FEMALE wrestler Drew-Ashlyn Cunningham packs a powerful forearm smash – because she used to be a man.

She has become Britain's first transgender grappler after switching sex from male to female.

Drew-Ashyln, 24, said she began to feel like a woman trapped in a man’s body as a teen when her hero was US wrestler Lita, 38.

And when she began her change into a woman in 2007, she was determined to hit the mat just like her idol.

Drew-Ashyln, whose wrestling name is Harley Ryder, said: “Wrestling has always been a passion of mine and I grew up with it.

“I’ve been inspired by Lita from WWE. She was my idol as a wrestler and that is who I want to be like.”
The beauty therapist from Wakefield, West Yorks, has spent the last three months training and is preparing for her first bout.
She said: “The men are very comfortable with me.
“They’re all nice and make sure they care for me. Every time they give me a move they will ask me if I am OK.”
“They do make sure I am in safe hands. It’s not an issue for them.
“The guys are really supportive and in a way it’s really surprising because that world, the wrestling world, can be so masculine and macho.”