AEW launches AEW Heels geared towards women fans

AEW Heels launched May 22 with a Zoom party featuring female talent and fans

On Monday, a video went out of AEW Chief Brand(i) Officer, Brandi Rhodes, saying she wanted to be respected and feel like her thoughts, ideas and creativity mattered. She wants a sense of community and be part of a movement. This was set to video of AEW’s female wrestlers and fans. Rhodes ends by saying she wants “everyone to feel confident in their own heels.”

My initial reaction was that I was intrigued and hopeful, but hesitant to embrace it fully until I knew more. There are many fans from other marginalized genders who watch wrestling who don’t identify as women. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but as a friend of people who have a different gender identity than mine, I do have concerns related to inclusiveness.

AEW Heels was officially introduced via a Zoom party with Rhodes, AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose, Hikaru Shida, Shanna, Jen Decker, Lexy Nair, Awesome Kong, Big Swole, Leva Bates, Allie, Anna Jay, Dasha Gonzalez and Margaret (from the legal team).

The call started with a message that the launch party would start soon with girl power anthems from the Spice Girls playing. Fans were encouraged to dress up and some took them up on the offer. As we waited, some fans were lip-synching, drinking, and dancing.

AEW Heels is a “passion project” for Rhodes. She was inspired by women wrestling fans. AS CBO, she has to know what fans are saying about the product, their likes and dislikes.

Before getting into what AEW Heels is, each of the AEW women introduced themselves, including Leva Bates. In addition to being one-half of The Librarians, she is also Brandi’s “right hand”.

Rhodes gave some insight into her background and talked about how she’s one of the few women in wrestling in her position. As CBO, she thinks about what people see when they think of AEW, besides wrestling. “Do you think of diversity? Do you think of inclusivity?”, she asked. The biggest problem in her career has come from other women. The AEW women’s locker room exemplifies what they’re looking for, according to Rhodes.

AEW Heels is a community to encourage meeting other female fans. “Is there anyone local that you can watch with?” Heels is a community that not only connects them to other fans but will be a direct line to AEW ladies. Rhodes wants it to be “a natural environment to learn, have a safe space, and discuss the love of wrestling.”

Rhodes listed off some big ideas that she has such as virtual panels, getting talent perspective, talks with women from AEW’s legal team, tutorials from AEW makeup artists, and even something with seamstress extraordinaire, Sandra. She also mentioned they can host talks with women in front of and behind the camera.

Once fans are able to be at shows again, other possibilities are Q&As, exclusive meet & greets, and in-person parties. AEW Heels will have an event on JerichoCruise. They’d like to have exclusive events at PPVs and live TV tapings. As a member of the Heels community, fans would have access to pre-sales and can sit in the “AEW Heels section”. Rhodes stressed that she wants to “create a real community” with fans and AEW talent.

During the launch party, there was a Q&A with Rhodes. Fans submitted questions beforehand and Decker read a select few. There were serious questions and light-hearted ones. The latter included responses from other AEW talent. Rhodes was asked about barriers she’s faced, what it’s like to be a woman in her position, her influences, and the best advice she was given.

Her responses were candid. When discussing how she keeps going, she said she thinks, “what if Rosa Parks had moved to the back of the bus?” She uses that as motivation to keep moving forward, especially if it’s something she feels passionate about and even if she’s the only one that thinks it.

This Q&A is an example of what fans can expect moving forward. Heels can be a community where women can feel empowered in all areas of their lives and can come to others for advice and support.

Of course, there is already AEW Heels merch. There are two shirts: one black and one white. They come in six different styles. There is also a tote bag. Since it launched on Shop AEW today, it is part of Pro Wrestling Tees 20% off sale. Rhodes says that secret, exclusive merch being worked on. After the party, the fans were so excited about the merch that the site crashed.

The theme throughout the event is community. Rhodes is very passionate about creating a space online and in-person for women to feel safe and heard. In the Zoom comments, many asked for Rhodes and Bates to create a private Facebook group where they could connect. On Twitter, the feedback after the launch party was very positive. The women felt empowered, excited, and seen, according to their tweets.

Going back to my earlier question about gender diversity, it wasn’t answered completely. Rhodes herself never mentions them. However, it is something that should be addressed in future events. Again, I don’t want to speak for others, but, as a writer, I want to acknowledge the concerns that others may have.

The launch party was a female-driven event. It was empowering and overwhelmingly positive. Rhodes has tapped into something that many wrestling fans, not just AEW fans, have been craving. This could be the start of something very big and positive for the wrestling community. NJPW has been progressive in how it accommodates and attracts female fans, and it’s time for major American promotions to do the same.

Given everything else that’s going on right now, it can provide a welcome bright spot for many wrestling fans across the globe and give them a sense of community they might be missing.