On the Current State of Equality and Representation in Professional Wrestling
A conversation with Andrew Thompson, writer and interviewer for Post Wrestling.
Welcome to issue #4 of Throwdowns.
As the title suggests, this will be a more serious and pressing edition of the newsletter than what has been shared previously. It is also another installment of my ongoing conversation series, as I enlisted the help of the amazingly talented Andrew Thompson of Post Wrestling to offer his thoughts on the subject at hand.
With that said, no lengthy introductions this week. Let’s Throwdown.
Photo: Getty Images
Professional wrestling has never been a beacon in terms of advancing, or even promoting racial, gender or sexual equality, where do you think those aspects stand today in modern wrestling promotions and storylines?
I believe that it has definitely improved since the days of old, but it's far from perfect. There are still some things within professional wrestling in regard to all those things you mentioned that are still behind in terms of progression. On the racial front, there are for sure more African-American wrestlers that are in top positions but in that same thought, when it comes to storylines, just speaking from a viewpoint that I can speak from, there seems to be missteps with booking black wrestlers, and that may have to do with the lack of diversity on the creative/booking teams. There are some things that work, but things would improve if you have black writers working with black wrestlers because they'll likely be able to understand the experience on that level.
Just speaking on sexual equality and gender, the latest example would be Nyla Rose who recently won the AEW Women's World Championship. Nyla is a transgender woman and speaking personally, I've never been caught off guard or felt any way about anyone's sexuality or preferences seeing as how it doesn't affect me. The reactions to Nyla's victory have been off-putting and it just goes to show how much more progression needs to be made.
There unfortunately has been multiple examples of the progress that still needs to be made this year, specifically with the news made by Tessa Blanchard, Jordan Myles and Jim Cornette. Are you surprised with how those events were covered in terms of national media outlets, dropped, etc?
With Jim Cornette, I'm never surprised by anything he says or does and its been that way for the past several years. I don't know him personally but from a distance, he seems like he enjoys getting people riled up and making those on-the-fence racial comments so he can have an out to defend himself.
With Tessa Blanchard, I think the media covered it well and for the most part, there wasn't any defense of what she did from a coverage perspective. There were individuals who came to her defense and tried to bypass what she was accused of by multiple wrestlers. I feel like most people focused in on the bullying aspect of what she did opposed to the racial situation with La Rosa Negra. She was accused of calling La Rosa the n-word and Tessa has came out on two separate occasions and denied that she didn't say that but when these racial situations tend to come up with white men and/or women, it's typically that, "I'm sorry you were offended" type of apology.
ACH (Jordan Myles) was the most layered situation of the three individuals you mentioned. I feel like he had every right to speak out and address his thoughts in whatever manner he saw fit. Those days of black people needing to constantly be respectful and minding of others in those situations are over so props to him for taking that leap and he's still working independent shows so it didn't hurt him as far as I can see.I'm a naturally private person when it comes to social media so when he started attacking fellow black wrestler Jay Lethal, that's not something I agreed with but at the same time, I don't know their personal relationship and what happened between them for ACH to talk about Lethal the way he did.
I feel like ACH felt like he was backed into a corner and I didn't see any of his colleagues come to his defense outside of the ones who weren't in WWE. Keith Lee was asked about it during an interview with Sports Illustrated but he didn't directly answer the question.
I didn't get into the whole mental health aspect of it because I don't know what was going through his mind but I could tell he felt like it was him versus everybody else and he handled it how he saw fit as a man. One take that I constantly saw about the situation was, "Well, why did he sign with WWE in the first place?" That is unfair because like many, I'm sure it was a dream to get there and work at the place you watched as a kid. He got there and it didn't go as planned and that's life but to put that, "Why did he sign anyway?" thing against him is foolish.
As someone who has spent time around and interviewed wrestlers, how difficult or complicated is it to navigate the balance between kayfabe and real life? Any specific examples?
It's not that difficult. That has been my experience at least. Wrestlers in today's landscape are pretty open and are willing to share information but I think it also lands on the interviewer to be able to draw that information out. I typically go into an interview with a feeler question just to get a vibe of how they're going to answer and most of the time, from the people I've interviewed, they're open so I can ask those hard questions or "headlining" questions.
Sometimes on media calls or media scrums, wrestlers keep it in character. An example I can remember is Sammy Guevara at Starrcast IV during his media scrum. He stayed in character and I presented a question to him that sort of towed that line but he was able to wiggle his way out and take it back in-character and that is just a credit to him. I don't get upset at it, as they're doing their job but again, there haven't been many of those experiences for me.
What in the wrestling world are you most excited about this year?
I'm excited about the media opportunities that exist. I love getting content. This field is fun. Just being a wrestling fan and covering news but getting interviews is my wheelhouse and what I love and I'm expanding into basketball interviews as well. I've been writing for three years now and I made my way up the ladder pretty quickly so I'm proud of the trajectory and I did things the right way.
I'm excited for New Japan Pro-Wrestling to head to Madison Square Garden in August, as that show is a few days after my birthday so hopefully I can get out there and do some media stuff. Madison Square Garden is a bucket list venue for me. I'm amped for the independent wrestling scene because it's still is thriving, although a handful of wrestlers have been signed exclusively. Also, I'm curious and intrigued at how WWE is going to put together their WrestleMania card with their Saudi show at the end of February, Elimination Chamber a week after and Mania being just four weeks away from that.
Other than that, any representatives of wrestling promotions or companies that are reading this, come to Maryland, DC or Virginia so I can get some content lol!
Related Materials
On a recent edition of Post Wrestling’s “Cafe Hangout,” John Pollock and Wai Ting were joined by Kristen Ashly from Bell to Belles to discuss the current state of women’s wrestling in a wonderful interview.
David Bixenspan on much of what was mentioned in this newsletter, and more in an excellent encapsulation of the year that is/was and a hope for brighter days ahead.
The always insightful Dave Schilling on the era of sexually fluid wrestlers.
On the history of the “Golden Lovers” and their attempt to promote inclusivity in professional wrestling. Also, Jonathan Snowden’s excellent exclusive with Kenny Omega, which further details his and Kota Ibushi’s relationship.
This has been Throwdowns. If you enjoyed this, or any other post in the archive, please feel free to share it on social media or with your friends and family. It is greatly appreciated.
If you have any questions, concerns, feedback or want to send me recent work for consideration in future “recommended reading” installments, feel free to email me: Alexm.regla@gmail.com. As always, thank you.