In a promotion where the main two kayfabe relationships we have seen have been between actual couple Penelope Ford and Kip Sabian and the Librarians, I’m not sure how and when and where AEW would meet the requirements of the Queen of the Ring’s definition of queer representation. In fact, I’m not sure which indie promotion storyline would either but I’m a small time fan relatively speaking. It seems that in order to be promoting queer inclusion (yes, I say queer instead of sanitizing with digestible acronyms) AEW needs to include sexual orientation in the talent’s storyline. We have seen one couple play out onstage – Penelope and Kip, and their PDA was related to the audience as inappropriate and over the top by the commentary. Part of Penelope’s bad girl persona I guess is enjoying making out with her now-husband on television? Seems pretty fuckin’ tame to me.
Then we had the Librarians who didn’t actually confirm they were romantically involved in AEW canon, just that they were very close friends and that Leva chose Brandon’s integrity over Peter’s success. Nothing about dating ever came up. In fact, it was after Peter stopped being associated with Leva in kayfabe that he broke out the Pretty Peter Avalon gimmick.
Which, by the way, is one of the two beauty gimmicks in AEW period but that is another essay I’m writing.
WWE often uses relationship storylines to create drama and mix up who is paired with who onscreen. Their booking style means they are trying to create the most conflict and interest for the storyline as possible and unfortunately we should all know by now that means that there aren’t any happy endings. Do we really think that showing a happy couple onscreen week after week with no problems whatsoever is going to remain a compelling story? No, especially not for the audience WWE wants watching their product. WWE isn’t making art and they aren’t pretending to make art. They aren’t even pretending to make wrestling shows anymore. They are making money.
Should Anthony Bowens be bringing a boyfriend out with him as his manager? How is that going to play out? The only real opportunity they have at queer storyline representation that is based in reality would be having Diamante and Kiera Hogan’s relationship acknowledged in kayfabe. I was super excited to see if they would work together when Kiera did her AEW run but it doesn’t seem likely now.
Where is any romantic storyline anywhere since we were all confused at seeing QT Marshall’s “high school sweetheart” in the stands a few weeks after he and the Bunny were in a kayfabe breakup? (By the way, QT and the Bunny was an example of how they handle a romantic storyline and it was pretty misogynist so maybe we are lucky we don’t get those from AEW.) Sweet Satan, Bunny and Blade are fucking married and they don’t even hold hands onscreen. Could it be because that’s not the usual subject matter of this promotion? Do we really think that in a company where Tony Khan has straight up said the talent comes up with the creative that if a queer wrestler wanted a queer storyline it wouldn’t be allowed?
I will agree that AEW 100% has fumbled Sonny Kiss. She is a spectacular in-ring talent and his cinematics with Joey Janela were so good I wondered if I was still watching the same production team. If AEW really wanted to revolutionize wrestling while bringing “intergender” wrestling to television they could have let Sonny compete in both divisions and told a story about trying to win both belts. Sonny could have used that to relate his experiences navigating pro wrestling as someone who doesn’t fit a binary, a concept often dismissed even within the transgender and gendernonconforming community itself.
I crave in-depth discussions of wrestling through an anti-racist queer radical lens. Especially when there is so much that can be said, and that I continue to try to say, about things like Effy’s feud with Matt Cardona that crystallizes such a common dynamic in every art form – cishet hacks appropriating queer genius and making money while thinking they’re doing the actual creator a favor.
Before Effy started feuding with him, I couldn’t give less of a shit about Matt Cardona. He showed up in AEW and I never followed up on who the fuck he was because of how generic he looked. Motherfucker’s first name is MATT. Feuding with Effy and pretending to be Jon Moxley are the two most interesting things he’s done as far as I can tell. Many times I have wondered how aware he is of just how thoroughly Effy is trouncing him as far as the queer community is concerned. Effortless clapback tweets while getting high on vacation? Fucking legend.
Where in the fuck is any mention of Billy Dixon? The queer Black man who parodied toxic cishet male identity as a gimmick for several weeks? Guess that just didn’t happen.
It’s good to know though, that I guess the entirety of Kenny Omega’s historic cross promotional title reign all happened in the month of June which is the only time AEW promotes queer talent. He changed the face of the sport and he gets lumped into five vague sentences? Becoming The Forbidden Door wasn’t good enough? Two of the queer roster members in AEW were division champs with highly protected booking in their reigns. Nyla Rose has been on EIGHT PPVs. But I guess since she doesn’t have an onscreen queer relationship she doesn’t count as queer representation? Nyla Rose jumped from #66 to #16 in the PWI rankings this year. Are we saying she is being buried being on TV so often? I’m not sure what criticism we are giving AEW here outside of allowing people we aren’t supposed to like to say things that are despicable. Do we, in fact, know what an antagonist is?
Have we considered that maybe these wrestlers want their careers and stories to be about something other than their orientation? Have we asked anyone signed with AEW what their experience has been like if they have tried to propose these storylines or if they have? If we are asking why there aren’t queer relationship story arcs in AEW, shouldn’t we be asking the talent themselves?
Queer Pandemic 