[Tonus]

…that wishes it was a cool dude."

I haven't followed pro wrestling for some 20-odd years.  I can name some of the current wrestlers, but that's mostly because the WWE has gone so mainstream since the 80s and early 90s.  My wrestling world was the one where Hulk Hogan was WWF champion and Andre the Giant was a good guy and Jimmy "Super Fly" Snuka wore speedos that were a couple of sizes too small.  But I digress…

I've been playing Smackdown vs Raw 2009 on the PS3 for a month or two, decent game all in all (someone, anyone, please make a wrestling game that gives me the freedom to build and play a wrestling association?  And about those unlockables… how about no?  Please?).  I see a wrestler named Beth Phoenix whom I've never heard about, and she's the ladies' champion, and she doesn't look as string-bean-ish as some of the other female wrestlers, so I finally decide to check her out via YouTube.

She has a modestly impressive physique.  I say "modestly" because she seems to have emphasized her arms at the expense of an overall level of balance.  But still, she's noticeably bigger than many of her contemporaries and has some mass on her body, and I think she carries it well.  But her presentation left much to be desired, and then I thought of the other larger and more physical women in wrestling and the way that they are asked to behave.  I'm thinking, in particular, of wrestlers like Chyna and Awesome Kong, as well as April Hunter.  I think that along with Beth, they cover a pretty diverse range within that group.

Anyway… someone apparently takes these women aside and tells them "hey, you're pretty big and intimidating-looking, that's terrific!  So here's the wrestling persona we want you to use– act like a dumb beast that wishes it was a cool dude.  Strut around, don't just walk!  All cool dudes strut as if they own the place.  Don't be overly technical when you wrestle– you're a BEAST!  Just slam your opponent from corner to corner while you sneer and grunt and beat your fists across your chest!  Haha, just like that, yeah!  And remember to use that 'clueless-would-be-romeo-at-the-singles-bar' smirk after you win a match, too!  Right, just like that!"

Is it me, or is this the general attitude with women who eschew the small, shapely, big-boobed look?  April Hunter seems the closest to breaking that mold from the handful of matches I saw.  She does the whole "cool guy strut" and attitude, but she's more technical in her approach to wrestling.  Chyna generally acted like a big brute (strut, strut, strut).  Awesome Kong played the whole sub-human "George-the-animal-Steele" brutish savage angle (oh, that must have gone over beautifully with progressives!).  And Beth Phoenix flashes those beautiful arms and that pretty face, and then she starts a-strutting.  Grab her opponent… fling her into a ring post… carry her around the ring… slam her to the ground with a sneer and a grunt.  Give the crowd your best "HURRR HURRR" look after you win, then flex the arms and strut back to your cage.

I dunno.  It's not as if I'm invested these days, as I do not follow wrestling.  But it'd be nice to know that there was a notably-well-muscled woman who didn't come across as some dunderhead who thinks that Brutus Beefcake is a proper role-model or that technique comes down to how far you can throw a 110-pound opponent.  Maybe I'm missing the point, I do know that wrestling has embraced the entertainment aspect that Vince McMahon pushed so hard, and that wrestlers are more akin to cartoon characters today than they ever were.  So maybe the stereotypical 'muscle girl' isn't so out of place in a medium designed around cookie-cutter personalities.  I'm not talking about a politically correct "be fair to the women" attitude either.  This is wrestling, not rocket science, and I get that.  But it IS theatre, and that means that there are writers, and I bet that they'd like to break the mold now and then and write something that they aren't embarrassed about.

I also bet I'd watch it if Beth Phoenix was given a personality that implied that she was smart and ambitious and worked as hard at wrestling as she did at pumping iron.  Oh well…

[nic2800]

This is why Nicole Bass (the Angry Amazon) left. The storyline they were working up for her was a jealous lesbian. They play big strong women as brutes or weird mad women.

Then again bodybuilding doesn't really like thick well filled muscles. Bodybuilding and and fitness have been combined.

The "moose" of a big girl seems to always get the "RAW" deal. Sorry stupid pun.

[Unbridled]

I watched a video where she was wrestling against Jenny Brooks.  I gotta say she's easy on the eyes, but there is this sort of hurrr hurrr as you say, like at the end where she sort of rises up and kind of flexes in this sort of weird pose or something like she is a big dumb brute.
Here's the link:
CLICKhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJGCmxwxIgg

[fasola]

Well, I haven't followed wrestling too much in my life, but I get what you say guys. But, Isn't that brute thing applied to all the wrestlers? Leave the bimbos out, and most of the wrestlers are testosterone driven behemoths that grunt and hurr. The ones that I can remember were a little different aren't there any more.
I agree with you guys, but I think that what Tonus points out, is exactly what wrestling is, at least in the WWE.

[Tonus]

Because pro wrestling is over-the-top entertainment posing as sport, it is going to have a more brute-force angle to it.  A pro wrestling match is more like a comic-book battle or kung fu movie.  I understand that in that context, pro wrestling will have its share of muscular brutes that flex and drool while they beat up their opponents.

And I'd even say that a lot of times they fit into these annoying, pre-fab niches.  Small wrestlers are generally your spunky, gritty overachievers who play to the crowd with great energy.  And popular wrestlers tend to be driven to certain roles.  But there is a level of diversity on the men's side that the women lack, IMO (again, this is based on an admittedly small sample).

For example, three big guys I can recall from the past would be Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Big John Studd.  Hogan played numerous archetypes, but in the WWF he eventually morphed into the gregarious, fan-friendly, high-energy goody-good guy.  Andre was, for most of his career, a big lovable lug who lumbered his way through his matches.  Studd was this large, malevolent thug who was more brutal than brutish, his violence had purpose.

I don't see even that limited diversity when a woman wrestler stands out physically from the others.  And they all get lumped in.  Hogan, Andre, and Studd were very tall and very large men, very similar in many respects.  Beth Phoenix isn't like Chyna, who isn't like Awesome Kong, who isn't like April Hunter, who isn't like Nicole Bass.  The one thing they share in common is not looking like a Barbie doll.  And that seems enough to lump them into a group.  If you're not built like Paris Hilton, you're a butch, and you're expected to fit into this specific role.  It seems less from a lack of imagination, as it does from assuming that it's the only way to market a physically impressive woman.  That's a shame, IMO.

[fasola]

I agree with you Tonus, but the thing is, that the society in general doesn't see a big guy as a smat person, the same thing sadly applies to women.
I'm sure that almost anybody outside of the BBing community, will find hard to belive that, for example, Kristy Hawkins has a PhD. in biology or biochemistry (don't really remember exactly). That concept is an exact contradiction to the stereotype.

And yes, the idea that that is the only way to market physically impresive women, is a shame.

[nic2800]

The pose for Beth is a mimic of holding a crown over her head. It's not really meant to show of her muscle.

She is a really strong woman though. In her amature days she did a lift with two guys on her back.

[Unbridled]

ohhhhhhh…
Well she deserves a crown…

[Author]

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