The wrestling community has been through a lot over the last couple of months. The pandemic forced the closing of many promotions and cancellations of several big events. Even now in this new normal, the only audiences at wrestling shows are other members of the roster and pay-per-views are being filmed on closed sets. And with all of that going on, we’ve also had to contend with serious allegations during the #SpeakingOut movement as well as the ongoing problems with systemic racism in the business. Needless to say, we’re all feeling the negative effects of everything going on. It got me thinking about how we can heal our wrestling community. Here are four things I think we can all do to create a better environment going forward.
Respect that all fan experiences are not the same.
There is a huge tendency to dismiss any negative experiences that fans report, especially if the wrestler or promotion involved is quite popular. This doubly true if the fan in question is marginalized in some way (ie a woman or a person of color). We as a community need to understand that the way we move through the world and the way others perceive us greatly impacts our experiences, even in simple things like wrestling events. A man probably won’t receive as much sexual harassment as a woman. Likewise the probability of being called a slur is much lower if the person is white or white-passing. So even if someone says a negative thing about your favorite wrestler, maybe just listen before you immediately write them off.
Understand that wrestling does not happen in a vacuum.
A lot of fans, myself included, use wrestling as a sort of escapist fantasy. And while that works most of the time, the main difference between using wrestling for escapism versus other types of content is the fact that the people behind our favorite flips and larger-than-life characters are just that…people. That means they are affecting by many of the same things that affect us. The pandemic has made it so that some wrestlers can’t travel or work. Systemic racism keeps the good old boys club at the top and makes everyone else have to work harder for less. Female trainees and talent often endure multiple incidents of sexual harassment and assault in the business. There’s a weird push to divest the wrestling business of “politics”, but wrestling doesn’t happen in a vacuum. These are very real people affected by very real things.
Reprimand bad behavior when it happens.
Unfortunately we as a society have created an environment where a lot of people, especially men, are not held accountable for their actions. Everything is a “joke”, a “misunderstanding”, or a “mistake”. But sexual assault, blatant racism, and pedophilia are not little things that you can just brush under the rug. This stuff causes long-lasting harm to the victims. When it happens and we become aware of it, we need to call it out and see that the victims are believed and the perpetrators receive some form of disciplinary action.
Be mindful of your consumerism.
I’m not here to tell what merch you should buy or who you should support. That’s not my place. But what I am telling you is to be mindful. If you can get your merch directly from a local promotion instead of using a third-party site that price gouges, do it. If a wrestler has been accused of some terrible things, understand that there are those who want to distance themselves from anything and everything that has to do with that wrestler. If a promotion or a talent has been loudly bigoted, maybe you should think twice about how those entities operate.
