Look alive, queer wrestling fans—Kidd Bandit is heading back to the ring. After a hiatus spanning a year and half, the popular wrestler is scheduled to return in her first post-transition public match.
Last week, Bandit announced the news through a joint Instagram post with sports league Epic Pro Wrestling. Her first match, titled “The Meanest of Times,” will take place on March 15 in LA. Her opponent has not yet been revealed.
Bandit, who won the 2023 QWI Award for LGBTQ Wrestler of the Year, took a break in September of that same year to undergo gender affirming medical transition, according to OutSports. During that layoff, she continued to engage with fans through social media, documenting her gender journey and celebrating milestones like changing her government documents. Although she was originally scheduled to make her return in December 2024, a sprain during training delayed her comeback.
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“I saw all the love. Thank you for welcoming me back with open arms,” Bandit wrote in response to the outpouring of support following her announcement. “I will give you all my best.
Bandit originally comes from Calabarzon in the Philippines, according to a 2022 profile in Xtra. She first got into wrestling by playing video games like WWE SmackDown! vs Raw in the 00s. That inspiration lives on through her wrestling persona, showcasing anime and gaming influences, and her tagline, “The Protagonist of Pro Wrestling.”
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“There are people who are like me that spent a big chunk of their life being into the things that they’re into and instead of being venerated, they were ridiculed,” she said. “But now more people accept how cool it is to be into anime or into video games. I want people to feel validated that it is okay for them to be and do the things that they got made fun of this whole time, because now things are different, times are different.”
After moving to LA, Bandit made a name for herself on the indie wrestling circuit, and her popularity exploded due to her efforts building up a fanbase on social media. That popularity has given her a leg-up as a trans wrestler, but it also creates a double-edged sword.
“Every step I take, I have to be perfect—I can’t give any ammunition against the entire community,” she said. “I am not just representing myself, I’m representing the people who follow me who are my fans, who are similar to me in terms of being queer as a wrestler, or the Asian aspect of it … I just can’t mess up. And it’s a lot of overwhelming pressure for someone so new in the industry.”
Despite this pressure, Bandit treats wrestling as a vehicle for queer expression. “Wrestling is action theatre and wrestlers are just jock theatre kids,” she said. “And there’s nothing more queer than theatre. Wrestling is a form of self-expression and performance art.”
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