10 times female wrestlers competed against men
Intergender matches are being teased on WWE, but they aren't necessarily new. Here are ten times women have been locked up with men in the squared circle.
In terms of social, political, and cultural gains, women have come a very long way in a short period of time. While there were some societies that were Matriarchal, meaning the women were in positions of political authority--The People of the Longhouse, a Native American Tribe, are a good example--there are many more civilizations where women were kept out of positions of power, or even treated as second class citizens.
Even a place that might seem progressive toward women's rights--the USA--has some ugly history. Women were not granted the right to vote until after massive protests and decades of struggle by suffragettes. As recently as the 1970s, unmarried women were not granted credit card accounts.
So it's quite heartening to see the leaps and bounds by which women have been catching up to men in society. One area where men and women are often kept strictly segregated, even in modern progressive societies, is the realm of sports. Due to physiological differences, many women lack the essential upper body strength to engage in certain sports.
In the world of pro wrestling, there have been women who stood toe to toe against men. Most of the time, it doesn't end well for the female competitor, but there have been exceptions. With Nia Jax entering the men's Royal Rumble at number 30, she seemed to be making a statement about how women are booked in pro wrestling in the modern era.
Here are ten times women have wrestled men in the squared circle.
#1 Laurie Anderson
Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, a certain comedian became a cultural icon by virtue of his quirky, offbeat humor; Andy Kaufman.
Andy Kaufman had a successful run on programs like Taxi, but began to be attracted to the world of pro wrestling. He came up with a shtick where he would go on tour, spout many misogynistic tropes, and then challenge "any woman" in the house to come and beat him in a wrestling match.
While the record says that Kaufman won over 400 intergender matches--and declared himself intergender champion--the woman he wrestled most of those times was Laurie Anderson. A close friend and performance artist herself, Anderson was the 'plant' in the audience whose job it was to answer Kaufman's challenge. She would often 'punish' Kaufman with some painful submission holds, to give the crowd some satisfaction, before doing the job and letting Kaufman pin her.
Kaufman would go on to feud with Jerry "the King" Lawler, but he remained close friends with Anderson until his death.
The wrestling world has often been known to connect with showbusiness that helped the former get mainstream attention, and this was one of the earliest examples of the same.