Micro wrestlers’ 4-H Fair visit fuels debate over activity

By MARCIA NELESEN ( Contact ) Friday, July 23, 2010

IF YOU GO

The Micro Wrestling Federation will perform in front of the grandstand at the Rock County 4-H Fair at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 28.

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Jordan Rafael

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WCLO's Stan Stricker reports on public interest in little people wrestling at the Rock County Fair

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JANESVILLE — Harmless entertainment or a mean-spirited spectacle?

Area residents are weighing in on the upcoming visit to the Rock County 4-H Fair by the Micro Wrestling Federation, or little-people wrestling. The federation’s website calls it “the greatest little show on earth.”

Shortly after the schedule was announced, the public started making its opinions known.

Some call the premise violent and degrading. Others say the event has no place at a youth fair. Some say it just feels wrong.

A fair board spokeswoman assured residents they will see a family-oriented show. She said the show is an example of the fair board trying to expand its offerings to attract more people.

Jordan Rafael, a wrestler in the show, acknowledged that some people see it as degrading and insulting. But if you advertise “little-people wrestling,” people wouldn’t know what that means, Rafael said.

“If you advertise, ‘midget wrestling,’ they say, ‘Oh, my God, I want to see that,’” he said.

Viewers come to appreciate the wrestlers’ athletic abilities and understand they are like other people—just small in stature, he said.

The booking

Stephanie Gassen, a Rock County 4-H Fair board member, said she has seen the micro wrestlers twice. They are well known and family-oriented, she said, pointing out that they have been featured on the TV show “Bones.”

The wrestling is similar to World Wrestling Entertainment. The wrestlers have personas, just like those in the WWE.

“They have matches, and they’re just very entertaining, very athletic,” Gassen said. “They know how to get a crowd really entertained.”

The fair board decided to book the group in part to attract a different demographic of visitors.

“We have a lot of activities that get people in touch with agriculture, and we have arts and crafts, we have the carnival,” Gassen said. “We’re trying to broaden that a little bit. Nothing is going to appeal to everybody.

“We’re trying a lot of new stuff this year, and this is one of them,” she said. “If it works, we’ll be pleased. If not, we’ll try something different.”

Gassen said she’s heard some comments from residents about the choice.

“I think everybody’s entitled to their own beliefs,” she said. “Some people aren’t OK with animals being showed at the fair.”

The wrestling show will be in the grandstand, so those who want to see the show must choose to see it and won’t just encounter it on the grounds, she said.

What is micro wrestling?

The Micro Wrestling Federation is 10 years old.

According its the website, its mission is to “show the world that we are equal, that we are serious athletes, and that we have the will and determination to succeed.”

Owner Jesse Germann said the show is entertainment.

“It’s pretty much modeled after the WWE, just with all little people,” he said.

The act will be appropriate for all audiences, he said.

“It’s just professional wrestling.

“A lot of people haven’t had much experience with the little people, so they kind of come in not knowing what to expect,” Germann said. “They generally leave as fans because they just can’t believe how athletic they are.”

The federation appears at such places as fairs, bike rallies, tattoo conventions, large nightclubs, country bars and some casinos.

Some people are skeptical and call it exploitation, Germann acknowledged.

“To me, I really don’t care what anybody else thinks. I know that’s not the case. I get calls from people all the time wanting to do stuff like midget tossing … It isn’t the kind of thing I would ever ask.

“There’s a pretty big market for it (wrestling),” Germann said. “Maybe because I see that and provide the supply for the demand, if that means exploitation, I guess I’m guilty of it … I kind of have a different idea of what exploitation is. I never try to make anybody do anything they don’t want to do.”

Jordan Rafael, 25, goes by the name “J-Mazing.” He is 4 feet tall and trained to be a wrestler.

“People come to see the midgets, not really to see the wrestling,” he said. “But then, after they watch the show—and I hear this every night—they say, ‘Oh wow, you guys are really athletic. I thought it would be just a joke, (like) back in the day when midget wrestling was just a comedy show.

“We’re trying to show people that we’re not just funny people. We actually can do this.”

Performers meet the audience after the show. For many, it is the first time they ever talk to someone of small stature, Rafael said. Some say they are even afraid.

But later, they apologize, Rafael said. The viewers see them as normal people, just short.

“Their minds change about everything,” he said.

Rafael said he really doesn’t care why people come.

“I make money,” he said.

The word

The Little People of America group does not approve of either little people wrestling or the use of the word “midget,” both Rafael and Germann acknowledge.

Many little people find the word offensive, and the group is trying to get it banned on the airways. On its website, the group says that many people of short stature consider it a slur that objectifies people of short stature.

Nobody from the organization returned numerous e-mails, and the telephone apparently was not working at the national organization.

Wrestlers throw the word “midget” around freely, Germann said.

Rafael said he doesn’t find it offensive.

“A lot of people don’t like the ‘midget’ word,” he said. “But I make money over the word ‘midget.’”

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Micro wrestlers’ 4-H Fair visit fuels debate over activity

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