wrestling / News

Shayna Baszler Says She Supports Intergender Wrestling ‘When It Makes Sense’

June 3, 2021 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Shayna Baszler Reginald WWE Raw

Daily DDT‘s Graham Matthews recently spoke to WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler. She discussed the topic of intergender wrestling and more. Below are some highlights.

Shayna Baszler on intergender wrestling: “[Intergender wrestling] is an interesting topic and it always is. As a mixed martial artist and a fighter, I was the only female on my fight team for years for the majority of my career. I’ve even entered submission wrestling tournaments and wrestled in the men’s division because the women in the women’s division weren’t as experienced, so I wanted to get my money’s worth in this tournament. This is not new to me or anyone else who trains in that sort of martial art to understand that a woman can compete with a male. That’s not a question and it’s surprising to me that this day and age that’s so hard for people to understand.”

Baszler on being fine with it when it makes sense: “I am also in support of intergender wrestling when it makes sense and when I know the woman knows what they’re doing. I wouldn’t suggest that just anyone… I don’t know if it’s even appropriate to name names. I wouldn’t tell Lana to get in there with any male on the roster, but someone like myself who’s a technician and is experienced competing against males and I know how to balance technique against strength, it’s a little more fitting for someone like me. I’m not all Gung Ho, ‘All women should fight on the equal ground as the men.’ If there are women who are trained to do that, I’m all for it. I think the argument for me is that people don’t necessarily believe all the time that a woman can balance out that male vs. female aspect. But it is possible and I will show that.”

On how wrestling is almost like a combination of MMA and Marvel movies: “Pro wrestling is an interesting medium because it has a shared relationship with things like mixed martial arts and also at the same time with things like Marvel movies. When you look at the side of a Marvel movie, we’re not going to argue. The female superheroes are always fighting the guys in that, but when we look at it in a mixed martial arts sense, we’re never going to see that. That’s not getting into ‘Women can’t be competitive,’ that’s not what I’m saying, but there’s no reason why women will ever compete professionally in a fight sport against men. I think it’s hard for people to meld these two thoughts to realize that professional wrestling is its own entity. You can’t watch professional wrestling all the time the same way you’re going to watch mixed martial arts. You can’t watch professional wrestling the same way you’re going to watch a Marvel movie in the theater.”

article topics :

Shayna Baszler, WWE, Jeffrey Harris