Wrestling, while incredibly physically demanding, is at its heart an entertainment industry. And as with other entertainment business, it helps to be both charismatic and skilled but it’s also about who you know. Networking and connections go a long way in the wrestling world and those that can use them to their advantage can understandably not want to rock the boat. But at what point is keeping the peace worth sacrificing your values and your personhood?
In this social media age, more and more marginalized wrestlers (those that aren’t straight white men) have been speaking out about the differential treatment they have received in their careers. And instead of being met with a sympathetic ear or even a willingness to understand, they’re often told to just “shut up and be grateful” that they have a contract, title, merchandise, etc. It’s rude at best and at worst, a silencing tactic used to maintain the status quo.
But the status quo isn’t acceptable anymore. Abuse, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination shouldn’t be par the course in wrestling. Talent shouldn’t have to endure these atrocities with no safety net because “that’s just how it is”. And they for sure shouldn’t be told to shut up and be grateful. When we do this, we as fans are basically telling wrestlers that they aren’t real people and it only matters that they entertain us. Who cares if that woman has been assaulted by several people in the company? She’s a champion so she should be happy!
This apathy needs to stop because the longer we continue this narrative, the longer we normalize abuse. I feel that this extends to the larger wrestling community as a whole because many people are quick to tell female and BIPOC fans that they should be grateful that wrestlers who look like them are getting shots at all; as if marginalized fans shouldn’t be outraged when wrestlers are portrayed in horribly insensitive ways because at least they’re on television.
It’s unacceptable to ask someone to choose between their career and their agency. Marginalized wrestlers should not have to work twice as hard to get a shred of the attention their privileged counterparts get (and often keep even after being outed as terrible people). We as fans should not play into this dichotomy either. Wrestling depends on the fans to stay in business so ultimately we should be trying to make our community a better place however we can.
