Earlier than Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs, there was one other Battle of the Sexes. At the very least, that’s what occurred in Saturday Night time Dwell‘s revisionist historical past.
Within the vein of Netflix’s Untold collection, the November 18 sketch tells the story of one other tennis matchup between feminine participant Charna Lee Diamond and male opponent Ronnie Dunster (performed by host Jason Momoa).
“There’d be no Billie with out Charna,” one sports activities journalist ponders. “There simply wouldn’t be.”
As soon as they take the court docket, it doesn’t take lengthy for issues to go awry. Ronnie serves the ball, sending it flying straight via Charna’s stomach. Actually. There may be now a gap in her abdomen. Adrenaline retains her going, and she or he calls for Ronnie serve the ball once more.
He’s reluctant, however Charna insists. It’s for girls, in spite of everything! So, he serves the ball as soon as extra. Solely this time, it decapitates her.
“We should always have seen it coming,” the sports activities journalist admits. “He was 300 kilos of pure muscle, and she or he was one of many lowest ranked feminine gamers on the time.”
Provides Ronnie himself: “It was positively the f*cking weirdest sport of tennis I’ve ever performed.”
Regardless of her ugly downfall, Charna nonetheless paved the way in which for feminine gamers, in keeping with SNL. In actual fact, her legacy lives on within the tennis corridor of fame, the place the gown she wore that day hangs, gap and all.
Watch the sketch above.