If you’ve been to any pro wrestling live event, you’ve likely heard some pretty unsavory comments from random people in the crowd. The world of wrestling fans is as wide as any other you’re likely to find these days, and filled with many different beliefs and viewpoints. Some of those beliefs and viewpoints might be outdated, or unacceptable. That’s just the nature of any public gathering, to be honest. You’ll experience the same sort of thing at an NFL event. Maybe especially after this past weekend.
That being said, when independent wrestling shows have some … questionable attendees, those voices are more likely to be heard due to the smaller crowd. They’re more likely to be heard by other fans, and they’re more likely to be heard by the wrestlers themselves. Increased interaction with the performers is one of the bigger selling points of indie wrestling, but when things go bad, they can potentially go very bad.
Over the weekend, popular U.K. wrestler Jimmy Havoc encountered some fan comments that he was not pleased about, and he took to Twitter to make sure fans were aware that, in his opinion, there is absolutely no place for misogyny and sexism in pro wrestling … and in the crowd at those events.
https://twitter.com/JimmyHavoc/status/911705839836246017
With Spandex reached out to Havoc to get some further thoughts and details on the situation, and this is what he had to say:
I was watching the second half of the show after having wrestled, and during a match a fan came over and expressed their upset at a few other members of the audience who were shouting misogynistic things to a 17-year-old female wrestler in the ring. The fan in question had tried to talk to the others about their behaviour but they weren’t interested in her opinions, at which point she asked for help. I went to chat to the guys to explain that shouting “get your tits out” isn’t acceptable, at which point I was faced with a barrage of excuses as to why it was ok they said it.
It’s not ok. It’s never ok. Women have a hard enough time in this industry as it is without letting people think this behaviour is acceptable.
If said fans had apologised and just move on it wouldn’t have been an issue. Everyone has said some stuff in the past they may regret, you learn and move on. These guys were adamant that they did nothing wrong, then tried to fight me over it.
This is not acceptable. I don’t want people at shows who are only interested in seeing women if they “get their tits out”
We can’t keep thinking this behaviour is acceptable these days. These women train just as hard, if not harder, than the men. Why shouldn’t they be afforded the same respect?
Havoc’s comments were pretty much universally agreed upon among wrestlers, but when some unfortunate trolls stuck their heads up to insist it was their right to say whatever they wanted at a show they paid to attend, they got hammered down.
https://twitter.com/joeyryanonline/status/911931671062118400
https://twitter.com/DeonnaPurrazzo/status/911938280710709252
Even NXT’s Aleister Black made his opinion of the matter known.
https://twitter.com/WWEAleister/status/911924941209178117
It’s very welcome that pro wrestlers aren’t afraid to speak their minds or take a stand, especially when it’s something very worth taking a stand on.
