Micro mayhem: Inaugural Caleramania sells out, delivers electrifying show
Published 5:26 pm Thursday, May 22, 2025
Calera Main Street hosted the inaugural Caleramania on Friday, May 16 with a sold-out show at the Calera Courtyard featuring the Micro Wrestling Federation. (Reporter photos/Rachel Henderson)
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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor
CALERA – Micro wrestlers performed suplexes, elbow drops, dropkicks and other electrifying maneuvers during Calera Main Street’s first ever Caleramania.
Caleramania took hold of Calera on Friday, May 16 with an arena set up at the Calera Courtyard with a series of wrestling matches featuring an entire cast that is under five feet tall from the Micro Wrestling Federation.
“It was great,” said Alicia Anderson, special events coordinator for Calera Main Street. “To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect but it was something I’ve never seen before. It was so much fun.”
The event sold out with residents purchasing 552 tickets and more than 600 persons in attendance. Anderson said the response from the community was huge.
“(The wrestlers) were actually talking to us at the end when we were cleaning up and they said that we had one of the best crowds that they’ve had in quite a while,” Anderson said. “The crowd was engaged the whole time, which makes it so much easier for them to do what they do.”
Caleramania featured a rotating lineup of wrestlers from the MWF, including appearances by Little Miss, Jamaican Joe, Heavy Metal Mario, Zach Presley, Ben Urkel, Flyin Ryan, Carolina Reaper, King Clover, Lit Dynamite, Ivar the Micro and Hotlanta.
Anderson shared that the members of the MWF were pleased with the response from the community. Attendees also participated during the show and interacted with the performers.
“They were very well treated,” Anderson said. “They were so surprised with how well it was organized and how Calera Main Street worked with them to get everything that they needed. They were well-received and it just went off without a hitch. It was great.”
Caleramania came about after local first responders attended one of MWF’s shows and reached out to Main Street requesting that they bring the action to Calera.
“I would venture to say that a lot of both private and city employees have wanted it,” said Dennis Torrealba, president of Calera Main Street. “It’s been one of the most requested events for sure.”
Founded in 2000, the MWF is the longest-running organization within the little person industry. The organization is known for its reality show “Big Little Brawlers” which aired on the Discovery Channel in 2024. The Micro Wrestling Foundation has been featured in numerous publications and programs, including Sports Illustrated Magazine, Country Music Television and the WWE. The MWF perform more than 500-plus shows a year across the U.S. with four shows a week that take place at a mini arena in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
With the inaugural Caleramania a financial and cultural success, plans are already being made for the next installment.
“We are planning to make it an annual thing,” Anderson said. “We are in the works now of looking at our 2026 calendar and getting them back into Calera.”
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