Women’s Mud Wrestling – Like You’ve Never Seen It, 1982

From the January 1982 Howard Binford’s Guide, an ad for the sporting event of the season – women’s mud wrestling, “Like You’ve Never Seen It!”   I don’t know exactly how much women’s mud wrestling the Old Broadway thought Fargoans had seen, but it was apparently nothing compared to what the Chicago Knockers would bring to the Fargo Civic Auditorium on that cold Thursday night.

The Chicago Knockers were worth above-the-fold crediting; if you’re a fan of G.L.O.W. on Netflix, you’d appreciate that there’s more to women’s wrestling in the 1980s than nationally syndicated WWF-style rings and wacky characters.  The Chicago Knockers toured internationally, bringing their muddy messiness to audiences everywhere.

They had their detractors though: during his term as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, future Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders had to remind the city council that, although he thought women’s mud wrestling was degrading, they shouldn’t me making moral decisions when issuing entertainment permits, after the council denied the Chicago Knockers a chance to perform.  A lawyer stepped in and the Chicago Knockers brought their messy fun to Burlington anyway.

It appears the “celebrity matches” were generally local celebrities dragged into the athletic hijinks, but I’m not sure who they would have taken to the mat: my votes are for Dewey Bergquist and Kay Burgum, but they probably weren’t available.