About TAWF

Arm wrestling, built as a team sport

To elevate arm wrestling into a mainstream sport by giving it what it has always been missing: teams, strategy, and a reason for fans to choose a side.

TAWF, the Team Arm Wrestling Federation (said "tough"), is the first team-based professional arm wrestling league in North America. Everyone knows the rules of arm wrestling. Everyone has tried it. TAWF adds city teams, managers and one running score that anyone can read.

The strategy of the NBA or NFL, with the intensity of the UFC.

How to Play Find an Event

How scoring works

One scoreboard. Anyone can read it.

Arm wrestling has always been one pull, one winner. TAWF turns every pull into points for a team, so a whole night adds up to one score.

1
Two teams, one match at a time.
Every pull is its own match. A full team game is 32 matches, across four weight classes and both arms.
2
Win the match, score 5.
Only the winner scores. A win puts 5 points on the board for your team.
3
How you win adds more.
- +1 for a flash pin, a pin within 0.5 seconds of "Go."
- +1 for every weight class you pull up and win.
- +1 when the team captain wins.
- +5 for a shutout. In TAWF, a shutout means your team wins every match in one weight class on one arm.
Fouls move a point either way, and a manager can gamble to double a match.
4
First to 100 wins.
Reach 100 points and the game ends right there. If nobody gets to 100, the team with the most points after all 32 matches wins.

See the full scoring

The TAWF scoreboard during a full team game: Montreal Saints 38, Toronto Smoke 31, round 2, with each matchup by weight class and arm.

A full team game on the TAWF scoreboard.

The game you already know

If you can read a scoreboard, you can follow TAWF

TAWF borrows the parts of basketball and football that make a game easy to follow from the stands or the couch.

In TAWF	The sport you already know
The scoreboardEvery pull is its own matchup, and every result feeds one running team score.	The scoreboard in basketball or football. Lots of separate plays, one total you can read at a glance.
Weight classes and armsFour weight classes, left arm and right arm. A team fields two athletes in each class, one for each arm.	Positions on a depth chart. Every spot needs the right player.
The managerIn a full team game, the manager decides who pulls in each matchup, when to substitute, and when to gamble: the manager's call to double a match's points, or triple them if both teams gamble it.	The head coach, making the calls that swing a game.
Timeouts and reviewsIn a full team game, each team gets two timeouts, two minutes each. The manager can have any call reviewed from the footage. If the call stands, the team loses a timeout.	Timeouts, and the coach's challenge.
The flash pinWin the match for 5, plus 1 more for pinning within 0.5 seconds of "Go."	The and-one. The basket counts, plus a bonus for how you got it.
The race to 100Hit 100 points and the game ends early. Otherwise, most points after 32 matches wins.	A knockout ends a fight early. If nobody gets one, the final score decides it.

The MAC Table

Built to end in a pin

Every TAWF match is a single pull on the MAC Table, a ruleset founded by veteran promoter Ian Carnegie and built for faster match starts, more space to fight and more decisive wins. TAWF was co-developed with MAC, the Major Arm Wrestling Championships.

The design goal is simple: clean, quick starts, and matches built to end in a pin, not on a foul.

Running now

The TAWF Event Series

The league's points and scoreboard are already at work at TAWF's open events.

3v3 Showdown

Three athletes a side, one in each of three weight classes: Light, Middle and Heavy. Twelve matches a game across both arms, with a 30-second clock between matches, scored with the TAWF points system. Each team sets its lineup before every game, and that lineup is locked until the game ends, so the strategy happens before the first pull. Qualifying runs on two tables. The finals move to one main-stage table with the full broadcast setup, produced live on the TAWF fan app. The first one, the TAWF 3v3 Summer Showdown, ran September 26, 2026 at the Canadian Brewhouse in Mississauga, Ontario.

No Elimination Tournament

Nobody is eliminated. Athletes in a division are drawn into groups, and every athlete in a group pulls every other one. Every group match scores: a win earns points, a flash pin earns more, a foul costs. When the groups finish, the top athletes go to the finals, pulled to two wins, where places are decided. Every match is recorded at the table, results are posted the same day, and the season standings add up every completed event.

Why it matters

The series is built to put the TAWF format in front of fans at a size the league can stage now, to grow a ranked pool of athletes with real records, and to let fans learn the game before the franchise season arrives.

See events and results

The build

The road to 8 cities

TAWF is being built one proven step at a time.

2020
The Table Monkeys arm wrestling club starts.
2022 to 2025
Team-format test versions put the idea on the table.
October 11, 2025
TAWF launches with Preseason Game 1: Toronto Smoke vs Montreal Saints at Henderson Brewing Co. in Toronto. A packed house.
Now
3v3 Showdowns and No Elimination Tournaments. Athletes build records and season standings under the TAWF points system.
Building toward
The 8-city franchise season. Four teams in the Canadian Conference, four in the US Conference, ending in a Grand Final: the top Canadian team against the top US team.

Canadian Conference

Toronto Smoke
Montreal Saints
Vancouver Wildcats
Calgary Rangers

US Conference

Detroit Steel
Long Island Raiders
Tampa Bay Reapers
Las Vegas Defiance

Meet the teams See the schedule

How it started

Two club founders and one question

Jason CostantiniCo-Founder and Executive Producer

Alex KearyCo-Founder and Director

TAWF grew out of the Table Monkeys arm wrestling club, which Jason Costantini and Alex Keary started in 2020. They saw a sport everyone understands, full of power and personality, and asked one question: what if it had teams? Years of team-format tests turned that question into TAWF, built through Table Monkeys Inc.

Get involved

Pick your way in

Fans

Follow the games and pick a side.

Athletes

Enter an event and start your record.

Investors and sponsors

Help build the league.

Want to get involved another way? Get involved with TAWF

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is TAWF, and how do you say it?

TAWF is the Team Arm Wrestling Federation, said "tough." It is the first team-based professional arm wrestling league in North America. TAWF launched October 11, 2025, and is building toward an 8-city franchise season with four teams in Canada and four in the United States.

How does a TAWF game work?

Two teams of 8 athletes pull across four weight classes, on both arms, over 32 matches. Each match is a single pull on the MAC Table. A win scores 5 points, and bonuses and fouls move the score from there. The first team to 100 points wins. If nobody gets there, the team with the most points after all 32 matches wins. The manager decides who pulls in each matchup, when to substitute and when to gamble. Full details are on the How to Play page.

What are the 3v3 Showdown and the No Elimination Tournament?

They are the events TAWF runs now. The 3v3 Showdown puts three athletes a side, one each in Light, Middle and Heavy, through 12-match games scored with the TAWF points system, with the finals produced live on the TAWF fan app. In the No Elimination Tournament, nobody is eliminated: athletes pull everyone in their group, every match scores, and the top athletes go on to the finals. Results feed the season standings. Find events at events.tawf.ca.

Can I compete?

Yes. Create an athlete account at events.tawf.ca. When the next event opens, register, pick the classes you will pull in, sign the waiver online and pay the entry fee. On event day you weigh in at the venue, and the scale confirms your class or moves you up. Every match is recorded at the table and results are posted the same day. The Official Rules cover the rest.

When does the 8-city franchise season start?

No date is set yet. TAWF is building toward the franchise season now, through the 3v3 Showdowns and No Elimination Tournaments. When season dates are set, they will appear on the Schedule page.

Where can I watch?

TAWF's broadcast partner is Fight Network in Canada, with Game+ distributing the Fight Network broadcast in the USA. Every official TAWF game also runs on the league platform, with live scores table by table and results as they land. No account is needed to watch. Start at the Watch page.