Until recently, men and women rarely competed against each other in the ring as it was considered unfair. However, this slowly changed when comedian Andy Kaufman paved the way for competitive mixed wrestling. Although his matches were staged, he ended up publicly announcing himself as the “Intergender Champion”. Afterwards, he openly challenged any woman to attempt to defeat him in the ring.
Mixed competitive wrestling is typically a match that takes place between a man and a woman. However, matches are occasionally promoted as tag team matches. This sport saw a surge in popularity beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing into the early 2000s. Mixed wrestling was promoted and seen primarily in North America on television shows such as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as like WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment. In addition, there is the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Championship Wrestling.
Mixed competitive wrestling emerged in the 1950s, an era when it was unheard of for women to be in the ring. A time when men were men and women were supposed to be women. Who knew they could get in the ring and wrestle and pin the greatest of men? The women wrestlers of this era helped pave the way for today’s female mixed wrestling competitors. They definitely had their own idea of what the definition of girl power should be.
Enter the most modern era of competitive mixed wrestling and you’ll see tough, nail-biting competitions between male and female opponents. Today’s women who participate in this sport can not only kick tail, but also manage other fighters and run companies while doing it. These are women you don’t want to mess with. Proving once again that women are not only multi-talented, they can also multi-task. The sport has entered the new millennium, introducing title belts and matches specifically geared towards women, or Divas as they are called. Still, they get a chance to go toe-to-toe with the man who held the title in every other championship match.
Over time changes have been made to the rules and regulations pertaining to this sport. However, that doesn’t take away from the thrill and excitement of seeing it. Those who participate will likely always continue to make it as interesting as ever by adding their own special brand of talent to the mix, ensuring that mixed competitive wrestling is here to stay.
