Popularly referred to as mud wrestling, the sport often includes physical confrontations in the mud. Participants typically wear minimal clothing and go without shoes as it proves entertaining while not being physically painful or debilitating during the fight. The history of Mud wrestling goes way back. An early instance can be seen in the 1966 “shockumentary” film Mondo Freud, though its popularity in the United States increased in the 80s and spread worldwide. Although originally performed in bars and nightclubs, organizations have staged mud wrestling events for fun and charity.
Variations:
One common variation involves wrestling in gelatin, an event known as “Jell-O wrestling” in the United States and “jelly wrestling” in the United Kingdom. Other foods, including pudding, creamed corn, and mashed potatoes, have also been used for similar events.
Pop culture:
The history of Mud wrestling has bestowed a lot of inspiration to pop culture. Here are a few names of famous pop culture references inspired by mudwrestling:
- Mud Wrestling was popularized on the TV show “Fort Boyard”.
- In the late 90s, the Spanish TV show El gran Juego de la oca had wrestling in a mud pit as one of the challenges.
- The American movie All the Marbles deals with the subject of women in professional wrestling. One sequence features a mud wrestling match.
- In the PlayStation 2 video game Rumble Roses, there is a stage where the characters can engage in a mud wrestling match.
- In 1981, John Candy starred in a film called “Stripes” about three hilarious misfit strippers who take on six kickboxing wrestlers in a boxing ring filled with mud.
- A 2003 Miller Lite commercial saw two women (Tanya Ballinger and Kitana Baker) have a mud fight in a pit and make-out.
- Mud wrestling was one of the games in the second series of Last Man Standing.
- PK Subban, a professional hockey player and a huge fan of mud wrestling competitions, once co-hosted mud wrestling with the lead singer of Arcade Fire.
