Wrestling Matters in Impact Wrestling - Really?

"Wrestling Matters Here" - These are all over TNA's website.

When Total Nonstop Action changed it's name to "Impact Wrestling" company president Dixie Carter claimed it was another measure to live up to it's new slogan: Wrestling Matters. It does feel like they are trying to improve it's product and give fans a real alternative to World Wrestling Entertainment, putting on entertaining matches and giving opportunities to wrestlers on the independent level. "Gut Check" is their latest idea - think American Idol meets wrestling and you're pretty much there. Basically wrestlers have to pay a fee to try out and those that get the call get the chance to have a match, cut a promo and try to impress the three judges: Bruce Pritchard, Al Snow and Taz. The first one, Joey Ryan, didn't impress enough to earn a contract but this past week the first woman to make it up, Taeler Hendrix, made it. She is the newest Knockout.

Lufisto hits a German suplex on Kana. Credit Gregory Davis c/o DirtyDirtySheets.

Given the fact that Joey Ryan crashed Taeler's moment, it's fair to say that part of Gut Check is story line driven, but TNA does seem legitimately searching for more wrestlers that want an opportunity. Plus, even if the wrestlers do not get signed, they at least have some television time. Last week, to celebrate her 15 year anniversary, Lufisto revealed that she took part in a Gut Check tryout alongside fellow Canadian Courtney Rush. We knew that Courtney would be taking part but Lufisto came as a surprise. Since then she's had a groundswell of support from social media, particularly Twitter. TNA has asked for fans to make their opinions known on Twitter, so one would hope that this would help both women's chances.

However, when TNA released it's latest "TNA Today" video on the 26th, it featured Al Snow and JB viewing and discussing promos from a few of the wrestlers who had tried out on Saturday in Canada. One of those discussed was Lufisto herself. The video is here, fast forward to 8:45:

I've seen Lufi give better promos, but this wasn't exactly a promo. She was speaking from the heart, about her years in wrestling, where she's gone and what she has been through. In previous interviews she has said that one of her last goals is to have a match for TNA, even if it's only one. Here she was understandably nervous as this could lead to her achieving said goal. After some light hearted banter about her talking to "an inanimate object" (which seemed to be gentle humour seeing as Al Snow got over by talking to a mannequin head), JB said that she was great in the ring and had a unique personality and character. Then...it took a nose dive with Snow saying,

"The problem is... you have to have a personality that can fill a 20,000 seat building. Especially for women, women have it the easiest but they have it the hardest in wrestling. They have it the easiest because men will always pay to see a woman, a very attractive woman. So, she's already an attraction just because she's female. But they have it harder from the standpoint because they have to be as technically sound, they have to be as professional and athletic as a man...but on the same hand, they still have to come across and portray being a woman. But not just a woman, they gotta know how to work the woman thing. Like, you know the difference between a pretty girl, a beautiful girl and a gorgeous girl? A pretty girl walks into a room, all the boys will stop and stare. A beautiful woman walks into a room, all the girls will stop and stare. A gorgeous woman walks into a room and the room stops. Does nothing. You have to be, if you're a girl, able to walk into a 20,000 seat room and be able to make the entire building stop. The best example of that that I always use is Sable. Literally was such an attraction and knew how to use that female thing that they do - that hoo do voodoo they do - that she got paid tons of money to walk to the ring and walk back. That's all she did for years, she was an attraction just in that. And for girls they have to learn that ability to do that."

Notice what happened? He went from talking about something that is very true (the fact that women have it harder because they have to be as technically sound, professional and athletic as a man) to talking about the thing that it has always come down to when it comes to the mainstream wrestling companies WWE and TNA - looks. Beauty. Or, put as frankly and bluntly as possible, is this girl fuckable?

Too harsh? Too blunt? Hell no. Because what do men want to do to gorgeous women? Fuck them. The sexual turn on they get from looking at beautiful women is something that's in their anatomy. And it's the same for women who look at gorgeous men. (Plus for women who are turned on by women, and men turned on by men - not leaving anyone out here!) We are very physical creatures.

However. For a company to say that "wrestling matters" and then one of the judges on Gut Check talks a great deal about how a woman looks matters more than anything...how does that look to other potential tryouts? Other women who want to be taken seriously as skilled athletes? It looks like hypocrisy from a company official and it looks like sexism from a man. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

This is Al Snow's standard?

Lets examine this a bit. Sable was over, I won't deny that. I just recently finished watching a WWF 1997 set and every time there was a bit featuring Sable and Marc Mero, she got the majority of cheers and chants - even when all she was doing was standing there. But on the other hand, everyone during that era was over. Even your lower level talent, everyone got a reaction. Wrestling was starting to become popular in the mainstream and it was Sable's good fortune to be there to ride that wave.

When she started to wrestle, the only reason she became as good as she did was because she had two great veterans to work with - Luna Vachon and Jacqueline Moore. Both had numerous years of experience under their belt and were the best women capable of helping protect and put Sable over. The booking was also done well to boost Sable's popularity - an example of how great booking is crucial to the success of a wrestler. Yet she wasn't the only one to get a great reaction - Al Snow worked at the WWF when Lita and Chyna burst onto the scene and also got great reactions. They certainly weren't "gorgeous" by mainstream culture standards but they were beautiful in their own way. Their merch sold and both got huge chants from the crowds. Later examples of women who got over that weren't classically beautiful are Victoria, Mickie James, and Beth Phoenix. Trish Stratus was the best mix of classic beauty and the determination to learn as much as possible. Sable never learned to wrestle as well as she could, whereas Trish did.

...Seriously?

Besides that...let's call a spade a spade. Sable later got reactions because she was willing to take her clothes off. That isn't skill. That isn't representative of (I'd like to think) what fans want to see. If you want to see a woman get naked you can watch porn. I want a woman who can kick ass and look good at the same time. Lufisto and Courtney Rush more than fit the bill. Besides, beauty is so subjective. I've seen people get into arguments over who is more beautiful, Lita or Trish, Kelly Kelly or Torrie Wilson. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Luna Vachon said it best, it takes balls to be a caterpillar in a world of butterflies.

With all that Lufisto has been through, all that she has accomplished, for Al Snow to say that essentially it comes down to being gorgeous enough to affect people...frankly, I want to kick him in the balls. Because that is the same garbage that women have always had to deal with in all aspects of life. A woman's looks have always affected her ability to get hired or passed over for a job. Wrestling is one area where looks still hold too much weight. After all, a man as ugly as Ryback can still get hired and pushed. Yet someone like Lufisto would be passed over because someone thinks she wouldn't fill a 20,000 seat arena? Is this Dixie Carter/AJ styles nonsense filling those arenas? Is Ken Anderson? Or Garret Bischoff? And when has TNA ever been able to fill a 20,000 seat arena? They haven't ever tried it because they know half the arena would be empty. Recent attendance figures for TNA Impact and house shows are easy to look up. They have never even gotten 5,000.

When the Knockouts division really got going, you had a roster full of diverse women who all brought something unique to the table. Angelina Love. Velvet Sky. Gail Kim. Amazing Kong. Taylor Wilde. Daffney. Ayako Hamada. Sarita. ODB. Alissa Flash (aka Cheerleader Melissa). Roxxi Laveaux (aka Nikki Roxx). Jacqueline Moore. Shelley Martinez. Madison Rayne (aka Ashley Lane). The women regularly got the highest ratings each week and the Gail Kim/Amazing Kong feud has gone down as one of the company's best feuds ever. Now, however, it's a shell of it's former glory with the tales of the women being so poorly paid that they had to work second jobs (Taylor being recognised as Knockouts Champion while working at a Sunglasses hut), and what all poor Daffney has gone through being public knowledge. Of the originals, Love, Sky, Rayne, and Sarita remain. Gail returned after a second WWE run, and more former WWE Divas have been added such as Tara, Mickie James, Winter, and Brooke Tessmacher. Which, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for those women who are searching for an opportunity to make a name for themselves on television it makes their prospects look a bit worse.

"Fans Matter" - According to TNA's website too.

Dixie Carter claims to listen to the fans. She claims that wrestling matters in her company. Then listen to us Miss Carter - we want both the Super Hardcore Anime, Lufisto AND the Suplex Machine, Courtney Rush as TNA Knockouts! We don't want Sables or Sunnys - we want women who are real, genuine, hard working and dedicated. We want women who are willing to break molds, set NEW standards and bring new life to the TNA Knockout Division. We want women who are passionate about wrestling. Miss Carter, I sincerely hope that Al Snow's example isn't shared by you or anyone else in the company. It seems that it is (after all, people in your company said that Sara Del Rey didn't have enough of what the Beautiful People had to work there...), but I am more than willing to be proved wrong.

Courtney Rush t-bone suplexes Gabriella Vanderpool.

Set a new standard. A new example. Break barriers. Prove that you are listening to us fans and that wrestling (not looks) truly does matter. You want people that are humble and hungry? Look no further than Lufisto and Courtney Rush. They damn sure don't look like Sable - they are better than her in every way. And that's why I love them so much. Give them a shot and they will prove everyone wrong - Lufisto has experience doing just that for the past fifteen years after all.