{"id":86854,"date":"2021-03-15T17:29:30","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T21:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=86854"},"modified":"2021-03-15T17:29:52","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T21:29:52","slug":"mickie-james-women-ageism-pro-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/03\/15\/mickie-james-women-ageism-pro-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Mickie James Sounds off on Women and Ageism in Pro Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A recent social media exchange between <strong>Taya Valkyrie<\/strong>, formerly of <strong>IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong>, and <strong>WWE<\/strong> Hall of Famer <strong>Mickie James<\/strong> has once again sparked conversation about how female wrestlers are treated within the industry as they age. Valkyrie posted on Twitter, \u201cWhy do people talk about age like it\u2019s a negative??? Just think, you woke up today, you are blessed to see another morning\u2026..never forget that. Age brings, wisdom, experience, confidence. It\u2019s a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mickie James, whose last match was against <strong>Asuka <\/strong>on <em>RAW<\/em> in September 2020, responded, \u201cI agree 1000 percent. But in this industry once you hit 35 it\u2019s perceived you should start wrapping it up and retire as a women. Even though your just hitting you stride. At 40 \u201cretire already\u201d Even though the men are champs well into there 50s and glorified for it. Sad but true<\/p>\n<p>With age comes a strength and wisdom that you can\u2019t teach. I feel more powerful &amp; sexy than I ever have. Yet it is only this way because this is the narrative we\u2019ve accepted to be ok. We\u2019ve pushed this mindset &amp; it\u2019s damn time we changed it. Times have changed. And so have we!&#8221; The words of Mickie James hinted at allegedly facing pressure to retire as she approached 40.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I agree 1000 percent. But in this industry once you hit 35 it\u2019s perceived you should start wrapping it up and retire as a women. Even though your just hitting you stride. At 40 \u201cretire already\u201d Even though the men are champs well into there 50s and glorified for it. Sad but true <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WLLfVIsLfI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/WLLfVIsLfI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mickie James~Aldis (@MickieJames) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MickieJames\/status\/1371175850637426689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 14, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The WWE\u2019s Women\u2019s Evolution has broken some incredible ground, retiring the Divas Division in 2016 and creating women\u2019s championships for each brand. Female athletes were included in headlining matches in major pay-per-views and more rigorous and substantial matches like the first women\u2019s <strong><em>Elimination Chamber<\/em><\/strong> in 2018. The expansion of the company\u2019s investment in female talent has continued into 2021, with <strong>Sasha Banks <\/strong>\u00a0and <strong>Bianca Belair<\/strong>\u2019s highly anticipated bout a <strong><em>Wrestlemania 37<\/em><\/strong> headliner, and NXT\u2019s creation of a women\u2019s <strong><em>Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic<\/em><\/strong> series, and an NXT Women\u2019s Tag Team Championship. With <strong>Rhea Ripley<\/strong>, a dominant force who\u2019s cut her teeth on both the NXT and <strong>NXT UK <\/strong>rosters, set to move up to <strong>RAW<\/strong>, a third wave of the women\u2019s evolution is set to keep pushing WWE\u2019s women\u2019s division forward.<\/p>\n<p>However, has WWE\u2019s stance on women and aging also evolved? Is the pressure that Mickie James alluded to facing still a factor for current female Superstars?<\/p>\n<p>A look at the current roster points to positive signs of growth and change. The oldest star currently on the roster is <strong>SmackDown<\/strong>\u2019s <strong>Tamina Snuka<\/strong>, daughter of <strong>Jimmy \u201cSuperfly\u201d Snuka<\/strong>. Tamina is currently 42. She debuted in 2010, and while her time on the roster has yielded only one championship run, as 24\/7 Champion, she has had longevity and garners respect. She is known to be a fierce competitor, often factors in contention for pay-per-view matches, and her fierceness and strength mean she is often tapped to put over an up-and-coming babyface with a victory that looks hard-earned on their part. In that way, her role is very similar to the one <strong>King Corbin <\/strong>plays.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BOAT business. \u26f5\ufe0f<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmackDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SmackDown<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NatbyNature?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NatbyNature<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4QI3EykBd9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4QI3EykBd9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1370559776241897473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 13, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Her tag partner, <strong>Natalya<\/strong>, niece of <strong>Bret <\/strong>and <strong>Owen Hart, <\/strong>also hails from a wrestling dynasty and is a key and consistent player on the SmackDown roster. The former Divas and SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champion shed tag partner <strong>Lana <\/strong>shortly before being drafted from RAW to SmackDown. Since arriving back on the Blue Brand, she, along with Tamina, established a niche of being a take-no-prisoners, seasoned competitor who touts herself as the B.O.A.T.: Best of All Time. While Tamina and Natalya have strong presences and play key roles, they mostly serve as contrast and support to other talent; neither has attained a championship so far in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is no lack of investment in <strong>Shayna Baszler, <\/strong>39. The Queen of Spades has cut a trail of fallen opponents through NXT and RAW. 2021 has been kind to Baszler and tag partner <strong>Nia Jax<\/strong>, who have made appearances on all three brands. They retained their titles successfully against women\u2019s <em>Dusty Cup<\/em> winners <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/02\/14\/2021-womens-dusty-rhodes-tag-team-classic\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Raquel Gonzalez <\/strong>and <strong>Dakota Kai<\/strong><\/a>. Also, with gags like Jax\u2019s less than graceful landing on the apron and slamming Lana through tables, she has been something of a viral sensation on social media. The notoriety, and victories, don\u2019t seem to be slowing down any time soon for the Queen of the Kirifuda Clutch.<\/p>\n<p>Another dominant force and current champion RAW Women\u2019s Champion Asuka, at 35 also shows no signs of relenting in momentum. Her current championship reign has lasted for over 200 days, with even otherwise indomitable challengers like <strong>Bayley<\/strong> and Sasha Banks unable to unseat her. Her tag partner, <strong>Charlotte Flair<\/strong>, at 34 is one of the most celebrated figures of the women\u2019s evolution and the current women\u2019s division.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;I want the Raw Women&#39;s Championship. I want to face <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEAsuka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WWEAsuka<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WrestleMania<\/a>!&quot; \ud83d\udc40<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WWERaw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MsCharlotteWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MsCharlotteWWE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J4jRNnffFi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/J4jRNnffFi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1366589132747735043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 2, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although the third wave of the women\u2019s division\u2019s expansion is hitting its stride and raring to go &#8211; <strong>Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Shotzi Blackheart, Rhea Ripley, <\/strong>to list some examples &#8211; the prominent featuring and deserved championship reigns of seasoned and experienced female athletes suggests that there have been strides made for representation of women of various ages.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0WWE fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent social media exchange between Taya Valkyrie, formerly of IMPACT Wrestling, and WWE Hall of Famer Mickie James has once again sparked conversation about how female wrestlers are treated within the industry as they age. Valkyrie posted on Twitter, \u201cWhy do people talk about age like it\u2019s a negative??? Just think, you woke up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3715,"featured_media":72811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,2192,25,26,317,4,5,3,320],"tags":[229,403,333,404,602,159,1182,3825,1146],"class_list":["post-86854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wrestling","category-raw","category-smackdown","category-women","category-wwe","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-asuka","tag-charlotte-flair","tag-mickie-james","tag-natalya","tag-nia-jax","tag-sasha-banks","tag-shayna-baszler","tag-tamina-snuka","tag-taya-valkyrie"],"modified_by":"Robbie Sutter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3715"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}