Midget wrestling is professional wrestling involving people of exceptionally short stature. The history of these talented performers can be traced back to the decade of the 1950’s when the province of Quebec, Canada gave the world two of the biggest little people of all time.
These are the men who became heroes of the ring as Midget Wrestlers during the 1960s and 1970s. Out of traveling carnivals, circus acts and sheer ambition, these wrestlers started a sport that was followed by hundreds of thousands across America, Canada and England.
Competitive midget wrestling declined sharply in the United States in the 1990s, though it remains popular in Mexican wrestling. During the early 21st century, Midget wrestling began a resurgence in American wrestling with divisions in mayor promotions dedicated to midgets fueled all midget promotions.
One of the mottos that WWE is proud of is that of “putting smiles on people’s faces”.
Sadly, many of the biographies and details of these wrestling heroes (and villains) have either been lost or passively excised due to political correctness-which is a shame, for these men (and and a few women) were athletes and acrobats who excelled at the sport.
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Thankfully, during a golden age of wrestling, photographer David Maciejewski documented the legends of the ring from 1966 to 1974 -from which some these pictures have been culled.
Early Origins and Popularity
Midget professional wrestling had its early origins in the vaudeville shows of the United States. In these shows, comedy was as important as athletics. The attraction was very popular in wrestling promotions from the 1950s into the 1970s. Many cards included midget wrestlers and included tag team and women's midget wrestling. Television shows for promotions in various cities frequently included midget matches.
The NWA World Midget's Championship was the National Wrestling Alliance's midget wrestling singles championship. Large parts of the championship history is undocumented due to lack of documentation of Midget wrestling for large periods of time from the 1950s to the 1980s.
In that period of time, there were two touring groups of midget wrestlers in the United States, both had a "World Champion", leading to some uncertainty as to who was the NWA World Midget's Champion, often based on if the champion was booked as defending the championship in an NWA territory.
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The first wrestler to lay claim to the Midget's World Championship was Sky Low Low after he won a 30-man tournament in Paris, France. The tournament was either fictitious or not an NWA sanctioned event as it took place in Europe.
Gimmicks and Attractions
The midget professional wrestlers had many gimmicks to attract audiences and revenue. One of Sky Low Low's gimmicks was an open challenge to any other midget professional wrestlers to beat him in a two out of three falls match for $100. He often turned himself upside down and balanced on his head. The duo of Sky Low Low and Little Beaver even squared off in a match for Elizabeth II and King Farouk of Egypt. Sky Low Low also frequently teamed with Fuzzy Cupid in tag team matches.
Female midget wrestlers were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in the mid-to-late 1960s, Diamond Lil wrestled Darling Dagmar, and in the 1970s, Lil mainly feuded with Princess Little Dove. Other prominent female competitors included Sheila Johnson, Cherrie Lamour, and Gypsey Rose.
Notable Wrestlers of the Era
The best wrestlers (Sky Low Low, Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, Little Tokyo) mixed great physical prowess with acrobatic skills to give their fans edge-of-the-seat thrills and entertainment, with just a hint of comedy.
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Wrestlers fell in two categories-the goodies and the baddies, who would either seek the cheers or loud disapprobation of the audience by skill or pantomime cheating.
Here are profiles of some of the legendary wrestlers:
- Little Bruiser: Born Murray Downs in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Little Bruiser was a demon in the ring, but a gentleman outside. He later quit because of back pain and died in an auto accident in 1995.
- Bobo Johnson: Also wrestled under the name the ‘Brown Panther,’ Bobo was one of the earliest Black midget wrestlers alongside Haiti Kid.
- Lord Littlebrook: A major star of ‘Midget Wrestling’ Littlebrook was born in England in 1929. He started his career as a circus acrobat before taking up wrestling in the 1950s.
- Little Tokyo: (aka Shigeri Akabane) who was inspired to quit homeland and join Lord Littlebrook and his troupe after they visited Japan in the 1960s.
- Billy the Kid: Born John William Guillot in Waco, Texas in 1936. Billy started his career in the 1950s, where he established himself as a wrestling ‘bad guy’.
- Cowboy Bob Bradley: Born Robert Claton Bradley in Dickens County, TX, in February 1935. He dropped out of West Texas State College in 1953 to take up the fight game.
- Cowboy Lang: Was born Harry Lang in Saskatchewan, Canada on August 28, 1950. He started wrestling at the age of fifteen and went on to become one the world’s top midget wrestler over a 30 year period, during which time he won the NWA World Midget Championship twice.
- Little Beaver: Was born Lionel Giroux in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec in 1935. He began his wrestling career at the age of fifteen and teamed up with fellow Canadian Sky Low Low, the pair going on to become two of the most famous wrestlers in history.
- Frenchy Lamonte: Heading for the ring in Tampa 1970. Frenchy Lamonte was also known as Rolly the Rocket, the Little Hawk, and Little Evilborn. He was born Roland Barriault in Sudbury, Ontario on July 22, 1946.
Decline and Shift in Roles
Midget wrestling continued to be popular into the 1970s and 1980s, with foreign wrestlers coming to the United States to compete. The World Wrestling Federation included several midget wrestlers on their cards in the 1980s.
Midget wrestling began to wane after WWF's WrestleMania III. Afterward, promotions continued to feature midget divisions, but its popularity was slowly declining. By the mid-1990s, midget wrestlers mostly appeared in comical matches and segments, rather than serious competitive wrestling-type matches.
Competitive midget wrestling declined sharply in the United States in the early 1990s. Midget wrestlers began to show up in more comedic roles, which has been criticized by the Little People of America as being "thoroughly degrading and puts little people out there as a sideshow and entertainment".
In these comedic roles, the wrestlers appeared as miniature versions of existing full-size wrestling stars. For example, Claude Giroux continued his tenure in the WWF by dressing up as a smaller version of larger wrestlers; most prominent was his Dink the Clown character, who was the "mini" of Doink the Clown.
Brief Resurgence in the Late 1990s
In the late 1990s, the WWF and Mexico's AAA had a talent sharing program that allowed several lucha libre midget wrestlers to compete on WWF television. These wrestlers included Max Mini, El Torito, Mascarita Sagrada, Mini Vader, and La Parkita. Like in the United States, these midget wrestlers played "mini" versions of WWF and AAA's full-size wrestlers.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) also had an influx of Mexican midget wrestlers.
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Modern Era and Controversies
In the early days of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (NWA:TNA) in 2002, the promotion included a hardcore midget wrestling division. In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced the creation of a "juniors" division within their SmackDown!
In February 2000, the Micro Wrestling Federation (MWF), a wrestling promotion made up entirely of little people, was established. The promotion featured both serious wrestling matches and more comedic aspects.
In the 21st century, there has been substantial controversy surrounding the sport. In 2018, Texas-based organization Extreme Dwarfanators Wrestling, which has toured across the US for many years, decided to tour England and Wales in the UK due to the explosion of interest in the UK wrestling scene.
The Restricted Growth Association (RGA) opposed the event and describing it as a "freak show". Once three venues in England banned the dwarfs from appearing, a legal case for discrimination was started, quoting the Equality Act 2010.
The relationship between little people and the language used to refer to them is closely tied to the performative expectations many little people have faced through most of history. It is because of this that tours like the Micro Mania Tour and others, even ones that use less derogatory language, are under the spotlight, having to find the balance between exploitation and fair opportunity.
“It’s not just the words that are used,” said Eileen Norman, the president of Little People of America. “Little people have been used as entertainment for average-height audiences for hundreds of years: circus ‘freak shows,’ ‘midget-’ or ‘micro-’ wrestling, and dwarf tossing are just a few examples,”
Despite these concerns, many of the wrestlers in the Micro Mania Tour are living the dream of competing as a professional wrestler, something many have wanted to do since they were young. Daniel Graves, a prolific wrestler on the Micro Mania Tour who goes by his ring name, “25 Cent,” has appeared in multiple shows, including “Barstool Sports’ Rough N’ Rowdy” boxing event. Graves said wrestling allows him to follow his passions, make his parents proud and experience a dream come true.
Other wrestlers say they enjoy the ability to entertain audiences across the country in ways that, yes, may be offensive or derogatory but present a good time for the crowd.
The word “midget” has always been a way to bring attention to little people and intrigue audiences.
Wrestlers on the tour have different opinions of the word “midget.” Bridget the Midget uses it as her brand and embraces it, while Payne chooses to leverage it for attracting attention to the show but prefers for people to respect her and call her by her name outside of the show.
Champions
Sky Low Low (Marcel Gauthier) who was the National Wrestling Alliance's first World Midget Champion, Little Beaver (Lionel Giroux), Lord Littlebrook, and Fuzzy Cupid all have been inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The National Wrestling Alliance promoted the NWA World Midget's Championship from 1949 until 1999.
Here is a list of all known NWA World Midget Champions:
| Wrestler | Reigns |
|---|---|
| Sky Low Low | 1 |
| Farmer Pete | 1 |
| Sonny Boy Cassidy | 1 |
| Lord Littlebrook | 3 |
| Little Tokyo | 3 |