ON a Sunday night in a backstreet bar in Swansea, a 250-strong crowd laughs and cheers as wrestler SyKo smashes his opponent in the face with a wet floor sign.

This is no ordinary wrestling match. At 4 foot 4, SyKo is a dwarf, and his foe Tsuky — whose face is hidden by a Mexican lucha mask — is not much taller than him.

SyKo and Tsuky are members of the Extreme Dwarfanators — a Texas-based wrestling group that has been touring the UK for the first time this week after being banned from performing at a number of UK venues.

Their group has had several of their tour dates cancelled after The Restricted Growth Association (RGA) complained to local councils, labelling it a “Victorian spectacle” and comparing it to a “freak show”.

The organisers, in contrast, argue the aim of their event is to “change the perception of people with disabilities”, and say the wrestlers have “trained hard to become professional athletes and overcome many difficulties in life”.

This is something the wrestlers themselves agree with, saying they should be able to do anything non-dwarfs can and that nobody is forcing them to wrestle, it’s their choice.

They earn anything from $42,000 to $70,000 a year — but the wrestlers say the RGA is stopping them from making money to take back to their families, something they describe as “not fair”.

Syko attacks Mexican legend Tsuky on the UK tour! With one date left at @CoyoteLiverpool next Friday, it’s going to be an explosive finish! #Dwarfanators pic.twitter.com/MogEH1SRIa — Extreme Dwarfanators Wrestling (@Dwarfanators) October 22, 2018

The group — made up of five wrestlers — launched 10 years ago in the US, where their shows attract as many as 3,000 spectators.

While dwarf wrestlers have been a mainstay of the big companies such as WWE, the Extreme Dwarfanators are one of the few in the world where dwarfs take on people the same size as them.

Sun Online travelled to Swansea’s Coyote Ugly Saloon to watch the Extreme Dwarfanators in action, and spoke to four of them about how they really feel about the controversy surrounding them.

‘I’m the sexiest dwarf in the game — if a tall person can wrestle why can’t I?’

Ashley Waterhouse, 25, from Maine wrestles under the name Pinky Shortcake

Ashley says: “My dad was a dwarf wrestler in WWE.

Wrestling was something I always wanted to do and my dad was incredibly supportive of me.

If a tall person can wrestle there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to.

I’ve been touring with the Extreme Dwarfanators for five years. My character is Pinky Shortcake: she’s a diva with long nails, the sexiest dwarf in the game and always get what she wants.

When I come out in to the ring and feel the crowd going wild I just transform into her.

Being the only woman in the show, the crowd always has my back.

I’ve always wrestled guys — my signature move is something I call the ‘fadar bomb’, where I jump backwards to land on my opponent.

I also like to hit my opponents with anything I can find, from belts to trays and chairs.

Wrestling can be tough: I’ve been injured a lot — I’ve broken my scapula and my ribs.

I do get hit on a lot by the fans and I’ve had some weird lines, such as one guy telling me I was ‘the hottest piece of shortcake’ he’d ever seen.

A lot of the time I find it funny, although I do get some guys a lot older than me coming on to me which can be a bit creepy.

I have a boyfriend — he’s also a dwarf wrestler with another promotion.

As you’re on the road so much in this job it’s really important to be with somebody who understands.”

‘I love to smash bin lids into my opponents’ faces’

Derec Pemberton, 30, from Kansas City wrestles under the name SyKo and is Captain of the Extreme Dwarfanators

Derec says: “My character, SyKo, came out of my own experiences: my whole life I’ve been told I can’t do what I want because of my height and I felt I was in chains.

SyKo comes out to the ring straddled in chains, but then I break free and become myself for the first time.

My mum is a dwarf too and she was always supportive. Even when everyone else was telling me that they didn’t want me to get hurt she was encouraging me to follow my dream.

As captain I make the Dwarfanators train for an hour a day — we do hundreds of push ups, acrobatics such as flips, and lift up our teammates.

You have to be conditioned, otherwise you get injured. We do 270 shows in the US every year.

Doing this has given me so much confidence, fans always come up to me after the show and tell me how athletic I am.

My favourite thing to use in the ring is a bin lid — I smash my opponents in the face with it.

I’m single at the moment and we do all get female fans trying to hook up with us — but our management will always step in and stop us doing anything we might regret.

A third of our shows are for kids, and I love to take the opportunity to educate them about dwarfism.

The controversy was frustrating, as we were looking forward to coming over here as many of us had never had the chance to come to the UK before.

However, I’ve been grateful to be able to get my side of the story across and show people what we can do.”

“The audience don’t laugh at us — they cheer us on”

Charlie Thigpin 29, Jackson, Mississippi wrestles as Rasta Rue

Charlie says: “When I was younger I looked up to the greats of WWE such as Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage and Samoa Joe.

I wanted to be part of it but I couldn’t find any opportunities to be a dwarf wrestler, until seven months ago when I found out about the Dwarfanators.

Initially I was refereeing until I was fully trained to fight in the ring.

The first match I had was against our biggest guy — The Lumberjack. He’s four foot eight and weighs 14 stone.

Outside the ring he’s a really sweet guy but during shows he’s a monster. I lost to him.

I have a signature move called the ‘jam rock’, where I drop down on my opponent from three feet above the ropes, as well as the ‘Samoa slam’ where I twist their body around me and slam down with them.

I also use the ‘booty booty booty’ — where I run into whoever I’m fighting and put my butt in their face three times. Female fans often compliment me on my bum.

Before this, I worked as a nursing assistant. I’ve also done stand-up comedy.

But it can be hard for dwarfs to find jobs — when I was studying, my teacher said I’d struggle to get work because of my disability.

We’re discriminated against, but dwarf wrestling is an even playing field. Nobody is forcing us to do this.

Some people compare this to ‘dwarf tossing’ where people throw dwarfs in the air for fun: I’d never allow anyone to toss me.

This is a professional sport and the audience don’t laugh at us, they cheer us on.”

“I’ve taken on six foot six guys who weigh 30 stone”

Mark Sealey, 43, from Scarborough wrestles under the name Little Legs

Mark says: “I’ve been wrestling for 14 years and have been the only dwarf wrestler in the UK as long as I’ve been in the business.

I was introduced to it by this big wrestler called The Flatliner, who said there was no reason why I couldn’t do it.

I’m under four foot, but was taking on six foot six guys weighing 30 stone. I’d bring them down by doing low blows, sitting on their faces and grabbing on to their legs.

I’ve just joined the Dwarfanators after getting in touch with them.

These guys are absolute nutters, some of the stuff they do such as dropping you on chairs properly hurts. In a way, it’s a new beginning for me.

I also act: I played a goblin in the Harry Potter films and starred in Sherlock Holmes too.

Some people get angry about dwarfs working in the entertainment world and want us to be doctors or lawyers, but like anyone else we have different goals.

I even met my partner through wrestling, after she came to watch me at a show, and we have three kids together.

People say wrestling is fake — but my response is ‘come into the ring with me for five minutes and I’ll show you if its fake’.

I’ve seen wrestlers have their bones going through their skin, knee joints go out of place and there’s a few permanently in wheelchairs or on crutches.

You can pay for being in this profession.”

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This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.