"Ditching the Kitchen for the Pit": What Women's Mud Wrestling Really Looks Like (17 Photos)
The Mud Queens are a Chicago-based collective of amateur female mud-and-blood wrestlers. Set to a high-energy punk rock soundtrack, these women pummel each other, suplex opponents, and rip out tufts of hair—all to blow off steam and thrill roaring crowds.
Women's mud fighting: not as glamorous as you might think, but far wilder than you'd expect. 
Half-naked women slathered in oil wrestling in a pool of mud is usually the kind of spectacle where winning takes a backseat. The draw is the show itself, not the scoreboard, and nobody really cares who comes out on top—the crowd is mostly just waiting to see whose top pops off first. 
In 2003, a group of Chicago feminists decided to reclaim the trope and create their own brand of chaos. Skip the boycotts and protests: they gathered in an apartment, dumped out gallons of mud, cracked open plenty of booze, and staged their own underground wrestling matches—complete with tough-as-nails women and blistering live punk bands. 
According to Kim Kozak, one of the original Mud Queens, neighbors called the police every single time. But the cops rarely shut down the party until after the final bell rang—turns out, the officers were just as hooked on the spectacle and solid brawling as everyone else.
When word about the Mud Queens spread through Chicago and dozens of women lined up to join, the group had to move their headquarters to the city docks—far from the eyes and ears of unsuspecting locals. 
"Sometimes we had to push garbage cans out of the way and got scratched by rats. We never thought we’d turn this into a real show." — Kim Kozak 
The Mud Queens operate on just a few basic rules: no eye-gouging, no hitting someone while they're down, and no closed-fist punches to the head. Hair-pulling is technically forbidden too, though in the heat of the fight, that rule usually goes out the window. 
Keeping order on the mat is the only man allowed in the ring: Mark Macoon, officiating in a referee outfit complete with a black-and-white striped shirt and matching skirt. 
The latest Mud Queens tournament took place on Halloween at Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago. Drawing a crowd of nearly a hundred spectators, the event swapped mud for pools of fake blood. All proceeds from the fights were donated to the Chicago Women’s Health Center. 
"There's this stereotype that women are weak—that sure, they have inner strength, but not physical strength. We're all strong women trying to help other women. We come in every size and shape, and everyone is welcome." — Erica DeMarco, aka Ultimate Whorrier
