When women got their asses kicked in wrestling

[CM Steel]

NOTE: MEN, NEVER PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, BABYMAMA, OR ANY OTHER FEMALE. PHYSICALLY ABUSING WOMEN ISN'T COOL BY ANY MEANS.


Over the years in wrestling, wrestler's wrestled their own gender. Men vs the men and the women vs the women. But in the mid-90's all that changed. In the original ECW Tommy Dreamer piledrived who would become the future ms. Tommy Dreamer and the mother of his children, Beulah McGillicutty. That was the first time in wrestling history that a male wrestler got physical with a lady wrestler. Funny how it all worked out

Now later on going into the WWF attitude era. Vince McMahon wanted some of that "extreme" for himself. WWF: No Way Out of Texas pay per-view. After the main event in where Stone Cold Steve Austin put Chyna in the Stone Cold Stunner. That wasn't the last that we would see something of that nature in wrestling. Remember when the heel Godfather aka "the Goodfather" threw one of his ex-hoes (Victoria/Tara) through a table? The Dudley Boys did the same thing to various women in the attitude era including Mae Young from the top of the stage area.

And in early 2001 when a heel Stone Cold Steve Austin beat Lita with a steel chair in the middle of the ring. Is that line of stuff meant for pro wrestling? Like say when the Rock put Stephanie McMahon in a Rock Bottom at Wrestlemania 16 he got cheered for it. But when Christian grabbed Trish Stratus by her hair and started punching her in her face the RAW before Wrestlemania 20 he got boo'ed. So when is it okay and when is it NOT okay to beat a woman in wrestling?

 

[Father Uncle Oscar]

I guess I can answer this two different ways.

As a wrestling fan, it's pretty simple: Face male + Heel female = Cheers. Heel male + Any female = Boos. Deep down, we know the storyline is all fake and that the male would never do anything of the sort to the lady when the cameras weren't rolling, so we choose to play along and give the reaction that is desired from us.

As a person, it's pretty simple: Not anymore. And this next rant is strictly from my personal point of view. I'm uncomfortable with it. That's not the kind of stuff I want to see because I feel like it promotes abuse. Especially thinking about how we're currently in WWE's "PG Era." If it happened today, you know you'd be hearing about it on the news and listening to one soundclip from a Vince McMahon interview about it literally everywhere. That's just the country we live in right now. I don't mean to go all political, but mainstream media is hellbent on being politically correct nowadays. Even if they know the storyline is fake, they'll still let their cries of abuse be heard until they bring WWE to court or something. I understand some people might see this differently because they picture the WWE roster as superhuman athletes who follow a loosely-written script, but if any Superstar puts his hands on a Diva on Raw tomorrow, I just might change the channel.

 

[jessejanzures]

John cena gave lita a attitude adjustment a couple years back. I thought that was kinda cool. Id like to see stuff like that a lil more often. Like when bella came outt after orton attacked bryan. How awesome and heelish would it have been if he rko'd her? Alot of heat and more build for match. Im not saying to sit there and smack the crap outa her as bryan is down watching. But a rko or a quick move to a diva wouldnt hurt. I know it wont happen though cus its family friendly

 

[MCMG]

In wrestling, it is always acceptable if it furthers a storyline. The best example is before No Way Out in 2001 a face Steve Austin giving the Stunner to Stephanie to antagonise HHH after they had a no-contact rule in place (the match itself is an absolute classic but that is off-topic) Austin could not hit Triple H so he did something that would be just as painful and evil: give the stunner to his wife.

Obviously, it is never ok to hit a women but I suppose, in wrestling, that changes. At the time Chyna was wrestling men and people probably didn't care because 1) It was Steve Austin and 2) Stephanie was a heel at the time.

The other scenario is when a heel wrester uses it to gain heat. Again, a great example is Randy Orton giving a DDT to Stephanie (Stephanie has really been through the wars) We now hate Randy Orton even more because he just hurt a non-wrestling women. The heels are meant to be hated and it is tactic of doing so.

In the past, there are many examples where physicality against a women is seemingly justifiable. I'm sure there are many people who would say that, even in fake wrestling, it should never be allowed. Then again it is just that, fake.

I will say that in the current era, I highly doubt we will see anything like this again. The WWE have great responsibilities and have a young, impressionable audience. It wouldn't be right to have Randy Orton giving a women an RKO because, I'm guessing, there would be outrage. I was actually thinking if this was a possibility. Orton giving one of the Bella's an RKO but I feel that the WWE would receive a backlash.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

First of all, I'd like to all the Don Quixotes on this thread that are believing that chivalry still exists, those times are over. Women have been liberated and don't need protection anymore from fists of anger.

That being said, it's wrong to hit ANYONE, whether it be woman or man. Equally wrong.

But on to the topic here.

If I recall, Beulah wasn't the first I remember getting cracked by a man. I remember Sheri getting cracked pretty good. It started when Janetty came back and was going to crack HBK in the head with that big mirror. Shawn moved Sheri in the way (to block the mirror) and Janetty busts it over Sheri's face (accidently). That led to the pay off match between the two of them for the IC belt and Sheri ended up making a face turn.

As I said before, it's no more wrong to hit a woman that it would be a man, but in wrestling, the violence is fake anyways. So why shouldn't a woman get hit? It's all fake anyways. Every act of violence in the show should exist to help aid the overall segment or match. So basically, if hitting a broad will get the heel some heat from the crowd, then why shouldn't they? If it can get the face a pop, why not?

 

[Mustang Sally]

As I said before, it's no more wrong to hit a woman that it would be a man, but in wrestling, the violence is fake anyways. So why shouldn't a woman get hit?

One of the main reasons pro wrestling has been so successful over the decades is that fans always seem to tread the line of what's real and what's fake. We know the actions are pre-scripted, so why worry about what we're seeing in terms of how society might regard it? Yet, it all winds up being discussed and dissected in mainstream circles, anyway.

We knew Vince McMahon wasn't really abusing Trish Stratus in their ongoing program several years ago, yet we found ourselves watching him being interviewed by Bob Costas, having to answer for his mistreatment of women.

We knew Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo weren't really gay and getting married, yet there was the "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" weighing in, first declaring they liked the angle, then denouncing it.

We know the stuff we're seeing isn't real, yet we skirt the line in talking about it as if it was, only to come back the next night and criticize anyone who thought we were serious.

So yes, if the storyline calls for a woman to get hit on our WWE TV screens, let her go ahead and get hit. Presumably, the guy is pulling the punch.....and at any rate, the gal should know how to take the blow.

Linda McMahon gets tombstoned on national TV......and, somehow, the sun still rises the next day.

Will wonders never cease?

 

[jessejanzures]

True. But you cant say it wouldnt be awesome. Like orton rko to moolah. That was a great heel move that i look back on and say i wish that happened again. Like i said moves like that would be good cus in real life nobody is gonna do an rko or stunner or gts. But punching and kicking a diva on the ground would draw outrage cus it looks more real and is actually what happens in real life

 

[Honkey_Kong]

One of the main reasons pro wrestling has been so successful over the decades is that fans always seem to tread the line of what's real and what's fake. We know the actions are pre-scripted, so why worry about what we're seeing in terms of how society might regard it? Yet, it all winds up being discussed and dissected in mainstream circles, anyway.

We knew Vince McMahon wasn't really abusing Trish Stratus in their ongoing program several years ago, yet we found ourselves watching him being interviewed by Bob Costas, having to answer for his mistreatment of women.

We knew Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo weren't really gay and getting married, yet there was the "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" weighing in, first declaring they liked the angle, then denouncing it.

We know the stuff we're seeing isn't real, yet we skirt the line in talking about it as if it was, only to come back the next night and criticize anyone who thought we were serious.

So yes, if the storyline calls for a woman to get hit on our WWE TV screens, let her go ahead and get hit. Presumably, the guy is pulling the punch.....and at any rate, the gal should know how to take the blow.

Linda McMahon gets tombstoned on national TV......and, somehow, the sun still rises the next day.

Will wonders never cease?

Well storyline-wise, Billy and Chuck weren't gay. They even told Rico that....

My point is who cares if a woman gets cracked in wrestling? It can actually be used to generate heat for the heel who hits her. That guy would then have to get his a$s kicked by the face(unless she was a heel and then justice is served).

WWE can use it as an opportunity to show how liberal they are and how their women are tough enough to take bumps from the big boys.

But since they haven't for a long time now had a guy hit a woman, I think they shouldn't abuse this storyline tool. It should shock the fans that they did it and so it shouldn't be an everyday thing.

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

In the original ECW Tommy Dreamer piledrived who would become the future ms. Tommy Dreamer and the mother of his children, Beulah McGillicutty. That was the first time in wrestling history that a male wrestler got physical with a lady wrestler. Funny how it all worked out

Hulk Hogan gave Sensational Sherri an atomic drop at Summerslam '89. As far as men wrestling with women it's always been my opinion that the female division should be made up of amazons that could fight men. If I want to see dainty girls I have the internet.

 

[Makaveli31]

But in the mid-90's all that changed. In the original ECW Tommy Dreamer piledrived who would become the future ms. Tommy Dreamer and the mother of his children, Beulah McGillicutty. That was the first time in wrestling history that a male wrestler got physical with a lady wrestler. Funny how it all worked out

How genius was that of Paul Heyman?!? Dreamer was viewed as a good-two-shoes by the Hardcore ECW fans so it was almost impossible to get over as a babyface! He couldn't just piledrive Raven or Stevie Richards!? That's too simplistic. He HAD to piledrive Beulah and that got him hardcore cred with the ECW fans AND got him OVER as a face!

 

[rbv13]

Some short term memories or a lack of wrestling history. Women have been tangling with the boys since the conception of professional wrestling. In the carny days it was a major draw to have amazon women you could believably put over men. Modern well-known names such as Young and Moolah have gone on record bragging about how they loved to mix it up with the boys. Back in the day it was something unique and marked a special moment to see a valet take a bump. In the mid to late ‘90s the fans became desensitized to such act and over the top violence in general. A female talent taking a bump sparked by a male was a regular occurrence and eventually nothing special. In today’s PC world Women’s Activist Groups would be so far Vince’s ass his breath would reek of feminine hygiene products. I would agree if they did pull a stunt like this it would garner some major heat and create a missive heel.

 

[Eyebrows]

I think it depends on the booking. Someone like Chyna was clearly capable of defending herself and giving back even more to male wrestlers and she was often the instigator. Face Austin stunning the defenseless Stacy Keibler for no reason? I can see why people might have more problems with that.

I thought the angle with Jeff Jarrett at the end of his WWF run with Chyna was actually pretty funny. The important thing is that the heel gets his comeuppance or that it has a storyline function. I do wonder about the ability of kids to distinguish the fiction from the reality but since I'm of the opinion that parents share more responsibility for their kids upbringing than the media it's nothing that good parenting can't handle.

I disagree with the poster who said that the genders are equal now because of women's liberation but I don't want to drag in a tedious debate about feminism. Suffice to say, if you believe that women's liberation extends to all classes and cultures outside of the middle-class, white woman then you need to have a closer look at the world. Not all women have the platform to defend themselves. I have a low opinion of any 'man' who thinks a woman can take a punch because she can give one.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I guess I can answer this two different ways.

As a wrestling fan, it's pretty simple: Face male + Heel female = Cheers. Heel male + Any female = Boos. Deep down, we know the storyline is all fake and that the male would never do anything of the sort to the lady when the cameras weren't rolling, so we choose to play along and give the reaction that is desired from us.

As a person, it's pretty simple: Not anymore. And this next rant is strictly from my personal point of view. I'm uncomfortable with it. That's not the kind of stuff I want to see because I feel like it promotes abuse. Especially thinking about how we're currently in WWE's "PG Era." If it happened today, you know you'd be hearing about it on the news and listening to one soundclip from a Vince McMahon interview about it literally everywhere. That's just the country we live in right now. I don't mean to go all political, but mainstream media is hellbent on being politically correct nowadays. Even if they know the storyline is fake, they'll still let their cries of abuse be heard until they bring WWE to court or something. I understand some people might see this differently because they picture the WWE roster as superhuman athletes who follow a loosely-written script, but if any Superstar puts his hands on a Diva on Raw tomorrow, I just might change the channel.

I remember an instance where a male face got cheered for attacking a female face.

I can't remember the match, but afterwards, "Stone Cold" offered Stacy Keibler a beer after a match. She drank it and then pulled a face, like she didn't like it. Austin responded by stunning her in the ring, to cheers of fans.

I found this disgusting. It was even more in poor taste, because Austin was facing charges of spousal abuse against Debra at the time, so to have him attack a woman in an unprovoked attack onscreen was terrible. I doubt Austin would have had a problem with it, given his treatment of women (such as first wife, Jeannie Adams, or Debra, or even another girlfriend he had).

Austin should read the OP's bolded message at the start of this thread.

The fans cheered Austin stunning Stacy, which shows they will cheer anything Austin does, good or bad.

 

[d_henderson1810]

The last time I saw a guy hit a woman was actually at "Summerslam" in 2008, when Jericho berated Shawn Michaels in front of his wife.

HBK put Jericho back in his place, Jericho snapped, and tried to hit Shawn, but got Rebecca instead, and she went down like a sack of potatoes.

The thing is, I have heard that Jericho wasn't supposed to hit Rebecca (Shawn stood in the wrong spot) and it wasn't meant to be hardway. Jericho apologized off-screen, afraid he had serious hurt Mrs Shawn Michaels, but apparently, Rebecca was cool about it, and I remember people commending both her selling and her reactions to Shawn's retirements and her acting.

Yet I don't remember complaints, because (a) it was accidental, and (b) the woman wasn't upset by it.

 

[Slash-LN]

I don't see why wrestling should be different than anything else.

Remember when Chyna fought Joey Buttafuco on Celberity Boxing? I don't remember that getting the kind of backlash that professional wrestling gets for the same kind of thing.

Professional wrestling is always under the microscope for this kind of stuff and it's ridiculous.

If a female wrestler agrees to take bumps against a male wrestler than I don't mind it.

I get that it could send the wrong message to kids out there but so could a lot of things in entertainment.

As far as the op goes ECW started this? Have you never heard of Andy Kaufman? Seriously the dude became more famous than he ever was before by wrestling women. Granted he wasn't a pro wrestler when he started doing it but he made a name off of wrestling women.

I'm sure historically you could go back and find several instances of male wrestlers using moves on female wrestlers.

Anyway I doubt we'll see it again anytime soon.

 

[Pedigree1]

Back when the sun was bright in the sky (It still is right?) it was pretty common for women to be man-handled by the Male superstars! SCSA stunning the Billiondollar princess,the Rock giving her the Rock Bottom countless examples. It was tolerated and hell even celebrated a little over a decade ago. Good way for the heel to gain even more heat beat up on a helpless women.

But now with all the sponsors,and such if that happened,the WWE would feel the wrath of the media!

 

[justtxyank]

Over the years in wrestling, wrestler's wrestled their own gender. Men vs the men and the women vs the women. But in the mid-90's all that changed. In the original ECW Tommy Dreamer piledrived who would become the future ms. Tommy Dreamer and the mother of his children, Beulah McGillicutty. That was the first time in wrestling history that a male wrestler got physical with a lady wrestler. Funny how it all worked out

This just isn't close to being true. Hogan had multiple encounters with Sherri in both the WWF and WCW. Sting hit Sherri with the Stinger Splash in the early 90s. Heyman hit Missy Hyatt in early WCW. The list goes on.

The only thing ECW invented was having the woman get piledrivered and having her skirt fly up while she was wearing a g-string. Prior to ECW women who were going to take a bump wore long dresses or full underwear.

 

[Father Uncle Oscar]

...if any Superstar puts his hands on a Diva on Raw tomorrow, I just might change the channel.

Funny how things work out, eh? Those sneaky little fucks read that and were like, "Fine. We'll do that when we're running 10 minutes over so that he knows he can't change the channel and miss anything."

Anyway, I found it interesting, what just happened. Daniel Bryan reversed an RKO by pushing Orton into Stephanie. I was expecting the crowd to be going just as apeshit as they were for Bryan that entire segment. I dont know if it's just me, but I heard a bit of a mixed reaction to Stephanie going down. Just throwing that out there, adding to the discussion.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Remember when Chyna fought Joey Buttafuco on Celberity Boxing? I don't remember that getting the kind of backlash that professional wrestling gets for the same kind of thing.

Chyna was separated from WWE at that point, wasn't she? Because that was exactly the type of exhibition Vince McMahon would have kept her out of......for good reason, as it turned out.

Did you see the fight? Through her pro wrestling exposure, we were supposed to think of Chyna as a fighting machine who could churn through opponents, male or female. But Joey Buttafucco (of all people) dispelled that; he was only an inch taller than her, but about 75 pounds heavier.....much of it in his gut. Yet he handled her like a rag doll, whipping her around the ring, yet actually boxing only in the last 20 seconds of each round; enough to win without hurting her. If that fat slob could manhandle her (woman-handle?), what did that say about wrestling as theater?

This was Chyna, the "9th Wonder of the World".....the gal who could mix it up with the guys? This match did more to dispel that image than any single act I've ever seen.....and Vince McMahon probably had a fit, even though Chyna didn't work for him anymore.

 

[rbv13]

When Stephanie took the bump I had to chuckle a little thinking back to this thread. The spot was perfect as it was shocking jaw dropping moment. We haven’t seen it in a while and thus an intense moment. Everyone evolved sold it perfectly, especially Orton who did an incredible job the entire segment.

 

[FlairFan2003]

This just isn't close to being true. Hogan had multiple encounters with Sherri in both the WWF and WCW. Sting hit Sherri with the Stinger Splash in the early 90s. Heyman hit Missy Hyatt in early WCW. The list goes on.

The only thing ECW invented was having the woman get piledrivered and having her skirt fly up while she was wearing a g-string. Prior to ECW women who were going to take a bump wore long dresses or full underwear.

When STing hi Sherri with the Stnger Splash it was booked o look completely by accident with Flair (the intended victim) clearly pulling Sherri in front of him as a Shiled when she was supposedly at rung side managing Sting. It was designed as a heel move to make Flair look bad.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Typically fans cheer when a bad guy gets theirs, male or female. We saw this on RAW a few years ago, Christian going after a very popular Trish Stratus was jeered heavily, but Ric Flair was cheered beating up Shelton Benjamin's "Mama" during a match.

Fact is it was much more rare for bookers to put villain females in places where they could be harmed. However, they would occasionally put fan fav females in harms way by villains, such as Baby Doll in the NWA, who got slapped around and accused of being a ****e by Tully Blanchard in 1985, then beaten by Jim Cornette with his tennis racket a year later.

 

[Softcore Holly]

When Stephanie took the bump I had to chuckle a little thinking back to this thread. The spot was perfect as it was shocking jaw dropping moment. We haven’t seen it in a while and thus an intense moment. Everyone evolved sold it perfectly, especially Orton who did an incredible job the entire segment.

I didn't like that part actually. It puts Steph, whose supposed to be one of the top 2 biggest villains right now, in a sympathetic light. We're not supposed to feel sorry for the bad guys, we're supposed to want them to get their just desserts, and to cheer when that actually happens. (Which would explain why people popped when she went down instead of being shocked)

The only good thing that come out of that segment is the mindset that HHH is now POed at Orton, and won't have his back on Sunday. Which imo could have been better accomplished if Orton accidentally bumped into HHH instead and then get Pedigreed.

 

[enviousdominous]

I recall a segment involving a very young Jacqueline and a very over Jerry The King Lawler in USWA. Jackie was the valet of The Texas Ranger and was hyping up an eventual match between The King and The Ranger by getting in Jerry's face and daring him to hit her. Eventually Jerry had had enough and slapped her, she sold it like she was hit with a baseball bat. The crowd, all marks by the way, cheered wildly and the court of public opinion ruled it a justifiable reaction to a hysterical woman.

As we all know, hitting someone who dares you to it is fucking stupid and will land you in jail.

There was a skit with Chris Jericho and Chyna where Jericho had been emotionally devastated by a loss to Chyna. Chris decided to bind Chyna to a chair and strike her (fake) hand with a (real) hammer, resulting in Chyna screaming in pain as someone obviously would after having the mess of bones and blood vessels that a hand is made of rearranged forcefully. The crowd didn't much care because this skit occurred around the same time that Mark Henry was taking up half the show being whipped by Jackie and Terri, so viewers were pretty well desensitized to anything they saw.

My point is that violence against women is a niche tactic for getting a reaction out of the crowd that only works if it's in moderation and is executed intelligently. Jerry lightly taps Jackie's face and the crowd is all over it. Chris Jericho bludgeons Chyna's hand with a hammer in what could have helped inspire the Saw movies and it's just another boring ass WWE skit that would have been considered too immature by the standards of most 14 year olds. If you jump the shark with it, or in ECW's case run it so deep into the ground it drags the reputation of the company down with it, you prove that you'd rather not patronize the few fans you have left who don't buy their ticket with grandma's birthday money.