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| A rockstar such as Athena deserves better than to be shoehorned as sexy cattle Photo Credit: Greg Davis/DDS |
Obviously, even going to Impact Wrestling is a theoretical financial boon for independent wrestlers who might be lucky to get three figures per show worked. A lot of the wrestlers who make it there are still on per appearance deals, but those figures are in the thousands. If you miss a taping though, you could be in deep shit; just ask Jesse Neal. But then again, if you get regular work, then sure, it's better than working the indies for your pocketbook. But that's only if you're a man.
Women have gotten a historically awful rap in the company. We all know the story of Taylor Wilde being recognized at the Sunglass Hut while she was the sitting Knockouts Champion. I don't have the financials in front of me, but I assume since the door was blown off that, and after Daffney's travails shed some light on conditions, the salaries more than likely have improved. Then again, there's been a tradeoff.
In the days when women were paid in pittances, they had apparent artistic fulfillment. From its inception, the Knockouts Division was a creative boon for the company, often containing some of the most compelling feuds with some prime talent. Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, Wilde, Sarita, ODB, Nikki Roxx, Tara, and even Angelina Love were all wrestlers who could perform regardless of gender. The division got results too; oftentimes, the Knockouts garnered the highest ratings on the show. Just as they were getting set in their niche, they got the ovaries cut out from under them.
Today, Impact Wrestling's Knockouts Division seems more conforming to the WWE's model of how to treat women. Yeah, Tara is involved in a story right now as the Champion, but there's no divisional patchwork. It's one main feud, and the rest of the story is that the girls get trotted out either as intermediary matches on Impact, or for commercials like these.
It's not like the women angling to get jobs are green or undertrained or treading water in the indies. We're talking about LuFisto, the most gifted all-around performer not with a major company right now (and I'd gather she's better than a lot of people on either roster too). There's Athena, who has taken several promotions by the shorthairs with her personality and her ability in the ring. Courtney Rush, a wrestler who has more personality in the crud underneath her fingernails than most have in their entire bodies. They are wrestlers who deserve to be in main event spotlights wherever they go, and they're willingly going into a competition where their ceiling may very well be to put on lingerie and pose on chairs.
Of course, the discussion becomes one of a tug of war between artistic quality and making that paper. For men, that tug of war exists, but not in nearly the degree that it does for the opposite sex. CM Punk certainly isn't doing what he was allowed to do in his time before WWE, but right now, he's running at at least 75% capacity. The only two people who can reasonably claim they came or are coming close are Kharma and Sara del Rey. The former was a pet project of Triple H and possibly was being groomed for a Chyna-type role, and the latter may only escape the kind of degrading exposition by being a trainer in Florida. I mean, that's a great role for her, and it's one that people shouldn't scoff at, but holy shit, the fact that the best role for one of the best performers on the independent circuit in WWE is as a trainer because of her gender should raise some fucking red flags.
Of course, there's always the chance that there will be a reverse field in Impact, yadda yadda yadda, but regimes don't change so easily. Without the people there who pushed the Knockouts to more prominent roles (Scott D'Amore, for starters), how is the mindset of people like Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan going to change? I think that LuFisto, Athena, and Rush should all get paid top dollar for their work. I really do. But there has to be a way they could get paid more without sacrificing the unique talents they bring to the table.
Sadly, I remain pessimistic that this Gut Check thing is going to be the route for them to achieve both. The outlook remains the same for Britani Knight/Paige and Davina Rose in WWE Developmental as well. Something has to change regarding women in wrestling in this country, because more and more, the top wrestlers on the scene are becoming more and more gender neutral in diversity. Until that day comes though, Gut Check as an avenue for top women to "make it" feels to be a bad idea. Be careful what you wish for, ladies. It just might come true, and if that's the case, we all lose.