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| Not only does CVE compete in CZW, she's a star Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Whenever there are terrible fans at a wrestling show in the Philadelphia area, they are lumped into a catchall group associated with Combat Zone Wrestling by some people. I don't know if this is a fair assessment because grouping an entire subset of people into one group with similar traits is flat out wrong, and most of the time untrue. Two of the most diehard CZW fans that I know, Alex Torres and Alyssa Kay, are as dedicated to the promotion as can be. Neither one of them embody the negative stereotypes that are associated with fans of the promotion.
However, stereotypes often gain traction because of the loudest, most obnoxious representatives of said group. Philly sports fans are lumped in together as a malodorous breed of halfwits, drunks, and sociopaths because of the actions of a minority group that thinks going to an Eagles game entitles them to act like the fucking place is Thunderdome. Granted though, we get that rep because it seems like our city's minority group of loathsome fans is a lot larger in proportion to the sane fans than in most other metropolitan areas. CZW, appropriately enough, is the Philadelphia of the wrestling world. You seem to be more likely to hear misogynist, racist, or otherwise awful chants or catcalls at CZW events than at any other event, so the legend (myth?) goes. And hey, if they happen at Ring of Honor or EVOLVE shows, blame it on the CZW fans too!
Personally, I don't believe that the majority of CZW fans are awful people. But I do think that the ones who are likely to proposition, say, Sassy Stephie to flash them for cash, or make signs directed at Mia Yim that depict her bottomless and ready to take a crudely constructed cardboard phallus between the legs, seem to be a little more outrageous than the ones who merely, y'know, have an insatiable desire to see women get clotheslined for no other reason than they were "stupid bitches" during the match. But there had to have been something about CZW that brought those kinds of fans into the fray. I can't speak about the promotion's past. I've only really started to follow them in the last year or so. However, what I've found is that in their own, fucked-up way, CZW is one of the more progressive promotions around, especially when it comes to women.
Looking at the company in a vacuum, it might seem to appear that women get abused and mistreated there the same as any other company. The word "bitch" is liberally thrown around, even by the women themselves. But contextually, are the men that much better off? The place is pretty much a pit of chaos where you pretty much survive rather than thrive. Since Mia Yim busted through with their most recent attempt at integrating by gender, CZW has been great at granting women agency, which is the most important thing to attain for any person regardless of demographic. Christina von Eerie has gotten two shots at the CZW World Championship. Kimber Lee, LuFisto, and Jessicka Havok have all gotten chances to work against males as well as females. Most importantly, company owner DJ Hyde has said that he wants the women to "work just like the men." There are a lot of things anyone can say about that guy, but hey, he's got the right idea when it comes to gender equity at least.
The thing is that Hyde inherited a company that embraced a lot of the lowest common denominators of humanity, and in a way, it still does. If everyone in CZW is a scoundrel to some degree, then of course the fans that are attracted to it will continue to be the ones who like scoundrels. That's their oeuvre, and they embrace it. I'm not sure if they embrace those "CZW Fans" that get and give them the bad rap though. Is it even their responsibility? I think it is, but not in the apparent way.
To ask CZW to be lily-white in presentation and start promoting characters as clear babyfaces is to ask them to deny themselves, like trying to date someone because you're insanely attracted to them, but forcing them to change everything about themselves if you want to keep dating. That's selfish, and there are ways of changing things about execution without compromising philosophy. To an extent, I think that it's worked. By the end of her feud with Greg Excellent, Yim was accepted and even cheered by even the densest and most stubborn of fans in the building. However many singular examples there are, it's unreasonable to think that human beings will change rapidly, even with the most intense of stimuli. It will take time, whether it's to hammer at outer facades of the grossest fans, or to let them die off or leave the company to be replaced by fans who similarly have a hunger to watch hyperviolent wrestling but aren't bigoted about the people who compete in it.
In the meantime, maybe it's time that fans who consider themselves above CZW and its fans to reconsider their opinions. There is no demographic of people that exists that can be predicted by stereotypes. If someone in your area is screaming rude and sexist things at wrestlers, don't mumble to yourself about "CZW fans." Turn around and say something to that specific fan. Odds are, he or she is probably alone or in a small group that just happens to have the loudest voices in that section. Everyone's different, and some people are just going to be assholes no matter what the stimuli that are given to them by whatever wrestling company they watch. To marginalize them and the company itself is to miss out on the good things that are happening in the Combat Zone.
However, stereotypes often gain traction because of the loudest, most obnoxious representatives of said group. Philly sports fans are lumped in together as a malodorous breed of halfwits, drunks, and sociopaths because of the actions of a minority group that thinks going to an Eagles game entitles them to act like the fucking place is Thunderdome. Granted though, we get that rep because it seems like our city's minority group of loathsome fans is a lot larger in proportion to the sane fans than in most other metropolitan areas. CZW, appropriately enough, is the Philadelphia of the wrestling world. You seem to be more likely to hear misogynist, racist, or otherwise awful chants or catcalls at CZW events than at any other event, so the legend (myth?) goes. And hey, if they happen at Ring of Honor or EVOLVE shows, blame it on the CZW fans too!
Personally, I don't believe that the majority of CZW fans are awful people. But I do think that the ones who are likely to proposition, say, Sassy Stephie to flash them for cash, or make signs directed at Mia Yim that depict her bottomless and ready to take a crudely constructed cardboard phallus between the legs, seem to be a little more outrageous than the ones who merely, y'know, have an insatiable desire to see women get clotheslined for no other reason than they were "stupid bitches" during the match. But there had to have been something about CZW that brought those kinds of fans into the fray. I can't speak about the promotion's past. I've only really started to follow them in the last year or so. However, what I've found is that in their own, fucked-up way, CZW is one of the more progressive promotions around, especially when it comes to women.
Looking at the company in a vacuum, it might seem to appear that women get abused and mistreated there the same as any other company. The word "bitch" is liberally thrown around, even by the women themselves. But contextually, are the men that much better off? The place is pretty much a pit of chaos where you pretty much survive rather than thrive. Since Mia Yim busted through with their most recent attempt at integrating by gender, CZW has been great at granting women agency, which is the most important thing to attain for any person regardless of demographic. Christina von Eerie has gotten two shots at the CZW World Championship. Kimber Lee, LuFisto, and Jessicka Havok have all gotten chances to work against males as well as females. Most importantly, company owner DJ Hyde has said that he wants the women to "work just like the men." There are a lot of things anyone can say about that guy, but hey, he's got the right idea when it comes to gender equity at least.
The thing is that Hyde inherited a company that embraced a lot of the lowest common denominators of humanity, and in a way, it still does. If everyone in CZW is a scoundrel to some degree, then of course the fans that are attracted to it will continue to be the ones who like scoundrels. That's their oeuvre, and they embrace it. I'm not sure if they embrace those "CZW Fans" that get and give them the bad rap though. Is it even their responsibility? I think it is, but not in the apparent way.
To ask CZW to be lily-white in presentation and start promoting characters as clear babyfaces is to ask them to deny themselves, like trying to date someone because you're insanely attracted to them, but forcing them to change everything about themselves if you want to keep dating. That's selfish, and there are ways of changing things about execution without compromising philosophy. To an extent, I think that it's worked. By the end of her feud with Greg Excellent, Yim was accepted and even cheered by even the densest and most stubborn of fans in the building. However many singular examples there are, it's unreasonable to think that human beings will change rapidly, even with the most intense of stimuli. It will take time, whether it's to hammer at outer facades of the grossest fans, or to let them die off or leave the company to be replaced by fans who similarly have a hunger to watch hyperviolent wrestling but aren't bigoted about the people who compete in it.
In the meantime, maybe it's time that fans who consider themselves above CZW and its fans to reconsider their opinions. There is no demographic of people that exists that can be predicted by stereotypes. If someone in your area is screaming rude and sexist things at wrestlers, don't mumble to yourself about "CZW fans." Turn around and say something to that specific fan. Odds are, he or she is probably alone or in a small group that just happens to have the loudest voices in that section. Everyone's different, and some people are just going to be assholes no matter what the stimuli that are given to them by whatever wrestling company they watch. To marginalize them and the company itself is to miss out on the good things that are happening in the Combat Zone.