The Girl Can Work

Between major global promotions and scant indie shows, the upstart female athletes of professional wrestling bring it from coast to coast.

It is becoming a growing trend with each pro wrestling show I catch these days. It happened in Louisville, Kentucky. It happened in East Haven, Connecticut. It happened in Hillsboro, Oregon. Chances are the next ringside seat I sit at, it will be more of the same. Regardless where I buy a ticket, the women in the ring always steal the show.

Always.

The compliment is in the title of this piece — a high regard for both the performer and the performance. Skilled. Safe. Storytelling. At its finest, WWE’s Chelsea Green herself has gone from a novice in-ring worker trained in Canada by WCW legend Lance Storm in 2014, to one of the most over wrestlers on the company’s current roster. Not just the ladies locker room. The entire current roster. Just ask the 22,000 fans who sold out Louisville’s KFC Center on a cool Friday night simply to salute Chelsea on SmackDown! and her journey to get there.

The fists and kicks simply hit different.

Much of that is due to the long hours, days, and nights spent in warehouse like pro wrestling schools gyms that dot the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. Keep in mind, there’s no minor league structure when it comes to the world of major league wrestling. This is their shot and they are shooting it. Their venture into the “classroom” is the start of what dreams could eventually become. The good wrestlers who now headline arena shows for top promotions around the globe, the majority of them arrived there by blazing their own path. Packed with students of all shapes and sizes, the next generation of professional wrestlers appear eager to learn the tricks of the trade, particularly the female prized prospects. If we are indeed living in an all-time boom for the business of professional wrestling (WWE alone reportedly generated $1.709 billion in revenue, making it the most profitable year in the company's storied 73-year old history), the respect is two-fold for the female athletes putting in the work at all levels.

Truth be told, these pros know in a sport predicated on ego and individualism, the rookies still rely on the vets. Even if that means you might have to eventually turn on them.

“Being able to work with talent like Athena, Toni Storm, Mercedes Moné, Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, and all the other women at All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) have helped me,” Billie Starkz told me an interview at the beginning of the year for High School on Sports Illustrated.

“Having so many eyes and ears around in and out of the ring has helped me grow on a personal and professional level. I am still young and trying to navigate what life looks like so having so many people to support and guide me with an understanding of this crazy world is nice…I am happy I can be an inspiration, but I just hope I can continue to help people push for their dreams and that everything is attainable with passion and hard work.”

Now a valued veteran of the ring herself after training at 13 years old, Billie Starkz has gone from Grindhouse Pro Wrestling in Jeffersonville, Indiana to one of the sports rising female wrestlers in ROH and AEW. Her story is certainly one of one, yet there’s strength in numbers when it comes to these young girls pursuing their big badass dreams.

At a student exhibition night full of Oregon Pro Wrestling School hopefuls back in March in Hillsboro, Oregon, 5-foot Naomi King stole the show for the night in a mixed gender tag team match in front of a hundred fans. Easily a favorite with the chops to build a career upon. When Naomi wasn’t coming off the ropes or paying homage with her luchador style wrestling, she was getting the boots put to her in the corner from come-up pros Brenden Roys and Caleb Teninty. A toughening up known to be both a coming of age moment for a rookie and a weathering of what is to come in the ring. Both Naomi and fellow female standout, Amira, call OPW home while also shining on stacked cards with Eugene, Oregon based promotion, POW! Pro Wrestling.

The same goes for Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling in East Haven, Connecticut.

Old school wrestling fans may come for the “Pretty” Paul Roma citing, but it is clear the new stars of tomorrow are right there before them. By the time Nessa Ferrarii hit the ring at the Mayhem in Paradise show against PAPW Women’s longest reigning Champion, Skylar, the fans jammed ringside were already minutes into their cheers and chants for the moniker simply known as: “your new obsession.” A cross body plunge off the top rope here. A boot to the face there. And a smile in her eyes after giving and taking each forearm shiver. Even with Nessa coming up short in her title shot versus Skylar, the match was off the charts athleticism and entertainment. The common thread between these athletes who could easily find themselves on a certain developmental brand’s roster as they slowly navigate their respective professional wrestling careers isn’t the fact that they are all women.

Far from it.

It’s the certainty that these dedicated professionals are all deeply invested into their craft and the outstanding work shows because of it.