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| Rose's day-job shouldn't cost her bookings (also, that's a sweet shirt) Photo via @FeliciaRose |
I'm going to go back to what Rose was fired for first, as more than a few people might agree that she deserves to get fired. Porn is bad, at least according to societal norms or whatever. While I won't defend the porn industry as stated, but only because the people running it are exploitative and treat pornstars worse than what Vince McMahon treats his "independent contractors." At its core, porn doesn't really hurt anyone as long as the participants are able to consent and have given it before filming. To note, even in the current mainstream porn industry, it's not the stars who are the problem. Sleazebag directors/producers are the ones who make the business grotesque. Hey, wrestling and porn have more than incidental similarities in common, but I digress.
For as much as the performers can end up victim at worst and how innocuously they should be received at best, whenever a performer makes an appearance that isn't dancing onstage at an adult cabaret, people start to flip out like Hitler rose from the dead and was cutting the ribbon at a library opening. Sasha Gray, porn industry alumna-turned-non-porn actress, did a library reading for underprivileged kids, and you wouldn't believe the outcry from parents clutching pearls so hard their hands bled like they had stigmata. All she was doing was reading to children, and people were wondering what would happen if those kids went home and googled her. It all comes down to the fact that America, and most of the world to be fair, has such an unhealthy attitude towards sex, borne of religious dominance and ignorance.
One might think that wrestling, especially independent wrestling, would be a bit more amenable to someone who does sex acts on video for sale, especially when she is 100 percent self-funded and directed. Apparently, with the promotion who fired her, it's not the case. I would like to know which promotion it is, because I'd like to know whom else they book. In case you didn't know, wrestling, indie or otherwise, is full of scumbags. This promotion has a problem with Rose. Do they have a problem with SHLAK, who was photographed with neo-Nazis and thinks rape is funny? Or do they have problems with accused rapist Sean Orleans, accused domestic abuser Sami Callihan, or even noted abuser of the trust between workers TJ Marconi? IF given the choice between whom I'd rather my son finds out when googling, I would choose Rose 11 times out of ten over everyone else above.
And yet those wrestlers and scores more who should be behind bars get a pass while Rose is demonized. Hell, Nick Gage, who actually went to prison and from all appearances rehabbed, still gets shit for robbing a bank when no one gives a shit that Callihan terrorized an ex-girlfriend who is also a prominent wrestler in the Philadelphia area. Even more so, these wrestlers get huge opportunities that shouldn't be afforded to them, like CaZXL and his buddy nZo against Moxley.
For those who don't remember, CaZXL was fired from WWE in an era where no one gets fired from that talent vacuum. Among other things, he was so vocally supportive of Trump in a locker room that probably all voted for him anyway that he rubbed folks the wrong way. He also was accused of intimidating his ex-girlfriend Carmella, and he went against orders from the office in a segment leading up to a match with Daniel Bryan. Now, that last note isn't so much a strike against him, but at the same time, the other stuff he's got on his ledger, I'm not quite in the mood to defend him. His buddy nZo is even worse, because he was accused of rape, which ended up also getting him fired from WWE in an era where they don't fire anyone. Of course, they didn't fire him for the rape allegations; he didn't tell the company he was being investigated, lest anyone thinks there are any good guys in that scenario.
And yet Northeast Wrestling decided it was fitting that this act gets one of Jon Moxley's precious post-WWE dates instead of someone, I don't know, good at wrestling? Granted, a lot of shitheads are good at wrestling and shouldn't get chances. It's just of all those shitheads, NEW picked fucking the least talented ones. It shows that it doesn't matter how much of a turd you are, if someone thinks you have name value, you'll get a booking. But if you do porn and especially are a woman, you're radioactive. It seems backwards, and yet it's the truth.
So what is it you can do? The business changes when attitudes change, and direct action does work. Sometimes, all one needs to do is make enough of a stink that it'll become unviable to book idiots and bigots. Granted, promoters will rely on your exhaustion to backdoor wrestlers back into their companies. Look at IWA Mid-South and Michael Elgin. Believe me, it can be EXHAUSTING to always be on your bullshit, but it works with persistence. You just need to know which wrestling companies you're working with. The key is being louder and more obnoxious than the people defending the status quo. Believe you me, SHLAK, for example, has his defenders, and they are stubborn. However, people got him unbooked from companies twice. Like I said, direct action works. I'm not sure you can do anything for Rose in this case unless/until she reveals what company let her go. That being said, it's a lot easier to find marks on the flipside, because these promotions have to advertise their talent ahead of time. Never shut up when it comes to cleaning up any area of fandom you're located, especially wrestling.
