EVERY month, a special underground wrestling tournament is held in New York.

The combatants come from all over the city, often dressed in flamboyant costumes and going by colourful names like Reina Mysteria and Hillbilly Hussy.

The event draws a small but fanatical group of fans who cheer their favourite fighters on as they try to body slam each other to the mat.

The only difference between these underground matches and the ones you normally see on TV is that the fighters here are all women.

Oh, and they wrestle in jelly.

First started in 2003, the Amateur Female Jell-O Wrestling events began as an outlet for women to release stress and have a little fun.

Think of it as a Fight Club for women - only there's no blood, just a lot of wobbly stuff that resembles colourless agar agar. (See report in box.)

The idea is simple.

Two wrestlers duke it out in a plastic wading pool filled with a jelly-like substance until one of them gets pinned to the ground for a three-count.

'FOR WOMEN'

The event's co-founder, Ms Dana Sterling, 27, told The New Paper on Sunday that the idea for Jell-O wrestling came from a party she had when she was in college.

Her friends had tried wrestling in horse feed for fun.

'It was really messy and smelly, but everyone - participants and spectators - had a great time.'

Five years later, after she moved to New York from Saint Louis, she decided to start hosting such parties for others.

Ms Annie Burns, a promoter for the event, said the parties are growing more popular with women because it was conceived with them in mind.

'We're very female-friendly and feminist in our approach and intentions, so women feel comfortable participating in this event,' she said.

'Where else can grown women dress up like superheroes, prom queens or jocks and roll around with other women in squishy substances?

'This type of activity is traditionally discouraged for females, but we celebrate it.'

No experience is needed to sign up as a wrestler.

Those who want to wrestle just turn up before the event begins for a crash course in wrestling, where a trainer briefs them on safety and teach some basic moves, like shoulder blocks.

The organisers also help newcomers develop a wrestling persona and even pick out costumes to match their character - all free-of-charge.

Don't let the characters in the ring fool you - they may look crass and talk trash, but many are professionals in real life.

They include lawyers, teachers and university students.

Ms Burns said: ''Hillbilly Hussy', for example, comes across as an uneducated, uncultured red-neck in the ring, but the woman who portrays her is a professional civil rights attorney.'

Violence is also kept to a minimum.

'This is a sports-satire event, so women are not allowed to try to intentionally hurt each other,' she said.

'But they are trying to pin each other on their backs in a kiddie-pool of Jell-O, (which is) harder than it sounds.'

There are strict safety rules: no biting, no punching, no choke holds and no kicks to the groin.

Spanking, hair-pulling and name-calling are, however, strongly encouraged.

Said Ms Burns, 26: 'Most of the matches... usually end up with the two ladies on all fours trying to hold each other down, slipping in and out of each other's grips until someone is completely pinned.'

While the rules try to protect the wrestlers' safety, accidents still happen - but nothing jaw-breaking.

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

'The funniest stuff I've seen are '(wardrobe) malfunctions'.

'Jell-O is slippery and some of the girls wear bikinis,' said Ms Burns.

Wrestlers compete in a round-robin format until there's only one left standing.

But unlike regular sports competitions, the wrestling champ does not get a trophy or belt.

Ms Burns said: 'The winner gets her pride. We specifically do not have a prize for the winner because this event is more about community participation and level of performance rather than girls trying to beat out other girls.'

The organisers also dismiss the notion that the event is meant to attract guys so that they can ogle the ladies as they get down and dirty.

They say they go out of their way to discourage men from attending the matches.

Men who turn up alone pay US$15 ($23) to get in. Those who come with a female companion pay US$7.

Women, on the other hand, pay just US$3 to watch.

'This event was founded by women for women,' said Ms Burns.

'We want women to come and have fun at this event and be exposed to a side of being female that they may not have see before.'

No just desserts here, just...

SQUISHY but sugarless fun - that's what the girls are getting as they roll about in the 'jelly'.

Contrary to the event's name, it isn't real jelly at all but a colourless, sugarless and non-toxic crystalline substance that is 99.5 per cent water.

The organisers say that this ensures that fighters don't get slimy or sticky - just wet.