A wrestling company for little people is taking the internet by storm – and soon they’ll be on TV.
Jack Darrell Hillegass, 54, from Tenessee, USA, is the owner of the Micro Wrestling Federation (MWF), a full-scale, WWE-style event supported by an entire cast under five feet tall.
Founded in 2000, the MWF is the longest-running organisation within the little person wrestling industry and no other company has performed in more events since its inception.
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The Micro Wrestling Federation performs 200 shows a year across America as well as four shows a week at their own 300-seat mini arena in Tennessee.
While Jack doesn’t have dwarfism himself, he currently has 20 little people on his roster and is always looking for more people to join the team.
“If you have dwarfism and are under five feet, you fit the bill. But I have to put you in the ring with my full-time wrestling trainer to see if you are physically capable to wrestle," he told the Daily Star.
“If so, you begin training five days a week. Characters are chosen collectively between all of us.”
Each wrestler dresses up in costumes designed for their particular character.
Some of their current personas include Little Miss, Andrew the Giant, Disco Dom, Ivor the Micro, Hot Rod and Pink Shortcake.
And who could forget Micro Jackson, who is dressed similarly to the late King of Pop.
While MWF has been popular for years in Tenessee, it's now receiving international attention, particularly thanks to its TikTok account which has almost one million followers.
Jack became the owner of the company after meeting a man who went by the name P***ed Off Dwarf (POD) who originally owned MWF.
At the time Jack didn’t know little people wrestling even existed but started booking POD’s wrestling show without ever having seen it.
As Jack’s career had previously involved booking comedians and male strippers, he had a database of thousands of nightclubs.
“POD was used to running 20 to 25 shows a year. I booked 40 shows in the first four months of 2008 spread throughout the year,” he
“POD had a normal nine-to-five job, so he couldn’t go on the road, so he sold me the company. We will do 450 shows this year.” shared.
Since Jack has taken over the company, it has gone from strength to strength.
He says he’s incredibly close to signing a deal for the company's own reality show, he’s just waiting on the paperwork and background checks to clear.
“You don’t have to like wrestling to enjoy our show. But I guarantee you when you leave, you will be a Micro fan,” he explained.
“We are pretty popular at the moment thanks to social media and I am a one-man operation handling the entire company on my own.
"But due to our sudden popularity, I have hired a wrestling trainer, a crew to set up and break down the ring, our own videographer, and a marketing company.
“I believe once we get on TV, we will grow immensely due to the lovable characters we have.”
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