AFP presents a photo essay on professional wrestler Gia Scott shot by photographer Jim Watson over several months in 2018. Kierra Scott – better known by her stage name Gia – is a rising star in the US pro wrestling scene. This month, the 19-year-old became the youngest ever female champion of the MCW wrestling league in Maryland. Here: Professional wrestler Gia Scott (R) tries to break free from the grip of professional wrestler Aria Palmer (L) during Autumn Armageddon 2018 in Galena, Maryland on October 6, 2018. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP Photo)

Bam Bam makes a fan feel his sweaty chest at Johnson' s Station in Picayune, Ms., on February 11, 2018. The Micro Wrestling Federation is a full scale, WWE type event sporting an entire cast under five feet tall. Founded in 2000, the MWF is the longest running organization within the Little Person wrestling industry according to its manager. (Photo by Emily Kask/AFP Photo)

Yenny Mamani "Marta la Altena", top, grabs Leonor Cordova "Angela la Simpatica" in a hold during a Bolivian wrestling Cholitas fight in Madrid, Spain, Thursday October 8, 2015. (Photo by Paul White/AP Photo)

Wrestlers perform during an all-female wrestling event on International Women's Day at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green on March 8, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Iraqi women practice at the sports club in Diwaniya, Iraq on November 10, 2018. On the blue mats of the al-Rafideen Club in the conservative city of Diwaniya, some 180 km (110 miles) south of Baghdad, some 30 female wrestlers, some still wearing headscarves, train three times a week. When a big competition comes up, they train every day. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)

Sumo wrestlers compete during the “Honozumo” ceremonial sumo tournament at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo April 3, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

In this November 20, 2017 photo, Indian kushti wrestlers fight in the ring, during their daily training at an akhada, a kind of wrestling hostel at Sabzi Mandi, in New Delhi, India. Like many traditions in rapidly modernizing India, kushti wrestling faces the threat of being left behind. But for many poor families, the ancient sport provides a glimmer of hope. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

Professional wrestler “p*ssy Willow” overpowers client Wilfred during their BDSM wrestling session at The Submission Room session wrestling and BDSM gym in Seven Sisters, on December 12, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Susannah Ireland/Barcroft Images)