Gay pro wrestling
Grappling With Homophobia: A Short, Campy History of 9 Gay Pro-Wrestling Characters
Here are nine homosexual wrestling characters who contain appeared in American wrestling:
1. Gorgeous George (1941 – 1962)
The first and most infamous “gay” character in wrestling, his outrageously dramatic character wore sequined robes and long capes, escorted by his own personal valet when walking towards the ring. He grew his hair long and dyed it platinum blond, had exaggeratedly effeminate mannerisms, demanded his valet spray the ring with perfumed disinfectant before he began wrestling and was a cowardly cheat, enraging stay fans and television audiences by the millions.
He eventually became the most celebrated wrestler of his hour, earning over $100,000 a year. His popularity culminated in a 1959 compare against Canadian wrestler Whipper Billy Watson in which the loser agreed to have their hair shaved. George lost, of course, to the delight of cheering fans.
Nevertheless, George permanently altered pro-wrestling with his extreme dramatic flair and set a standard of pro-wrestling showmanship for decades to come.
2. “Pretty Boy” Pat Patterson (1958 – 2014)
A true trailblazer, Pat Patter
WWE has officially signed its first out LGBTQ wrestler under the newly launched WWE ID recruitment initiative. Independent wrestler Aaron Rourke, famous by his call name Evil Queer, was announced as the latest signee during a distinct edition of Wrestling Open on IWTV, the independent pro wrestling streaming service. The signing marks a historic moment not only for Rourke but for WWE's commitment to diversity and inclusion in professional wrestling.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid, and I have to acknowledge everyone who has gotten me here. To my doubters and the people who said this couldn’t be doable, thank you because your criticisms and your judgments made me the workhorse I am today. For anyone who has been told that their dreams are too huge, let me be the example that you absolutely can," Rourke said in an emotional expression after receiving the contract.
A Rising Star in LGBTQ Wrestling
Aaron Rourke’s journey to WWE has been anything but easy, but his success in the independent wrestling circuit proves his dedication and resilience. The New England-based wrestler has become a familiar name in multiple promotions
Queer Pro Wrestling Is Growing In Texas
Imagine a professional wrestling link. Lightning-fast exchanges of holds and strikes, death-defying moves off the top rope, slams that see like they should break a person in half. Have you got it? Okay, now combine full musical numbers right out of Broadway.
That’s the sort of innovation that happens when Queer people run wrestling.
This example comes from Fight Opera in Austin. The promotion began booking shows in June 2022, mostly on the stately grounds of the Pink Flamingo Plant Company. Their organization is queer led, with roughly 50 percent of the crew and performers being LGBT. One of those is Sam Carey, co-head of creative and a grappler under the moniker Crybaby. They didn’t grow up watching American wrestling but fell in love with the art form when a friend loaned them a login to survey New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Recently, they staged Phantom of the Fight Opera, a large-scale theatrical production that mixed the stagecraft of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical with standard wrestling. It wasn’t easy.
“A really big focus is the theatricality and the storylines, the props, the costumes, the sets,’ says Carey. “High concept
Professional Gay Wrestling
While searching Amazon Prime recently, I was pleasantly surprised to locate, of all things, episodes of Memphis wrestling in the video library. But there was even more content free for any connoisseur of both superb wrestling and horrible wrestling: a collection of death matches between Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, some truly awful-looking wrestling movies I’d never heard of, and something called, Professional Gay Wrestling.
My first question was, “Is this Protected for Work?”
But my second question was “Why gay professional wrestling?” (Or “professional gay wrestling”, as it’s called, which led me advocate to my first question).
I mean, if gay men crave to watch guys with great bodies and revealing outfits grapple with each other, there are a number of other wrestling promotions out there – specifically, all of them.
Let’s face it – wrestling is a very male lover sport, and has been since the days of the ancient Greeks. Those guys used to wrestle naked, which is just about the gayest thing two men can do short of having sex with each other.
Which they also did.
Actually watching PGW raised even more questions.
First of all, announcer Bruc