Half Pint Brawlers aim high

Last updated 6 December 2010

Half Pint Brawlers aim high

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Building on its reputation as a network designed for an audience described demographically as “young adult males,” Spike TV is adding to a fight lineup that already consists of UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and TNA’s weekly Impact wrestling show.

“Half Pint Brawlers,” an unscripted half-hour, six-episode series premiering June 2 at 11 p.m., will chronicle the adventures of an infamous touring troupe of little people founded and managed by pro wrestler Puppet “the Pyscho Dwarf.”

This “little person” wrestling, however, is far removed from the days when midget performers such as Little Beaver, Sky Low Low and Lord Littlebrook entertained fans as special attractions on pro wrestling shows throughout the country.

The Half Pint Brawlers are entertaining as well. But these extreme little people are out for blood.

The series, billed as a cross between “Jackass” and “Little People, Big World,” takes a behind-the-scenes look at these unique performers, and the problems and issues they encounter along the way.

The “Half Pint Brawlers” consist of Puppet, the leader and founder of the group; Bobby, billed as the ladies’ man; Kato, Bobby’s brother and veteran wrestler; Mad Mexx, the Immigration Sensation and hardcore wrestler; Turtle, the rookie of the group paying his dues to become a Brawler; Teo, the smallest and most athletic member; and Spyder, the regular-size announcer for the group.

“Along the way, Puppet deals with issues surrounding little person wrestling events while, at the same time, keeping his rambunctious wrestlers in line,” according to a press release. “The series follows their actions inside the ring, but also their wild lifestyles outside the ring, filled with chaotic parties and over-zealous groupies.”

And that’s putting it mildly.

The hardcore midget group began performing in the late ‘90s. Their brand of midget mayhem includes industrial staple guns to the head, thumbtack matches and broken bottles.

It’s a formula that apparently has worked.

They sold thousands of copies of their first two DVDs, a combination of hardcore wrestling, stunts and Girls Gone Wild, and have opened for acts such as Kid Rock. One DVD promised that “midgets bleed what little blood they have for your enjoyment.”

Pint-sized rock stars

Steve Richardson, the wrestler, showman and entrepreneur behind Puppet “the Psycho Dwarf,” claims it’s all about the show, the blood and the spectacle. It’s a stage on which the pint-sized grapplers enjoy rock-star status with their fans.

Richardson, who is “four-foot-four and totally hardcore,” says he has no problem with the term “midget” wrestling, and has little use for fellow little people who think the word, and what he does for a living, is demeaning.

Little People of America, an advocacy group for short-statured folks founded in 1957 by entertainer Billy Barty, has been vocal in its opposition to the word and the product.

“It’s just a word,” says Richardson. “A lot of the LPA debate me on using that for my marketing tool. I don’t see a problem with it. They compare it to the ‘n’ word, but I think that’s ridiculous because the ‘n’ word was used in hatred. The word midget is just a word used to market my company. I don’t see any problem. I’m proud of who I am and how I’m built. We’re not clowns at all. We’re the stars of the show. It’s a full little-guy midget company, except for one guy, who is our announcer.”

The group stays busy and works three to four shows a week on the road.

“Being a Half Pint Brawler is one of the greatest things I’ve ever done,” boasts Richardson. “We’ve been able to travel the world. During these episodes we went to Mexico, Louisiana, Chicago, Los Angeles. We’re non-stop and a constantly moving company.”

Richardson says he helped transition midget wrestling into a totally new direction.

“We have a blast. What’s different about us, not that I’m taking anything away from the old-timers, but we wanted to move into something a little different. We didn’t want to be ‘mini’ anyone. I just wanted to be my own character. We play our own characters and we do hardcore style. That’s what makes us different. We do barroom brawls. We can do everywhere from 300 to 5,000 fans ... we’ve opened for Kid Rock and we’ve done small bars. We do thumbtack matches, staple gun matches, we did an eight-foot steel cage match.”

They’re entertainers, Richardson says, but they’re also highly trained professionals. One can’t just break into the business without solid wrestling experience.

“You have to be trained. I make the guys do their own schooling, and then they come in and we teach them our style of wrestling. But I don’t really have to do much of that with my guys. They’ve been in the business for years.”

The new show on Spike, he says, will transcend the wrestling business and delve into personal relationships and the rigors of being constantly on the road.

“We all have our expertise, and that’s why I think we make a good mix. We’re like a family. This show is going to be something totally different.

“It’s not only wrestling. Wrestling’s the background. It’s a reality show. You see us on the road and our relationships. We do a lot of Jackass-style stunts. We do a lot of pranks. I like to keep the guys on their toes, so I’m always trying to take them different places. They don’t get bored on the tour.”

One of the wrestlers, Mad Mexx, the Immigration Sensation, had a dream to ride a bull, says Richardson.

“I had to go find a bull, and I found one. It’s hilarious.”

“Bobby loves to jump bikes, so we got him a miniature motorcycle,” he adds. “He jumped a creature — I won’t tell you what it was — but we were down in Louisiana, so you can imagine what it is.”

They’re hardcore

The Half Pint Brawlers are the miniature version of Extreme Championship Wrestling, and the participants use everything from staple guns to cheese graters to beat one another to a bloody pulp. The performers entice members of the audience to throw money into the ring, and willingly staple it onto each other’s foreheads, buttocks and tongues.

“These guys are hardcore in every way,” says Richardson, whose forehead is pockmarked with dozens of dents. “We’re hardcore in the ring, and we’re hardcore outside the ring. How much more fun can you have? You’re touring around with a bunch of midgets, beer and women. We’re cocky. It’s just a real, real fun show. We’re laughing all the time.”

Sometimes, though, the over-the-top antics can get out of hand.

“Sure, there’s some serious drama,” says Richardson. “Kato suffered an injury, and you get to see how we handled that. It was one of the worst injuries for the Half Pint Brawlers. He split his head through a table. There’s drama, there’s family, you get to see how tight we really are. Basically you’re going to see how I have to deal with all these different personalities. I am in charge of this darned thing, and it’s taken me to a world where I never really thought I’d be.”

The 41-year-old Richardson started the group, originally called “Bloody Midgets,” about 15 years ago at Sluggers sports bar in Chicago, directly across the street from Wrigley Field, and has never looked back.

Richardson’s acting skills come honestly. He was trained as a Shakespearean actor and had a role, as Eddie the Bat Boy, in the John Goodman bio-pic of Babe Ruth, “The Babe.” He had roles in a number of “Tales from the Crypt” episodes, and he did stunt work, including “Batman Returns,” in Los Angeles.

“I was a serious actor. I went to the Shakespeare National Repertory, I went to Columbia College, an entertainment school, in Chicago.”

He’s also done stand-up comedy. And comedy is what jump-started the wrestling gig.

Richardson didn’t particularly like the roles Hollywood had for people of his stature, and he moved to Chicago, where he hooked up with morning shock-jock Mancow and developed his “Puppet” character.

He says he was talked into getting into wrestling. He knew it was something he could do, and he ended up training at the Windy City Professional Wrestling Academy in Chicago.

“This is right up my alley,” he thought.

With one slight change.

“We were going to do something totally different.”

Wrestling’s the ticket

Steve Richardson, aka Puppet “the Psycho Dwarf,” knows how to warm up a crowd.

The first question he asks the normally rabid fans when he makes his appearance is: “Who wants to see a midget bleed tonight?”

“That’s when the crowd gets crazy because that’s what they come to see,” he says.

But he’s also a shrewd businessman who knows he can’t do hardcore alone. Some of his shows are family oriented, and that’s fine with him. His performers are versatile enough to adapt.

“We can do both. We cut it back for the family shows, but what we’re known for is the hardcore.”

Some critics, however, say Richardson’s brand of wrestling and showmanship is degrading and does nothing to elevate the stature of little people. They contend that it makes little people into a spectacle, and is a throwback to when little people were put on display in freak shows. The troupe has drawn protests from other little people in cities such as Chicago.

Richardson thinks it’s a fascinating subject, since he’s highly trained, good at what he does and, as an athlete, his options were fairly limited.

As far as he’s considered, this was the way he was born, and he’s going to use it to full advantage.

“We’re athletes ... all our lives we grew up wanting to be athletes. We’re not going to be basketball players, or baseball players, or football players. One opportunity we can take advantage of is to wrestle. We train, we work at it, we’re just like any other athlete or any other wrestler. Why is it degrading when a midget goes into the ring? We’re not biting referees’ butts? We’re not doing the clown work. I don’t discredit all that, because thank God for Lord Littlebrook and guys like him, but we had to move into the future. We had to move somewhere or the industry would die.”

After all, he says, his brand of midget wrestling is not that much different than what other hardcore wrestling groups do at their shows.

“What is different? Us doing hardcore midget wrestling compared to ECW and guys going hardcore? I toured with Sabu in TNA (Total Nonstop Action) and WWA (World Wrestling All-Stars), and what is the difference? Is it because I’m a midget and they’re telling me I can’t wrestle? That’s ridiculous. I tell people to come out and see the show, but don’t judge us. People need to loosen up and have some fun.”

Life is too short — pardon the pun — to take things so seriously, says Richardson.

“We’re making a living, we’re having fun and we’re all doing what we want to do. A midget owns the company — that’s me — it’s not like we’re working for five dollars. My guys are paid real well. I put on long matches. It’s not just a wrestling show. It’s a comedy show. You’ve got to see it to believe it. I can’t make everybody happy. No one can. But most of the people are walking out of there buying our merchandise, buying our T-shirts, and shaking our hands and coming back.”

“LPA is supposed to help little people,” he continues. “Now they’re trying to put me out of work. How is that helping little people? How is that helping anybody? Now what is America about? What are we fighting for? There’s a lot more to the business for me than just going out to a show. That’s only 10 percent of what I do. We have a marketing team, we have sales, I’ve got to take care of rings, travel, everybody.”

The 125-pounder with the outsized personality says he wants every member of his troupe to feel powerful. He remembers what it was like growing up as a small person. The business has emboldened him and given him confidence. He wants that same sense of confidence and empowerment for his team.

It makes Richardson feel good when a veteran such as Little Kato (Chris Dube) tells him that Richardson reminds him of his dad (midget wrestling legend Lord Littlebrook).

“I consider that a major compliment,” says Richardson. “He was a great star in the business.”

Midget wrestling, cloaked in vaudeville, enjoyed its heyday during the ‘50s and ‘60s. While the more traditional style of midget wrestling has waned over the past several decades, hard-core midget wrestling has gained in popularity in recent years.

But what would midget stars of yesteryear such as Littlebrook, Little Beaver and Sky Low Low say about today’s brand of midget wrestling and these diminutive bad boys?

“I would hope they could accept it,” says Richardson. “Considering that I have Lord Littlebrook’s son doing this, I think they would accept that. They would realize that the industry is changing. Puppet took it to a new style. I would hope they’d be proud of it.”

Little people, lot of beer

As for the new series, Richardson says he tries not to look too far into the future, because as a businessman he realizes that sometimes looking into a crystal ball only invites disappointment.

“I just plug away. I would like to get some national tours and make the production bigger ... I really think this show is going to be a hit. It’s not going to be a one-season deal. I think people are going to be surprised. A lot of people will watch it to try and insult us, some people will watch it to find out just what midget wrestling is, and once you actually see who we are as people, we’re just like a family.”

A very unusual family, he admits, but overall a happy one.

“We’re always laughing. And that’s happiness. And isn’t that what everyone really wants? We took charge of our lives, we love it and I wouldn’t ask for anything else. I just would love to see it grow.”

Richardson doesn’t mind the current success of little people-oriented shows on television. But their show, he says, will be different.

“I’m not knocking shows like ‘Little People, Big World,” he says. “But we’re like “Little People, Big World, with a Lot of Beer.’

“We’re going to be the Ozzie Osbourne of the midget shows. This is going to be a totally different style. We’re not trying to belong or be accepted. We’re trying to go outside the line. That’s just who we are. We’re entertainers. They’re doing a reality show, and we like to be outside the line.”

“You know how wrestling is,” he adds. “There’s a lot of drama.”

Richardson is scheduled to appear on a TNA show in a couple of weeks as part of a cross-promotional venture.

“They’re going to help me out, so it’s awesome.”

The show also will enjoy the advantage of having the popular “The Ultimate Fighter” as a lead-in.

“It’s just been a real eye-opening experience,” says Richardson. “I’ve had a great time. Spike did a very good job with the show, and they represented us well. I’m really looking forward to this.”

No support group needed

Richardson is the only little person in his family. He has a brother, nicknamed “Baby Huey,” who is 6-4. His dad was six foot tall and his mom is 5-11.

“It’s just genetics,” he surmises. “Two midgets can have a tall child. Blond hair, blue eyes, midget.”

Technically Richardson is a dwarf. But the terms are interchangeable in the wrestling business, and Richardson says he’s fine with the label “midget.”

His girlfriends are tall, he says, and he never really dated a little girl.

“You just don’t see them that much. I see little people more now since I’m in this industry, but before that, I just didn’t see them everyday. I was around tall people. I’m not really into the LPA stuff. I just want to live my life. I don’t need a support group to tell me that I’m OK. I know I’m OK. I had really good, strong parents who raised me really well. I got a lot of schooling. I see a lot of guys in the industry who didn’t have that kind of schooling and didn’t have the opportunity that I had. I was lucky.”

One of the reasons he’s still in Chicago is because of his mom.

“I don’t like the cold weather, but I like to stay close to her.”

What does she think of Puppet “the Psycho Dwarf?”

“She won’t see the show live,” he laughs. “She waits until the taped version because of all the hardcore stuff we do. But while I’m sitting there, she knows that I’m OK. As long as I’m having fun and making a living, she’s proud of me.”

Little people can have big dreams, says Richardson, and every once in a while they come true.

Richardson says he’s having a good time, making good money and seeing places he never thought he’d see.

“We love our jobs,” he once said in an interview. “We get drunk, we go wrestle and we pick up chicks. What else is there in life? We have a lot of opportunities here.”