Big Little Brawlers: Episode 1: Circling Sharks

Arin De Castro

Big Little Brawlers Poster

Discovery’s ‘Big Little Brawlers’ off to a good start

Big Little Brawlers debuted on Tuesday, January 9, on Discovery, and it definitely is offering wrestling fans something different.

The show, which runs for six weeks, covers an organization called Micro Wrestling, where micro means all the wrestling superstars are 5 feet and under.

The Micro Wrestling promotion has both a touring group and a home team, based in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with 34 wrestlers total. Obviously that would be an unwieldy number for a reality show, so Big Little Brawlers will be highlighting 10 of them in the show.

Jack Darrell, the founder of Micro Wrestling, has high hopes for the show and that viewers will respond well.

“They will cry, they will laugh, they will fall in love with some of the Micro cast members.” Darrel said in an email with SlamWrestling.net before the show’s debut. “Without a doubt, no one will watch this show and say wrestling isn’t amazing.”

Episode one review

By now, most people know the pattern for a reality show — introduce the cast, set things in motion for a storyline to finish by season’s end.

Big Little Brawlers is no different.

The first episode was a good introduction to Micro Wrestling and its members. It highlights the big event that will be covered within their six week run, called Microfest. The show is portrayed as a big deal to everyone on the Big Little Brawlers.

Microfest created two interesting storylines to follow. One is the relationship between Pinky Shortcake and Syko, the other being Ivar the Micro wanting to participate.

Pinky and Syko are partners inside the ring and out. Not everyone will be able at Microfest, only six members will be taken. This makes Syko want to push Pinky so that they will both be able to perform at the big event. Friction results. Syko tris to push Pinky to another level, and as a result, Syko wasn’t happy with Pinky’s performance.

The storyline between the two is engaging because of the at-home aspect of it. The two micros have a daughter (expected to be full size). Pinky’s relationship with her estranged father, little person wrestler Little Louie, is also an element to some trust issues with Syko, making it possibly the most intriguing plot of the bunch.

Then there’s Ivar the Micro, who was born with brittle bone disease. He’s one of the more cheerful and lively of the cast, a testament to his strong will. With bones that can break easily, he has to be careful in every day life, let alone near the ring. Ivar is the host for all Micro Wrestling events in Pigeon Forge, but he expresses his desire to compete at Microfest. Call it a bucket list moment, if you want, but it’s compelling. He’s already broken countless bones through the years, and his pitch to wrestle to owner Jack Darrel and his wife, Melissa, is captivating.

So we have love, we have a seemingly impossible dream, and, like any reality show, there needs to be some true conflict.

That would be Hot Rod and Lil’ Show.

Hot Rod is the younger guy who is trying to be the top guy in Micro Wrestling, while Lil’ Show is the guy at the top, trying to stay there — a story as old as time. The rivalry intensified when Hot Rod went off-script and hit Lil’ Show out the ring in a show. Things got heated after their match was done and there was an argument … caught on camera, naturally.

There are moments in the show where it becomes overly dramatic and feels a little scripted, but for the most part, everything moves well and I found myself sucked in wanting to see what happens in the second episode.

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