Sophomore illustration art major Jeny Caisman attends classes at NIU on weekdays like any other student, but on weekends she is routinely suplexed, body slammed and elbow dropped.

Caisman has been a professional wrestler for three years. She performs at independent shows that usually draw anywhere from one to 200 people but have drawn as many as 1,500. She recently started retraining with Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South to improve on her skills in the ring and once held the Professional Championship Wrestling Women’s Title for about six months.

Caisman said her parents and friends thought her interest in wrestling was bizarre.

“At first, they thought it was really strange,” she said. “They couldn’t understand why I enjoyed wrestling as much as I do. They used to laugh at me, but one day, I caught my dad watching WWE when he didn’t think I was home. Now they come to my shows when they can and cheer me on. They normally forget my gimmick name and call me Jen. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Caisman’s wrestling persona, “Super J,” started as an inside joke between herself and some of her high school friends.

“I have always wanted to do comics, hence my major, and my first one was called ‘Super J’; about a clumsy superhero,” she said. “One year, for Halloween, I dressed up in the most ridiculous superhero costume ever and tripped over my own cape and fell down someone’s stairs.”

The nickname seemed to stick since then, and Caisman developed it into her wrestling character.

Caisman also had an experience similar to famed singer Janet Jackson. Both women have experienced “wardrobe malfunctions,” although Caisman’s was not planned.

“I had a wardrobe malfunction while filming a match a few weeks ago. I don’t think anyone but the other girl and the ref saw, but I wanted to crawl into a hole and die,” she said.

Caisman’s love of wrestling does not come without some aches and pains.

“I broke my tailbone my freshman year and couldn’t sit in the seats at Cole Hall,” she said. “It was so embarrassing, I would have to start getting up about 20 minutes before class let out. I also dislocated my knee last spring.”

Sophomore music major Brandon Wargo found it a bit unsettling watching someone he is close to get pummeled in the ring.

“I have seen many of her matches, and it’s crazy watching the one you love taking chair shots and getting their hair ripped out,” Wargo said.

As for anyone that would claim wrestling is “fake,” Caisman was very clear on what she would tell them.

“I’ll give them $1 if they can make it through one practice session without throwing up or quitting,” she said.

For more information:

www.superj-wrestling.com