Diversity in Wrestling Performers (Women Love Wrestling Book Excerpt)

Hi guys,

I'm back this week trying to stick to my promise of having more female wrestling-related content.

This week, I'm posting an excerpt from my chapter in the book Women Love Wrestling. It is an amazing project that I was blessed to be part of which brought together writers from across the world to speak about their love and experience with women's wrestling. In an industry that is so male-dominated, this was a book for women, by women and about women. What makes it even more special is that all the proceeds are donated to a number of charities that support women.  

So, here is a look at my contribution to the amazing book looking at Diversity in Wrestling Performers from a UK perspective.

 Every little girl dreams of being a princess, a superhero or in my case a badass international superspy. Wrestling is one of those professions where women can be a combination of all three. It is an industry where you can find a role model and see diversity, right?

Unlike a lot of wrestling fans across the world, my first interactions with wrestling came very late. I didn’t start watching the sport until I was 19 years old. Apart from my great-uncle occasionally watching World of Sport, an iconic UK afternoon show that ran for 20 years and starred the likes of Big Daddy and a young William Regal, when my mother was little, neither of my parents really had any interest in it. We never had Sky Sports, the satellite service that tan all WWE programming, so it wasn’t like I just flicked onto a channel and saw two giant men power slamming each other in a small squared ring. I only really knew about the Rock because of his films and John Cena because some boy in my primary school class used to go around shouting, “You can’t see me.” 

It was actually my sister who started watching it after we’d spend hours on E! watching Total Divas. A lot of people have a lot of hate for the show but, without it, I don’t know where I would be. She started watching the product on YouTube and we bought her tickets to a live show in Manchester for her birthday. Unfortunately for my sister, she couldn’t make it due to school commitments, but I went anyway, and my life changed. I became immersed in the theatrics, the athleticism and the attention to detail from these brightly dressed and sometimes flamboyant characters (one of the first wrestlers on that show was Tyler Breeze). What stood out for me was the women. They were strong, beautiful and completely in control.

I eventually started watching wrestling full time at university, I was a lot more mature and was aware of the world around me. I was starting to see more variety in the women in mainstream media which made me so happy. I was even happier when I started watching Total Divas and wrestling when I saw the likes of Naomi and Alicia Fox, both from ethnic minorities. 

Growing up in a British Indian household, I never felt anything but English. However, growing up and watching the television and listening to music, there seemed to be one thing in common: they didn’t look anything like me. They all had pale skin, beautiful blonde hair and a model figure. When I started watching the sport full time, WWE seemed to provide everything I needed at the time to combat these issues.

 How wrong I was. 

With the women’s Evolution seemed to be in full force, women of colour were at the forefront. At the time, we had Team B.A.D with Sasha Banks, Naomi and Tamina who were not only women of colour but all shapes and sizes as well as the Bella’s who are of Hispanic descent. 

I thought I’d found a sport where everyone was allowed to shine, and differences were celebrated to give little boys and girls someone to aspire to be like, someone who they could relate too.

As time went on, I saw these familiar faces fade to the background and a new crop of women wrestlers rise on the main roster. In basic terms, they were women who all had a few things in common: they could be called stereotypically beautiful in mainstream media and it’s up to interpretations on what that means. 

However, this doesn’t have to be the case. 

Within WWE, there is such an amazing array of women across the different brands from different ethnicities such as Asuka, Kairi Sane, Bianca Belair and Mia Yim, Sonya Deville the first openly LGBTQ+ female wrestler and Nikki Cross who has this more underground, grunge look to just name a few. For all the talent they have, many have struggled to make it to the upper card or to stay at the top of their divisions. Sonya Deville is being used as a ‘sidekick’ to her partner Mandy Rose who uses her sexuality in story lines that aren’t benefitting Deville. For a long time, Asuka and Sane’s Kabuki Warrior gimmick portrayed them worlds away from the badass wrestlers they are but has now finally been utilised in a positive way but after public outcry. This says a lot about the company itself. For a company who apparently publicly prides themselves on diversity, we’re not seeing it at the forefront near enough.

Even the new company All Elite Wrestling, who pride themselves of diversity and using every woman properly, has fallen in a similar way to WWE. The biggest example is Nyla Rose. A huge signing for the company and initially a huge staple of the first PPVs. She was a pioneer for the industry and seemed to mark a change in the stigma within the industry with Transgender athletes. However, since losing the title match to Riho, she has barely been present on the weekly show despite the consistent showing on advertisements. It almost seems as if AEW has been using diversity as a statement of change but not following through with it, instead of using it for publicity. For someone as dominant and talented as Rose, you would expect her to be on TV a lot more. 

With all of these grumblings, the natural desire when expectations desire for the industry to change is to find somewhere to cater to those needs of seeing diversity promoted and welcomed not just used and abused. 

This change came in the form of British wrestling and the world I was opened up to almost a year after my first exposure to wrestling. By this time, I had started getting bored with the product that had initially opened my eyes to a whole new world. I got pointed to the world of Progress and from there promotions such Defiant, Futureshock and the one and only Pro-Wrestling: EVE. 

Apart from opening my eyes to a world of wrestling that wasn’t only focused on entertainment, I was able to see women who I could relate too. It wasn’t because the wrestlers I was watching came from the same country, spoke in the same way as me and used references in their promos that I could finally understand. None of that mattered. It was more that I was just amazed at how different they all were. The British scene prides itself of utilising amazing female talent from across the world and from so many different walks of life.  It showed that there was diversity in the industry, and it was celebrated in so many places.

You just had to look a bit harder to find them. 

For many wrestling fans in the UK, Pro-Wrestling: EVE has been that pioneer and really given a voice to all women from all walks of life and it’s something the company has always prided itself on. It is a company that not only prides itself on nurturing the future of women’s wrestling but a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy an industry that can sometimes be toxic. 

With Emily and Dann Read at the centre of the organisation and their daughter a massive influence for creating EVE, it’s no surprise that they have one of the most diverse roster’s in the world and celebrate differences within every performer and fan. They are a company that celebrates women of every shape and size, something that a lot of companies could learn from. 

From this company and across Britain, we are lucky to have an amazingly diverse range of female wrestlers who are all so different from each other and reflect the diversity within the UK itself.

For me personally, one woman on the British scene really stood and made me see this diversity on an even bigger scale: Kanji Duku aka the Asian Sensation. On seeing her, the first thing that stood out for me was the Om on her wrestling gear, a sign that represents Hinduism. For her, it is a celebration of her culture and family’s religion. For a Hindu like myself, this was refreshing and exciting. A woman embracing her religion not becoming it. 

Met my new PT today, she asked me what my goal is. I said Japan🇯🇵. pic.twitter.com/zIQAfL0J8l

— KanjiWrestles (@KanjiDuku) August 2, 2019

We then have Piper Niven aka Viper who is this curvaceous, strong and powerful woman coming out and owning the ring. She takes every bit of negativity she might get from people and uses it against her opponent combining beauty and strength in all the best ways possible.

This is just a small number of the women dominating the British scene and you’ve already seen women of different colours, sizes and outlooks in life. I haven’t even gone into those from across the world who epitomise diversity from Kris Wolff, Meiko Satomura and so many more across the world in promotions such as EVE. Impact, Stardom and so many more. 

Gone is that perception from the past that a wrestler had to look like a ‘supermodel’ or whatever that is meant to be and have this grace and poise about them. Women don’t have to be ‘ladylike’ and can be strong, aggressive and dominant in a way that isn’t frowned upon. 

With the women’s evolution well and truly underway across the world, we need to help combat the war on diversity within this evolution. This diversity doesn’t just come in ethnicity, but in body shape, sexuality and personality. So, if other companies can do it, then why isn’t it the norm in what can be called the biggest wrestling company in the world? 

In short, we need to give children of all shapes, sizes, colours and creed someone to look up too and to think, “If they can do it, why can’t I.” We need to celebrate everybody in the industry and help those promotions who have this at their forefront and spread it to those who don’t. Give little girls and boys across the world no reason to believe this one thing is the norm or that one thing is beautiful.  

In a world that is so diverse, it should just be expected that this spreads across mainstream media and sports entertainment. It is up to the companies, the fans and the wrestlers to take a stand and show the world that change is needed on a much larger scale. How can we expect the new generation to be happy with themselves when they’re not being shown this by those they look up too.

Every human being is special in their own way and the more different, the better.

It is crazy how in a world where equality should be a right not a privilege, that this is still happening not only in professional wrestling but the entire world. It is a topic that is so close to my heart and I loved being able to write this and join a group of amazing writers in the book.

If you enjoyed it, make sure to check out the entire Women Love Wrestling book because there are some amazing chapters looking at stereotypes, sexuality and empowerment. Here are the links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2LA6eVC

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3bAklow

Google Books: https://bit.ly/2X0j3Om

Make sure to keep an eye out for all my new content by following me on on my social media: (@Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG)! As always, I'm going to plug my YouTube Channel so you should all subscribe to SonalsLife96!

Until next time,

Bye