Now, based on the name of this column, you’re probably thinking to yourself that this thing could go in several different directions. I can assure you that this piece of writing is coming from a genuine place in my heart and with good intentions. I won’t pretend to know how it feels to be a woman but I was taught from a very young age to respect women and when I see behavior that is contrary to that it really bothers me. Fact: DiscussPW is a female fan friendly pro wrestling website. Not all sites (or podcasts and/or their Twitter/social media accounts) can say that based off of the ugly behavior that we have witnessed from some of the male fans out there. Jay, TDM and I went into depth on that subject with our recent Cross the Line episode of Spark the Discussion, if you haven’t listened to it yet. Trust me, I get it that not everyone should be expected to be politically correct about every little thing that they post on the internet. Nowadays people will find someway to be offended about almost anything. I also don’t claim to be perfect by any means. However, when those types of nasty words and phrases are written or spoken on whatever platform, they send a message of degrading and marginalizing women. In a similar vein, slurs that are homophobic or racist are also not tolerated here. Those things are unacceptable to me. People that exhibit that kind of behavior should be held accountable. Online bullying is deplorable. Hurtful terms and remarks such as those don’t have a place in the pro wrestling fan community of 2018. All people deserve respect, especially women.
If you haven’t noticed, our very own Angela has done a fantastic job as a moderator since she took that role in the last few months and we all value her contributions a lot. She puts out such a positive vibe for the site and really sets a tone for how DPW conducts business on a daily basis. CJ also plays a vital role here at DiscussPW as she has rightfully put commenters in their place if needs be. She has also been helpful behind the scenes. Octavia (a.k.a. Boo) recently found the site and it has been great to interact with her again and cheer her on as she continues with her journey as a pro wrestler. This brings me to my point. If you know of other female wrestling fans (or any fans, regardless of gender for that matter) that you think would be a good fit here at DiscussPW, then let them know about us. We’ve proven ourselves to be an accepting, laid back community. Again, our objective is not to be the biggest site and podcast. We don’t focus entirely on numbers like some people out there who seem to be absolutely obsessed with them. However, we’d like to see some new people come in and feel welcome here. I have a sneaking suspicion that some Lucha Underground fans will migrate this way in the coming months. I’m sure that there are other fans out there who will eventually come on board. Maybe some are lurking right now and simply don’t post comments….. yet. To those of you that I’m referring to, I say “Come on in, the water is fine!” Even if you just want to dip a toe in and let us know that you’re there, that would be great. Then, if you so desire, feel free to go back to sitting on your beach chair and observing if that’s your preference.
It makes sense that the Impact Wrestling fan base (at least the ones that aren’t ignorant halfwits) would emulate the same attitude towards women that the company has shown towards its female roster members. Overall, Impact Wrestling/TNA women have been treated with more respect in comparison to how many other promotions have typically portrayed females, specifically the WWE. Now, the history of the opposite sex in TNA/Impact Wrestling is not necessarily “squeaky clean” over the duration of nearly 16 years, but the era that I’m focusing on primarily is from the formation of the KnockOuts Division in 2007 until now. Female wrestlers in TNA/Impact over the years have been allowed to actually be wrestlers and perform equally in-ring instead of just serving merely as eye candy. They have showcased their skills instead of just trying to solicit cat calls. They have demanded respect and they have earned it, frankly. The quality of strong female characters in recent times with Rosemary, Su Yung, Allie, Tessa Blanchard, Sienna and others has been tremendous. Tessa being on the roster is a huge deal. She has all of the tools necessary to be a dominant force in Impact Wrestling for several years to come. Impact Wrestling is a place where women can be in the main event of their weekly show, which has happened several times in the last decade. This company does not condone a “meat market” type of situation with their ladies. The women of Impact are beautiful but they can still work. I’ve always been impressed with the diversity of the women in TNA/Impact, whether it’s an Awesome Kong or Gail Kim or ODB or Roxxi or Daffney or Jade and many others. It’s all about these unique performers being good at what they do, not about their body shape or their good looks. Impact doesn’t have a Barbie factory producing cookie cutter models pretending to be pro wrestlers. I recently ran a Twitter poll asking fans what their favorite division in Impact is currently. The KnockOuts Division ended up winning by a seven percent margin over the next closest choice, and that’s really saying something. Fans truly love and appreciate the KnockOuts and I would put them up against any other women’s division in the world.
If you think about it, most of us have probably known a passionate female wrestling fan at some point in our lives. Whether it’s a grandma or a mom or a friend. It could be an aunt or a sister or a cousin. Or it could be some lady at work or school or church or whatever. Don’t ever assume that just because that person is a woman, that somehow her opinions and viewpoints on pro wrestling are lesser or not as knowledgeable. If you are that kind of sexist jerk that thinks that women are inferior in whatever capacity of life, you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself. Again, here at DPW, we believe that all fans deserve to be honored as long as they are following the rules and perimeters of the site. We’re not trying to put ourselves on a pedestal but we do hold ourselves to a higher standard on this particular subject. I know for a fact that some fans don’t feel comfortable on other certain sites and with some other podcasts when it comes to this type of subject matter. We want DiscussPW to be the premier community for pro wrestling fans. Quality over quantity is always a winning philosophy. We are not motivated by money. As you can see, there are no ads on the site or on Spark the Discussion. We are not overly concerned with meeting a certain quota like some people out there are. Of course we want to see DPW grow but we’re not going to let people come in and be blatantly negative for no good reason or act like chauvinist pigs. Our tag line is, “Keep it positive, at least when it comes to Impact”. That doesn’t mean that we totally forbid constructive criticism of Impact Wrestling and we have indeed expressed dislike for certain things when necessary. It’s OK to talk about things we don’t like on Impact and other products to an extent but we want to be different from other places in that particular aspect. Repeatedly hating on something or someone over and over just for the sake of hating on it or them is just plain foolish. Bringing up the same cynical talking points again and again becomes tiresome and divisive and some other places are inundated with that type of behavior. If having a general “be positive” policy in place translates to us having a smaller audience, then so be it. Following in the footsteps of the revitalized Matt Sydal, I challenge you to open up your third eye. We appreciate each and every one of you that supports DiscussPW and Spark the Discussion. Peace, love and pro wrestling. Namaste.