There’s a lot going right with women’s wrestling, but we still need to evolve.
Recently, women’s wrestling has seen an incredible surge in popularity, and legitimacy. From indie stars such as Jordynne Grace tearing up rings across the scene, to WWE’s Evolution PPV, it seems like now is a great time to be a female wrestler.
Yet for everything that’s going right with women’s wrestling, there are some things that are going wrong. Recently there’s been a trend in some fans getting out of hand, or groping, female wrestlers at events.
By now we’re all familiar with what happened between Bully Ray and a fan at a Ring of Honor event, and in 2017, Alexa Bliss did have her bottom slapped by a child (which, to be fair, I believe was an honest accident).
Most recently, Scarlett Bordeaux was forcefully grabbed after executing a dive out of a ring, only to be saved by Lady Shani at a AAA show. It’s clear she’s still in the high of executing that move, and a fan — with an all too familiar creepy smile on his face — took advantage of the situation by grabbing her by the arms and wrapping his hands around her stomach.
It is NEVER okay to touch a performer without their consent. I didn’t realize what happened until I watched the footage afterwards being so in the moment after a dive with my back turned otherwise I would have reacted much differently. Thnx to @LadyShaniAAA for having my back https://t.co/2YKT64sKIj
— Scarlett Bordeaux (@Lady_Scarlett13) June 16, 2019
It’s a pretty jarring thing to watch, especially since she wasn’t fully aware of what was happening.
If you watch enough wrestling events, fans patting entertainers on the shoulders is pretty common — and some entertainers work extremely well with fan interaction. But this is a whole different level, it’s creepy, it’s gross, and it’s wrong.
Some fans accused of her for asking for it based on what she wears, so Scarlett Bordeaux went on to note that what she wears isn’t an invitation for people to grab her — or anyone.
What I wear is completely irrelevant. Could be a string bikini or a snowsuit, it doesn’t matter. My body is mine and you cannot touch me without my permission. Most fans I encounter are respectful, awesome people and I appreciate you.
— Scarlett Bordeaux (@Lady_Scarlett13) June 17, 2019
Sounds to me like you dont respect women unless they fit YOUR standard of what they should be. If someone finds the way I’m dressed attractive. It doesn’t give them the right to do whatever they want to me. Your lack of self control doesn’t mean you can violate whoever you please https://t.co/qX5TuuGgv6
— Scarlett Bordeaux (@Lady_Scarlett13) June 17, 2019
No matter who it is though, fans should not be grabbing any wrestler in such a manner. They’re there to entertain you, not to be harassed.
Of course, there are other issues outside of the aforementioned related to women’s wrestling. There’s rumors that WWE will not be having a second Evolution PPV, which frankly doesn’t come as a surprise to me.
Despite Stephanie McMahon boasting about how far women’s wrestling has come in WWE, they’re still playing catch up to things that have been commonplace everywhere else — such as inter-gender wrestling, and women’s tag team belts that mean something.
And let’s not forget some of the abysmal story lines they get, or the fact that a man still won the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Next. How Bray Wyatt should make his in-ring return. dark
We still are moving forward in a positive way, but we still have a long way to go. No matter what your take is, we can hopefully all agree that grabbing any entertainer — regardless of gender — is flat out wrong.