Ring of Dishonor

I don't want to know what drives a man, a grown man whom one would think was given a proper rearing, to throw a piece of metal at another human being in order for the target to show an erogenous zone. That kind of person is a scumbag, plain and simple, not a person with which I would like to associate. I don't expect to see that kind of behavior at a baseball game or randomly on the street or even at a strip club. At the last place, at least most patrons have the common decency to offer paper money in a more polite fashion. Think about it, an average strip club patron shows more decorum than the cipher who threw a quarter at Seleziya Sparx at Death before Dishonor this past Friday.

Sure, one can place blame for the incident on whatever emotional baggage that fan had. That kind of behavior should be ostracized and punished, sure, but nothing of the sort really happened. No one around the guy IDed him to security. The only people who thought enough to give him a hard time were those in bleachers sitting halfway across the arena. Sure, maybe security didn't see that action, but then again, why wouldn't Sparx complain to someone? She was assaulted. Why would Ring of Honor allow such an atmosphere to persist?

Maybe the problem doesn't so much lay with the fan himself. Obviously, he has repressed woman issues, but maybe that behavior doesn't come out if ROH doesn't have such an awful environment towards women. Zero matches at Death before Dishonor were dedicated to their long-stunted Women of Honor division. The outfit Sparx belongs to does more to set women in wrestling back than the work that Sparx and her colleagues are doing in other promotions, none through the fault of those performers. They're told to go out and be Hoopla Hotties and nothing more.

Does anyone wonder why certain independent wrestling promotions' shows can come off as so hostile towards women? Does anyone understand how easily people like the guy who threw that quarter at Sparx make criticizing indie wrestling fans as lonely, stunted manchildren for the naysayers? This behavior goes on because fans allow it to happen. Fans like this are allowed to act as if women are objects and not actual human beings because the wrestling promotions foster the kind of atmosphere that makes it easy for lizard brains to take over their better natures and do things worse than catcall.

Personally, I'm sick and tired of being considered a punchline because I'm a wrestling fan. I'm tired of people thinking I'm a lonely virgin with mommy issues because those people are allowed to run roughshod. Sexism and misogyny are real, and they are counterproductive to the long term survival of wrestling, no matter what the idiots in charge of companies think draws. If you stop booking to attract scumbags, scumbags will stop coming. Chikara throws out abusive fans and promotes a family friendly atmosphere. Maria Kanellis showed up to King of Trios wearing one of the skimpiest outfits I've ever seen on a woman in wrestling, and she was treated with a lot less disrespect over three days than what the Hoopla Hotties got in 20 minutes.

Just like creative innovation has to start from the bottom and bubble upward, so social activism have to come up from the bottom. Blaming WWE and TNA for their atrocious treatment of women is no longer good enough, and I'd argue it never has been. If following WWE's lead wasn't on the table for a creative direction, then why on earth would it be copacetic with gender equity? Ring of Honor's show was named "Death before Dishonor," but when the treatment of their women, especially Seleziya Sparx, came into question, their death happened a long time ago.