From billboards to movies, every medium of entertainment assumes a responsibility to their audience. The world of wrestling shares the same responsibilities that Jersey Shore or Twilight does (different audiences, for sure). Since WWE has gone PG over the last few years, their audience has shifted from 18-30 year olds to kids and teens, making their task all the more important because kids and teenagers are very impressionable.
Let me give an example. In late 2009, former WWE Diva Mickie James was feuding with power-heel divas Michelle McCool and Layla, commonly known as “LayCool”. Laycool are two young, skinny women, whose shtick is that they are to remind the audience of the two girls in high school who reached puberty before all the other girls in the class and were snobby and cruel to the girls who were either on the heavy side, late bloomers, and so on. Their gimmicks struck a nerve with many viewers (particularly female) but that’s what made them work (and continue to do so).
Because pro wrestling caters specifically to men, it is already understood that the women involved in this profession are what is “universally known to be beautiful.” I use quotes because beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what is beautiful to one individual may not be true for another. My understanding from most men that watch is that Mickie James is good looking, but a little heavy for what a “Diva” should be.
With all that in mind, WWE decided for these three women to collide. Armed with the knowledge of high school bitches, LayCool pummeled Mickie James with everything in the “repressed memories” book, even calling her “Piggy James.” This made for a compelling feud, as what girl or even guy couldn’t relate to this kind of hazing at one point or another? However it was compelling for the same reason it was treacherous, with the feud reaching an uncomfortable level for Mickie James on one episode of Smackdown where a video package was put together, showing LayCool on an animated farm, meshing Mickie’s face with a pig’s.
Reports indicated that the “Piggy James” angle was rehearsed earlier that day with Mickie being well aware of it as she was given a script beforehand. Prior to the live taping, she saw an unfinished version of the video, but didn’t see the final cut until show time when she was in the ring. Rumor has it that WWE surprised her with the degrading video. Later on, Mickie stated on her Twitter that the video hurt her feelings, but her concerns were more for the young girls that watch wrestling.
Depending on who you ask, it could be argued that Mickie’s weight didn’t make her a better or worse wrestler than someone smaller. One can even argue that she is one of the most talented female wrestlers today. In addition, this is an industry where “good to show” doesn’t always mean “good to go”. So what’s more important to the audience, brawn or beauty?
That’s the thing I enjoy most about wrestling. It has something for everyone. There are women who can wrestle, some who are there for aesthetics, and the very rare ones who are a healthy combination of the two. In my opinion, as long as she is healthy and can perform to the best of her ability in the ring, everything else can fall into place. The recent hiring of Awesome Kong by WWE is making many hopeful that the women’s division is getting a make over (or rather, the opposite) by employing a full-figured woman. She does not fit into your typical “Diva” but that’s what’s going to make her fun to watch. Gone should be the days of skinny, proportional, carbon copies of Barbie; in wrestling and elsewhere.
