Ottawa woman wrestling for a female division

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Emma Jackson

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EMC News - So long, Hulk Hogan. The women will take it from here.

This Saturday, Feb. 18, Ottawa resident Julia Nules will wrestle in the match of her career: an exhibition game that could result in Ottawa's first women's wrestling division.

While fans look on at the Rideau Carleton Raceway, a panel of judges will decide if Rage, a local wrestling promotion led by former wrestler Wayne Cryderman, should officially promote female wrestlers in the Ottawa area.

"It's like Dancing With the Stars, there's going to be a three-panel board and fans to evaluate them after the match," Cryderman said, noting that the decision will ultimately depend on the fans. "It has a lot to do with fans and how they react to the match."

Nules moved to Ottawa two and a half years ago, and has struggled to find female opponents. For the most part she wrestles men - her 6 foot 2 stature helps - but to play other women she's had to travel to Renfrew and Cornwall.

After losing a match against a male wrestler, Nules called on her fans to convince Rage to bring in an official women's division. The fans started a petition, which earned enough names to convince Rage to hold the exhibition game.

Feb. 18 will be Rage's first all-female fight.

Wrestling is by nature a tough sport, and there are tough stigmas that come with it, Nules said. But as women's wrestling slowly spreads out of Toronto and the US into smaller cities, fighters like Nules are starting to change the stereotypes.

"There's always that stigma: you fight like a girl, and there's clawing and screaming and hair pulling. But we are trained in technique, we're trained professionals," she said. "We know what we're doing in the ring. I'm not afraid to get hit and I'm not afraid to hit anyone."

She said women's wrestling is helping women in and outside of the sport to be bold.

"It shows women they can be charismatic, they can be powerful, they don't have to be ditzy and I do have a brain. It shows other women that they can do whatever they want," she said.

Of course, being tough doesn't mean you can't be feminine. The walls of Nules' Elmvale apartment boast several larger-than-life posters of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn looking as feminine as ever, alongside edgy hard rock posters and photos from her favourite concerts.

And her on-stage persona is pretty female, too. Her character Persephone Vice is a fierce fishnet-wearing fighter who won't stand down.

"I walk tall, I stand tall and I'm not afraid to stick up for what I believe in. So if there's a girl or a guy who runs their mouth I make sure to handle them appropriately. That's Persephone talking," Nules laughed.

Her short shorts and furry leg warmers over black fishnets - which show off the very real floral tattoo on her thigh - certainly add a sexual element to the show. But in the end, it's the wrestling Nules wants fans to appreciate.

"My character may appear to be sexy and of course that gets the guys going, wanting a catfight. But they're going to see a wrestling match," she said.

By day, Nules is a pathology lab technician at the Ottawa General Hospital, and also works at a medical clinic in Orleans. While she's paid to wrestle, it's by no means a full-time job.

If Rage decides to start a women's division, she'll officially become a promoted Rage wrestler, and Rage will recruit other women to join the division.

"This ring isn't just for men, it's for us, too," Nules said.

The match will also include the first ever Young Guns tournament featuring up-and-coming male wrestlers, mostly from Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. Tickets are $15 per adult and $10 per child 12 and under. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the first match begins at 7 p.m. For more information visit www.ragewrestling.net.




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