Equal Fights Movement
August 17, 2018 7:26 PM Subscribe
WWE, the company that dominates professional wrestling in the U.S. (and most of the world), mostly hasn’t allowed men and women to face off in the ring for more than a decade. But intergender wrestling is thriving on the independent scene, 170 fans at a time.
There is no couple that I find more adorable than Candace LeRae and Johnny Gargano.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:35 PM on August 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:35 PM on August 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
I remember the first episode of Lucha Underground I watched involved a really huge dude (Matanza? I don't think it was him but can't remember) flinging Ivelisse around the ring like she was a rag doll. I'll admit, it was shocking and a bit disturbing at first. But I've realized as I watch more wrestling that I get a bit disturbed any time there's a size mismatch, even when it's both men or both women, and I'm now pretty used to intergender wrestling in a way that doesn't trigger me.
I'm a proponent of intergender wrestling and wish WWE would allow it to happen, because I think it's an important next step for women wrestlers. But I can understand WWE's hesitation when ESPN covers the topic leading with a photograph of a bruise on a woman's back. I think most wrestling fans would immediately get it, but WWE (Vince) is so obsessed with how wrestling is perceived by broader audiences that I kind of get why it's still prohibited. And why on the rare occasion when a man and a woman square up in a WWE ring, it's almost always played as a joke or just a slap to the face.
posted by misskaz at 5:56 AM on August 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm a proponent of intergender wrestling and wish WWE would allow it to happen, because I think it's an important next step for women wrestlers. But I can understand WWE's hesitation when ESPN covers the topic leading with a photograph of a bruise on a woman's back. I think most wrestling fans would immediately get it, but WWE (Vince) is so obsessed with how wrestling is perceived by broader audiences that I kind of get why it's still prohibited. And why on the rare occasion when a man and a woman square up in a WWE ring, it's almost always played as a joke or just a slap to the face.
posted by misskaz at 5:56 AM on August 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
really huge dude (Matanza? I don't think it was him but can't remember) flinging Ivelisse around the ring like she was a rag doll.
That's from the second season premiere, but it was Ivelisse vs. Mil Muertes. The storyline was actually more badass than it sounds -- Mil's manager Catrina had it in for the entirely Unlikely Trio of Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angelico, and so the minute they stepped back into the LU Temple they were pitted against each other in a triple threat match where the winner would get an opportunity for Mil's Lucha Underground Championship.
So Ivelisse survived and was victorious against both of her male teammates, only to be told that her Championship Match would start... right now. So yes, she lost, but she lost against basically the Mexican Undertaker, and the storyline still protected her by having Catrina behave dishonorably.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:59 AM on August 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's from the second season premiere, but it was Ivelisse vs. Mil Muertes. The storyline was actually more badass than it sounds -- Mil's manager Catrina had it in for the entirely Unlikely Trio of Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angelico, and so the minute they stepped back into the LU Temple they were pitted against each other in a triple threat match where the winner would get an opportunity for Mil's Lucha Underground Championship.
So Ivelisse survived and was victorious against both of her male teammates, only to be told that her Championship Match would start... right now. So yes, she lost, but she lost against basically the Mexican Undertaker, and the storyline still protected her by having Catrina behave dishonorably.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:59 AM on August 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
PS: Lucha Underground is pretty much the most ridiculously fun and incredible pro-wrestling show on TV right now, and if you need evidence how far ahead of the curve they are when it comes to intergender wrestling, here's an entire episode centered on Pentagon Dark (your average skeleton ninja luchador) vs. a murderers' row of Japan's joshi talent: Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo and Mayu Iwatani.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:08 AM on August 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:08 AM on August 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
There is no couple that I find more adorable than Candace LeRae and Johnny Gargano.
It's weird to me that this article doesn't mention LeRae. Long before she and Gargano were in WWE, she was making a name for herself as the only regular female competitor in PWG. She put on lots of great matches with many current wrestling stars -- Kevin Owens, Young Bucks, Adam Cole, and yes, Gargano. I think most people who've only seen her in WWE have no idea just how far she's willing to push herself (warning: lots of blood).
posted by roll truck roll at 12:02 PM on August 20, 2018
It's weird to me that this article doesn't mention LeRae. Long before she and Gargano were in WWE, she was making a name for herself as the only regular female competitor in PWG. She put on lots of great matches with many current wrestling stars -- Kevin Owens, Young Bucks, Adam Cole, and yes, Gargano. I think most people who've only seen her in WWE have no idea just how far she's willing to push herself (warning: lots of blood).
posted by roll truck roll at 12:02 PM on August 20, 2018
It's weird to me that this article doesn't mention LeRae.
I'm betting that she wasn't "made available" for it (WWE is dropping a lot of hints about whether she's gonna break the IG barrier, but they clearly haven't made up their mind).
I'm more incensed at leaving out LuFisto, who convinced the Ontario Human Rights Commission that intergender wrestling should be legal.
posted by Etrigan at 7:45 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm betting that she wasn't "made available" for it (WWE is dropping a lot of hints about whether she's gonna break the IG barrier, but they clearly haven't made up their mind).
I'm more incensed at leaving out LuFisto, who convinced the Ontario Human Rights Commission that intergender wrestling should be legal.
posted by Etrigan at 7:45 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I never knew that story, Etrigan. That's amazing.
posted by roll truck roll at 8:20 AM on August 21, 2018
posted by roll truck roll at 8:20 AM on August 21, 2018
Mrs. Sauce and I discovered Lucha Underground from this thread.
It is SO GOOD.
Thank you misskaz, Etrigan, Pluto Gangsta.
posted by Sauce Trough at 4:41 PM on September 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
It is SO GOOD.
Thank you misskaz, Etrigan, Pluto Gangsta.
posted by Sauce Trough at 4:41 PM on September 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
« Older The un-celebrity president | "It all begins in Billtown." Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by acidnova at 7:30 PM on August 17, 2018 [4 favorites]