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Diversity in wrestling

We look at the past and present times of wrestling discussing aspects of how the diversity has progressed and what needs to happen for it to progress.

Diversity is a hot topic in society right now in general. Our panel take a look at how it is handled in wrestling today.

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As a society in general, we have slowly begun to embrace diversity in all its forms. Be it the LGBTQ+ community, race, gender etc, no longer should it be frowned upon to be different.

When it comes to wrestling though, many would believe that the sport is behind the curve compared to some.

Since 1971, there have been just nine professional wrestlers from ethnic minority backgrounds who have gone onto win World Championship belts.

There is still a stigma in some climates to coming out as being LGBTQ+, whilst certain corners won’t take the women’s division seriously.

2019 has seen so many signs of change with all these areas though. Kofi Kingston became WWE’s first African-born WWE Champion and three female stars in Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Ronda Rousey main eventing WrestleMania.

Add in the addition to the market of AEW, who have been praised for their approach to diversity.

Indeed, in its very short lifespan, the company has given stars like Nyla Rose and Sonny Kiss a platform that they may never have got years prior.

The last 12 months have been a year of progress for wrestling. As we move forward into 2020, its important that we take a look at diversity in the sport and the journey its taken over the years.

So here, David Campbell returns to the podcast for this special show. He leads this in depth discussion on how wrestling handles genders, race, LGBTQ+ and mental & physical health. He is joined by Sarah and Jack along with special guests Jesse Santana and Angel Hayze.