LuFisto recently spoke with ESPN.com‘s Tim Fiorvanti; you can read a few highlights below:
LuFisto comments on competing in early intergender matches, showing women were equals to men in the ring:
“I mean, there was Chyna on TV, as far as a woman stands toe-to-toe with a man and she swings a chair then she takes the shot totally as an equal. And it doesn’t matter if I’m a woman or a man, it was literally a fight. I was sure some people were uncomfortable, but then people got used to it and it kind of became, I wouldn’t say cool, but with time I would get women to come and see me.
“They were like, ‘Oh my God, you are almost like a superhero. When people say, ‘Well, women can’t fight guys. Well, Catwoman can fight Batman, and the Black Widow can kick ass with the Avengers.’ So to me, it’s exactly the same and even for young girls in the crowd, they would see me as a superhero.”
LuFisto comments on going to the government to deregulate the rule against intergender matches in Ontario:
“My only way to get through this was to, of course, go with the government. So I called the Ontario Human Rights Commission and explained what had happened and the lady on the phone was like, ‘You definitely have a case, because right now you can’t do something because you’re a woman.’ I filed papers, made phone calls, and years later they finally decided that wrestling would not be regulated as a whole, they removed it completely from the sports commissioner’s hands.”
LuFisto comments on women’s wrestling being taken more seriously today:
“Back then, we had to fight to have a spot on the card. Now, women matches… not only do we have our own shows, our own promotions, but a main spot on regular cards [for major companies] as well. Women are finally seen as part of the show, not like an addition an addition to the card. The road has been so long, because every single night we had to go out there, try to steal the show, prove that we belong. Now women wrestlers do belong on the show.
“Mostly, to me, it’s about women wrestling being taken seriously. That’s the most beautiful thing for me right now, that when you look on TV and you see Asuka, she is a defending, serious champion. The matches are long. They have two or three matches on pay-per-view nights on TV. Same for the knockouts on TNA. Women in wrestling, right now, matter.”
