It seems as if wrestlers past and present have been in a little bit of a tizzy over the past week or so. And all because a relatively unknown female wrestler has chosen to go the GoFundMe (wait, you thought the title of this article was rude?) route in an attempt to fund her dream of making it to the WWE.
Some have been subtle, not mentioning the lady by name but merely stating it might be a better idea to work hard and do things off your own back. Others, such as veteran wrestler Malia Hosaka have been less subtle. She went as far as to suggest the young lady was “whoring” herself out by acting in such a manner. It didn’t help that Hosaka admitted she hadn’t actually seen the page in question, but she also railed against the idea that female wrestlers expected to be “sponsored” by fans in lieu of hard work.
So why did Barbi Hayden’s actions cause so much controversy?
After all relatively successful musicians, with international top ten hits under their belts can these days ask fans to “pledge” in advance of hearing a new album, effectively asking listeners to fund an album before knowing if its any good or not. Kickstarter funds enabled a feature film version of Veronica Mars get off the ground. I don’t recall scores of actors and producers taking to social media to decry that they were taking the easy way out.
And then we get to the wrestling fans, some of whom would have you believe this is the most heinous thing ever. Many won’t have heard of Hayden, despite her five years in the business and a reign as NWA Women’s Champion. Most will be making judgements on a person they know nothing about, without a thought to her reasoning. Of course fans are just as entitled to have a negative opinion of the venture as they are to dip into their pockets to give $10 to a wrestler they like but its not as if similar things haven’t happened in the past.
Many an “Indy” wrestler has made use of an Amazon wishlist to enable fans to contribute to their daily life. Many a female wrestler has sold their used ring wear on eBay. A prominent female only promotion puts on meet n greets after their shows where it is suggested you might like to buy your favourite a drink or their lunch to show your appreciation.
Stretching the theme further is asking for a few thousand dollars to help “follow your dream” any more ludicrous than being asked to fund an operation for a wrestler that at his peak was making a million dollars and more but threw it all away on drink and drugs?
And that’s not to belittle the very real problems that man had, (and has hopefully well and truly got over) but I remember one fan at the time donating/contributing to Scott Hall’s fund only to tell me weeks later that he wasn’t donating to Marty Jannetty’s appeal because he “didn’t deserve it”.
Now I am not about to use my PayPal account to make a donation to Barbi Hayden, but neither would I see any need to mock anyone who did. Nor in this current climate do I see the need to pillory someone deciding to take this route to raise some money when it’s a path that a wide range of performers from a number of different fields take to “fund” their work.
And as has been pointed out by others, it this not just a 21st Century version of wrestling’s ‘carny’ past? Is it not the modern version of a male wrestler in the territories having an, ahem, different place to stay in every town? Is it really that different from the Rock N Roll Express hawking $3 8×10 pictures to supplement their earnings? Is it not just another way of “working the marks”?
Either way, agree or disagree with it, is it really the end of the wrestling world as we know it? Or is it just a belated reminder that the wrestling business is no different from any other entertainment industry?