00:00Give us some of Shrieka's catchphrases.
00:09Okay, let me explain how I got here.
00:12Dawson City, Yukon, population 1,319.
00:16Birthplace of my favorite thing in the world, the League of Lady Wrestlers.
00:25Aben O'Grady is the founder of the League, a natural point person for someone trying to figure out how
00:30this collective of black-eyed, merkin-toting performance artists came to be.
00:36Big Jodi Muffra comes from a long line of woods people.
00:40She carries around a huge ex.
00:42She was born with a black eye, born fighting.
00:45Aben told me that the League had expanded dramatically since it started in 2013, and is now preparing for the
00:51annual showdown in its new home, Toronto.
00:54She says that if I want to know how it all works, I should just come and see for myself,
00:58meet the other wrestlers, watch them train, and chug a beer while regaling in the Island Rumble.
01:04So up I went.
01:20I arrived in Toronto two days before the Island Rumble and immediately headed to a warehouse, with a Winnebago parked
01:26out front blocking the entrance.
01:28I wasn't sure if I had the right place, so I poked my head inside and found Aben and 15
01:33other sweaty wrestlers practicing moves and hashing out the final plot points of a match.
01:39Welcome to stress rehearsal.
01:44Everyone got their practice times in and it's feeling good, I hope.
01:47We're gonna do like a full run through, but we'll do it circle style where we're in front of everyone
01:52and just get a feel for it.
01:54We don't want injuries.
01:57While watching them, I couldn't help but imagine them at their day jobs just hours before practice.
02:01I mean, the stinker is an engineer studying AI by day and sewing baloney to herself by night.
02:08Big Rig does R&D for the Ontario Board of Elections, but also walks around with a giant jug of
02:13piss.
02:14There are superheroes in our midst.
02:17I was taken back by the sheer amount of work that goes into making this event happen.
02:21From costuming and training to writing a script so chock full of puns that if you're not laughing, chances are
02:27you just didn't get it.
02:28This is the most explosive event since the horrible tragedy at Carpe.
02:32By Avin's calculation, the core organizers worked for three months straight leading up to the event, each putting in over
02:39150 hours.
02:41So I'm left wondering, how has wrestling, of all things, espoused this kind of dedication out of a group of
02:48feminist Canadian punks?
02:53Definitely the thing that attracted me to wrestling was the interaction between the fans and the wrestlers.
03:00The fans are totally engaged, totally willing to suspend disbelief in this very celebratory and inclusive way.
03:09I got really into the idea of having a captive audience of non-art people for an art event.
03:16This particular phenomenon has a name in wrestling, kayfabe.
03:21Kayfabe is used to describe the agreement made between the audience and the wrestlers to suspend disbelief and just enjoy
03:27the show.
03:28And I love that idea for art and just life in general.
03:34But I certainly don't expect young white men to gracefully pivot from Stone Cold Steve Austin to Dykemaster 3000 without
03:42demanding their ticket money back.
03:43But then I saw who actually showed up.
03:48The Island Rumble takes place on one of the Toronto Islands, a 15-minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto.
03:54That morning, a group of wrestlers were tasked with picking up the ring, loading it onto a U-Haul, and
03:59catching the first ferry to the island to begin construction.
04:03Once built, the wrestlers got in the ring and began practicing.
04:07Basics are simple things like break falling, landing in the right manner, rolling in a certain manner, and generally not
04:16killing yourself.
04:17By 6pm, everything was set up, the wrestlers were dressed, and taking their final stretch before the show.
04:30Now was the moment of truth, to see if everything Aben and the other wrestlers had toiled over for months
04:36would actually come together.
04:38It is my pleasure to welcome each and every one of you into the Third Island Rumble.
04:46Are you ready to rumble?
04:49Six hundred people were in attendance that night.
04:51Each one had ridden the ferry, then walked a mile and a half to behold the League's masterpiece.
04:57The Douchea has one goal and one goal only.
05:00The eternal quest for revenge on all of Douchebaggery.
05:07To me, this is feminist art in its highest form.
05:11Using comedy to keep you invested, without realizing the gravity of what you're watching.
05:16Women fearlessly co-opting what has long been a cultural bastion of masculinity.
05:21The subversion is in the details.
05:23And they had me at the toxic shocker.
05:26What is this in her mouth?
05:29It wasn't to use infliction.
05:30It was a toxic shocker!
05:32That's a tampon book!
05:34That's an infected tampon.
