"If you've ever seen any movie where they have any type of illegal, underground fight ring — people throwing money in the air, crowds going crazy — it was that,"
Trained in traditional theater, the spectacle-loving Mur was hooked and quickly became entrenched in a community of female-identifying competitors who live for dressing up, transforming into character, and flexing their arm muscles for rowdy crowds at regularly scheduled brawls.
Five years later, Mur is living in Miami, and he's brought the lady-arm-wrestling phenomenon with him. Officially launched earlier this month with an inaugural brawl at Little Haiti's Villain Theater, the Florida League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (SoFLLAW) is "an association of super-bad women
So what exactly does a ladies' arm-wrestling match look like? First, Mur assures, this is real wrestling. After auditions are held and about ten to 16 competitors are selected, the wrestlers, managers, and referees undergo a series of safety
Leading up to the competition — a tournament-style double elimination — each competitor also hones her own wrestling persona, complete with costume, backstory, theme song, and a posse of supporters to get the crowd fired up. The winner receives a bejeweled champion's belt and some serious bragging rights. But the real victory happens once proceeds raised from “bets” and any cover charges are handed over to the charities SoFLLAW members voted to support.
SoFLLAW's inaugural December 8 event, hosted by Miami's illustrious bodybuilding drag queen Miss Toto, packed the house, with proceeds collected for charity just breaking $500 — "Not too shabby for a first time out," Mur says. The champion of the night was Rhonda Michaels ("The ultimate Brett Michaels fan girl"), real name Maria Tomaino of Villain Theater. Runnersup were
Ladies' arm-wrestling brawls are planned to take place quarterly, so