Women of Wrestling Crush 

There is a lot about the world today that I’m thankful I did not have growing up because if social media makes me feel this low about my self-worth as a 36-year-old, gawd only knows how insane it would’ve driven me at 13. The same goes for the increase in violence and political mayhem. 

Alas, there are a handful of things from the 21st century that I just missed out on at the turn of the millennium that are now commonplace such as body positivity, embracing natural hair, and the fact that representation matters is an active force in the media for people of all races, sexual orientations, and gender identities. With all of that said, while it still sucks to not be a straight, white, male, Christian with a deep wallet in America, at least we’re getting there in a variety of ways, including the wonderful world of wrestling.

This week Chancy Grife, one of the hosts of Maniacal Music Musings, is coming through to talk about a wrestling crush he has. I thought for sure it’d be one of the WWE Divas from yesteryear, but another has his heart a bit more. Inspired by his pick, I wanted to talk about women in wrestling and how far they’ve come from being ringside beauties and the butt of the joke because that’s all I saw when I was just a teen tuning in for my ultimate WWE crush, Jeff Hardy, way back when. 

Before I started watching, the women in wrestling seemed to be nothing more than eye candy and plot devices in a realm that was already riddled with an excess of questionable ongoings. I mean, we can all admit now that the WWE was racist as hell…Back to the women though, they weren’t there to be the stars, and I remember there was a time that when they did start to wrestle, it was all about those bra and panty matches. Even when a woman was strong enough to get in the ring with the likes of Stone Cold and The Undertaker, she was a continuous punchline. Yeah, we’re talking about Chyna. 

Fast forward to today and it’s come a long way since the days of bras, panties, and insults. Women like Becky Lynch, Rhonda Roussey, and Sasha Banks are not just there to be the arm candy. Oh, hell no – they are there competing and performing on par with their male counterparts in matches that are about athleticism and not just their physiques in lingerie. The women that came before them crawled to the ring so that they could then jump off those ropes and into the limelight as WWE Superstars like they deserve. 

There is so much kids today have to deal with that I know I would not be strong enough to handle, but on the flip side, they’re getting to grow up with various facets of the world trying to make it better for them, at least as far as entertainment’s concerned. Especially when it comes to wrestling and the women showcasing a vast array of abilities in the ring today across the board from the WWE to AEW and beyond.