Intergender wrestling, also known asmixed wrestling, is a type ofprofessional wrestling (staged and choreographed) match between a man and a woman and may also refer totag 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 comedianAndy 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 crossoverfeud between Kaufman and wrestling legendJerry "The King" Lawler.
Cathy Davis sued theNew 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 wrestlingexhibition with men.”[2][3] In his opinion the judge cited the precedent set byGarrett 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]
AfterThe 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 asExtreme Championship Wrestling,World Wrestling Federation andWorld Championship Wrestling.[5][6] Perhaps the most successful female wrestler who competed in intergender matches wasChyna. A well-built ex-bodybuilder, she was regularly booked to wrestle her male counterparts during theWWF Attitude Era. She was a three-timeIntercontinental 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 ofThe 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.
AtWrestleMania 22,The Boogeyman defeated bothBooker T andSharmell in an intergender handicap match.
A prominent intergender six-person hardcore tag team match took place on WWE atOne Night Stand 2006, when the team ofEdge,Lita andMick Foley defeated the team ofBeulah McGillicutty,Terry Funk andTommy 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 theindependent circuit, WWE only permits intergender matches on a part time basis due to PG rating and if the timing is right due to itsaction figure contract withMattel, 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 annualRoyal Rumble event (a separate Royal Rumble match for women was introduced in2018). 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) andNia Jax (2019, the first since the introduction of women's Royal Rumble). In a reverse of this, atWrestleMania 25 wrestler Anthony Carelli (better known by his ring nameSantino 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 pinnedHeath Slater after he was attacked and left unconscious by several veteran wrestlers prior to the match on theJuly 23, 2012, episode ofRaw.James Ellsworth was also involved in few intergender matches, notably losing one toBecky Lynch on the November 7, 2017, episode ofSmackDown Live. AtFastlane (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 Mexicanlucha 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, andSexy Star held the Lucha Underground title for a day, after winning it in an elimination match and lost it toJohnny Mundo in an intergender match.[11]
In one extreme, a 2011 intergender match inJapan hadKenny 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 atime 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 2019Slammiversary XVII event which featured a high profile intergender wrestling match for its main event, whereSami Callihan defeatedTessa Blanchard.[13] AtHard To Kill in 2020 Tessa Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan in a rematch to win theImpact World Championship.[14]
