Appearing on Women’s Wrestling Weekly to promote the Kickstarter for their prospective wrestling drama series Kayfabe, Lita, Gail Kim And Christy Hemme talked about the backstage environment that inspired the show.
Gail: I said, where is this coming, I thought I was always professional. Well, it’s ’cause you’re serious backstage and you never smile. Because I’m in the zone, my work zone and I’m very serious about my job. I will admit that because I want to be perfect and I’m trying to do my best and then perceived it as spoiled or whatever, it was, and I was like “Wow”, so I really did take that advice and then I went into work and had a smile on my face and I did notice how people perceived me. So I didn’t want to change completely who I was but I had to really be open-minded to how I was perceived.
Christy: For me, it’s a lot to do with the tape. That tape for me. The representation for me was I feel like I always have to think about how I am. I know who I am but I think a lot about how I’m going to present, you know what I mean, and I think we do it because it’s the like a lady….don’t be this, don’t do that, if I do this then I’m this… women are constantly doing that. And I feel that pressure or that tape over my mouth that I have to think about things so much. The whole point of all of these, this, past couple of years and all this change and women saying they don’t want to be silenced, I would like other people to see that that is what we are trying to peel back and come out of.
Gail Kim also talked about diversity in wrestling, saying that things have “definitely gotten better” since she started. Still, there’s work to be done. “I would like to see where someone is just seen for who they are and not really necessary for their ethnicity or a business standpoint of, ‘oh we need someone from India or someone from China or whatever that’s going to help our business’ ”
Speaking of representation, Lita was confused as to why WWE hasn’t made the Mae Young Classic a more permanent part of its schedule.
So, Mae Young felt like it got so much positive feedback. Evolution was sold out…Granted you can’t look on your own timeline for how people feel because they are like, ‘You’re so great!’…But from what I got everyone responded positively to it. Even financially it was sold out. I don’t understand why there is not another evolution or why it didn’t make the regular pay-per-view cut was really shocking to me.
Transcriptions via Women’s Wrestling Weekly
