|
Wrestler Claire Heafford, who performs as the character Rag Doll, puts on her costume before an all female wrestling event in London. England on August 17, 2017. By day, Claire Heafford works as a personal trainer but, once every few weeks, she dons a mask and takes on the role of “Rag Doll” to slam and grapple around the ring in an all-female wrestling night in London. Heafford, 36, is one of the performers at EVE, an all-female wrestling show that takes place once or twice a month in London's Bethnal Green. The event features costumed combatants taking part in carefully choreographed contests. While female wrestlers have long featured on the professional circuit in the U.S., their amateur British counterparts have faced challenges before climbing into the ring. “We had numerous venues cancelling us when they realised that the professional wrestling was featuring woman, because they thought that was the equivalent of porn”, Dann Read, who along with wife Emily organises EVE, told Reuters. Their cause has been helped in recent months by the advent of U.S. streaming giant Netflix's programme «Glow», a 1980s-set drama chronicling the lives of aspiring female TV wrestlers. Heafford agrees that the programme has helped to broaden British female wrestling's appeal. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)
|
