Co-Authored by Josh Howard and gut ntributor Elizabeth Catte On Augt 14, 2013, a reporter om TMZ ught up wh World Wrtlg Entertament (WWE) superstar Darren Young at the LAX baggage claim. The reporter asked, “Do you thk that a gay wrtler uld be succsful wh the WWE?” Young rpond wh a se and a lgh before…
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WRTLG’S GAY HISTORY AND OPTIMISTIC FUTURE
Beg more faiar wh the gay history of wrtlg mak one realize what a different product would be today whout gay culture. * gay wrestler gimmick *
He Played a Gay Stereotype. It was pretty obvly a gay stereotype (a clip is shown of Adonis – who was married to a woman and had two children – admtg to a WWF dience that he was gay) and not a particularly flatterg one. Dave Meltzer says that the gimmick was signed to enurage straight people the dience to jeer a gay wrtler, and several very offensive crowd signs om the time certaly back that up.
Sexual nuendo, blackface, cursg, body-shamg, and homophobia were jt a few thgs that D-Generatn X did durg their time on televisn durg the Attu Era. The two were prented as a gay wrtler tag team. It uld have been a huge step forward for the pany sce both men were not seen through the typil lens of what gay men looked like the era.
It was a polarizg gimmick that will never be repeated due to the progrs society has ma on homosexualy.
When to levelg the playg field between gay and straight wrtlers and their characters, there's a lot to grapple wh. * gay wrestler gimmick *
In fact, Billy Gunn works wh The Acclaimed at AEW, who feature an out gay wrtler, Anthony Bowens. Wh Kanyon’s Dark Si of the Rg episo g up, ’s ma me wonr about gay wrtlers the bs and if they’ll ever get the proper backg if they have all of the tools, regardls of their sexualy. I know profsnal wrtlg has typilly been a bs n by old whe men wh a toxic locker room culture, but wh the creased diversy over the last and the visibily of Black wrtlers and women on the ma event scene, I wonr would a gay wrtler ever get a fair ph.