It’s a massacre in mascara…a grunting, groaning grip-up…a titanic tussle between ferocious femme fatales! To wrestle—excuse me, wrassle—with the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers, the menacing collection of palm-smacking, bone-cracking beauties, you simply need to be a woman. But to win? Oh, my darlings, you must be ruthless.
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For exclusive video from filmmaker Brian Wimer’s upcoming CLAW documentary, click here. For a gallery of Billy Hunt’s CLAW photos, click here. |
You see, these women are disciplined in their devastation. Since February 12, and on the second Tuesday of each subsequent month, they’ve grrripped up in the Blue Moon Diner and, when the space could no longer contain the matches, behind the diner. At each CLAW match, crowds reach into the frothing, cheering, bloodlusting hundreds: They howl for victory for the likes of Tinkerhell and Tragedy Ann, and pay for it, too—thousands of “dollars” into the pockets of the referee and local celebrity judges, donated to the likes of Books Behind Bars, the Sexual Assault Resource Agency and other woman-made causes.
Yet the battles between these beauteous babes remain pure, and each gal’s goal remains simple: to destroy, of course, but to do it in style. Spectators may bribe for victories, but the spectacle itself is free—a free-for-all carnival of the flesh, more about biceps than busts.
This week, the spectacle gets sexier, sweatier, more spectacular. On Friday, November 7, local photographer Billy Hunt unveils A CLAW to Remember, a photo book that documents our local goddesses of the grip and the myths behind the CLAW madness, at The Bridge/Progressive Arts Initiative from 6pm to 9pm. A few of the ragin’ wrestlers will be on hand to sign copies and give demonstrations in devastation.
On Tuesday, November 11, however, the wreckage is real! Eight previous winners of the monthly CLAW matches, from The Homewrecker to Trixie “The Vault” Mancini, meet behind Blue Moon Diner for the CLAW “Smackdown!”—a final tournament of champions to raise money for Computers 4 Kids.
C-VILLE wants to put the bulge in your biceps, so we compiled the authoritative guide to the upcoming “Smackdown!” here, filled with Billy Hunt’s photos from classic CLAW bouts. Head to c-ville.com, where you can find exclusive video from local filmmaker Brian Wimer’s upcoming CLAW documentary, plus behind-the-scenes interviews with CLAW co-founders Rosie the Wrist Twister and MoJo the Underdog (and a very, very unstable referee).
I have looked into the eyes of the deadly doll Tragedy Ann and the Bond-meets-bondage Stiletto Southpaw, and seen nothing but sex appeal and the wreckage of a thousand wrists. I’ve heard Bridezilla’s battle cry, equal parts birth pains and death knell. I’ve watched the snarling, stud-collared Pitbull heave her body into a match, only to be countered by the burly biceps of the fairy of fury, Tinkerhell. I have known terror and exhilaration, readers, and loved every minute of it. Now, it’s your turn.
Sometimes, doing good means being bad. Welcome to CLAW. Now grrrip up!
