It was one of the only times you could wear an "I Support Midget Violence" T-shirt in downtown Columbus without receiving critical stares.
Members of the Micro Wrestling Federation wore the shirts after their performance at Broadway hot spot Oxygen Thursday night.
Some partiers raved about midget wrestling days before it came to town, calling it an entertaining break from the usual downtown mix.
Others weren't as keen on the idea, describing it with terms like "exploitative" and "demeaning."
And me? I arrived at Oxygen with an open mind and a photographer/videographer on hand.
Guests saw about an hour of wrestling. Most wrestlers wore standard athletic-type shorts. One guy wore a unitard.
In addition to a traditional wrestling match, there was a no-holds-barred match.
The sole female wrestler defeated her male companions. Objects were thrown. A ringside announcer gave commentary throughout the matches.
Meanwhile, the full house of partiers held digital cameras and went wild.
The night didn't stop with the wrestling. Women sat on the ring's edges and got lap dances from a multi-talented midget wrestler. The crew interacted with the crowd after the show. They signed autographs and, um, body parts.
Does midget wrestling have critics? Sure.
But Thursday's event at Oxygen didn't reek of exploitation.
What's more, wrestlers didn't have pretentious attitudes or superstar demands. They had heart, humor and an urge to entertain.
At least that's what I learned from their T-shirts.
(Photo credit goes to the very talented Robin Trimarchi, who will post a midget wrestling video this weekend.)
