Midget Wrestling: Entertainment or Brutal Exploitation?

One subject that I rarely see discussed on this site is the topic of Midget Wrestling. I was wondering why I rarely see any mention of little people, with the exception of a few off-color Hornswoggle jokes from time to time, of course.

The word "midget," itself, is now widely considered to be a racist term that is generally looked upon as being degrading to "little people" (the, newer, more politically correct term used for wee folk these days). 

For years Midget Wrestling was a permanent fixture as a sideshow of the WWF (now WWE) and featured a variety of midget wrestlers who would appear on wrestling cards all around the country with regularity. Little people have played a large role in the popularity of Professional Wrestling since the 1940's.

In 1986 at Wrestlemania 2, The Haiti Kid, one of the more popular midget wrestlers of his time, even appeared in a main event match, where he manned the corner of Mr. T in a boxing match against Rowdy Roddy Piper.

At Wrestlemania 3, the tag team of The Haiti Kid, Little Beaver, and Hillbilly Jim (a normal-sized wrestler) battled King Kong Bundy and two small wrestlers. During the match King Kong Bundy body slammed Little Beaver, broke his back and ended his career. This was not part of the "show," but a real "accident" that essentially crippled the man.

After that tragic incident Midget Wrestling began to decline and little people were used largely as comic relief by the WWE.

Probably the most notable midget wrestlers since that time have been Dink the Clown and, more recently, Hornswoggle.

Midget Wrestling has sharply declined since the 1990's, largely due to the WWE's mainstream commercial appeal. Engaging little people in "Sports Entertainment" has been viewed as somewhat taboo by some.

It appears that mainstream wrestling organizations like the WWE really don't want to press their luck and chance alienating their "family friendly" audience that butters their bread. 

So, where does that leave the little people who still aspire to be Professional Wrestlers?

The independent circuit is where most of them ultimately wind up. The most notable troupe of Midget Wrestlers can currently be found in the Micro Wrestling Federation (MWF) which was formed in 2000 and is made up entirely of little people.

The MWF has been widely criticized by The Little People of America as being a degrading spectacle and brutal exploitation of little people.

Now, a midget hardcore wrestling division even exists (Half Pint Brawlers).This crew boasts such acts as:

Little Justice, The Public Midget Prosecutor; Teo, The Tattooed Midget; Mad Mex, Immigration Sensation; Little Kato, The Dwarf Destroyer, and Puppet, The Psycho Dwarf (I've also seen him billed as Puppet, The Midget Killer). 

Wrestlers in this circuit have been known to attack each other with staple guns. Some of the female performers of this circuit recently incited a near riot a by appearing topless in a public venue.

This is all real, ....I swear. I couldn't make stuff up this funny (or insane, depending on your perspective).

Some people here will probably find this next little tidbit somewhat deplorable, and maybe even deranged, but I just have one question to ask: Why the hell isn't this stuff on television?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?