Meet Dolly "The Guillotine" Graves — a British-born wrestler who discovered early on that her homeland preferred tea over takedowns, crumpets over contusions, and royal-watching over rug burns. 

 

A native of Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, Dolly spent her formative years suplexing mechanical scarecrows and practicing arm bars on her nan’s floral ottoman. Her passion for grappling was met with polite confusion and the occasional “Is this like yoga, dear?”

 

Wrestling in Britain: A Solo Act - Women's wrestling was about as popular as hominy at a black tie formal in the UK. Dolly tried everything: pop-up matches in pub parking lots, underground grappling clubs in bingo halls, even a one-woman show called “Punching Through Patriarchy” at the Edinburgh Fringe. The reviews? “Confusing but spirited.” It was clear: if she wanted to make it big, she’d have to leave the land of lukewarm limey enthusiasm.

 

Enter Cincinnati: The Mecca of Mat Mayhem - Dolly packed her boots, bandages, and her undersized leotard, and flew to Cincinnati — the birthplace of women’s grappling and home to more chokeholds per capita than any city east of the Mississippi River. Here, Dolly was finally among her kind of people: sweaty, determined, and truly unhinged. She quickly rose through the ranks, earning her nickname “The Guillotine” after a particularly poetic match where she beat her opponent into submission all while sharing a poignant Shakespearean soliloquy. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

 

Dolly's talents aren’t confined to the ring. Every Friday night at 9pm, she hosts “Sleeper Holds & Soundwaves”, a live radio show that’s equal parts educational and existential crisis. Her hapless listeners can expect:

 

• Chokehold Instruction: Because nothing says “weekend vibes” like learning how to safely cut off someone’s blood flow.

• Wound Dressing Tutorials: For when your grappling partner “accidentally” bashes you in the eyebrow.

• 60 Minutes of Killer Classic Rock: Because nothing pairs with gauze and grappling like Zeppelin and Aerosmith.

 

Listeners describe the show as “oddly soothing,” yet “mildly threatening."

 

Legacy in Progress: Dolly is living proof that when your country doesn’t appreciate your talents, you rack up a bunch of debt, pack your stuff, move across the ocean, and create a radio show that teaches people how to inflict pain in a polite and proper manner. Cincinnati may have given her the stage, but Dolly brought the guillotine — and she’s not letting go.