Riott Squad with Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott and performed under the name Sarah Logan. Bridges is also known for her tenure on the independent circuit, performing under the name Crazy Mary Dobson.
Tessa Blanchard is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is a former Impact World Champion, and a former Impact Knockouts Champion. She previously performed for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where she was a former one-time CMLL World Women's Tag Team Champion. In addition, Blanchard is a former The Crash Women's Champion, AAA Reina de Reinas Champion, and WOW World Champion.
Kevin Kesar is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his ring name Karrion Kross, and is the leader of The Final Testament.
The 2019 Rebellion was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. The event took place on April 28, 2019, at The Rebel Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the first event in the Rebellion chronology.
Slammiversary XVII was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. It took place on July 7, 2019 at the Gilley's Dallas in Dallas, Texas. It was the fifteenth event under the Slammiversary chronology.
The 2019 Unbreakable was a professional wrestling house show produced by Impact Wrestling. The event took place on August 2, 2019 at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, California and aired live on Impact Plus. It was the second event in the Unbreakable chronology.
The 2020 Hard To Kill was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. It took place on January 12, 2020, in Dallas, Texas. It was the inaugural event under the Hard To Kill chronology.
Code Red was a professional wrestling event produced by Impact Wrestling, in conjunction with House of Glory, which aired exclusively on Impact Plus. It was the first special for Impact Plus, a streaming service launched as a successor to the Global Wrestling Network. The event took place on May 5, 2019 at the NYC Arena in New York City, New York.
Bash at the Brewery was a professional wrestling event produced by Impact Wrestling in conjunction with River City Wrestling. It took place on July 5, 2019, at the Freetail Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas and aired live on Impact Plus. It was the first event in the Bash at the Brewery chronology.
Bash at the Brewery 2 was a professional wrestling event produced by Impact Wrestling in conjunction with River City Wrestling. It took place on January 10, 2020 at the Freetail Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas and aired exclusively Impact Plus.
Rebellion is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which is annually held during the month of April. The event was first held in 2019, and it has since become one of the promotion's "Big Four" events.
The 2019 Against All Odds was a professional wrestling television special produced by Impact Wrestling, which took place on February 17, 2019 at Sam's Town Casino in Sunrise Manor, Nevada. It was the ninth event under the Against All Odds chronology. Unlike the previous events, this event was a special episode of the weekly Impact television broadcast, airing on Pursuit Channel and Twitch on March 29.
ReDefined was a special episode of Impact! produced by Impact Wrestling, which was taped on August 12, 2018 at The Rebel Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and aired on August 30, 2018.
Uncaged was a special episode of Impact! produced by Impact Wrestling, which was taped on January 11 and January 12, 2019 at the Frontón México in Mexico City, Mexico and it aired on February 15, 2019.
