In light of a situation with one of the Pro-Wrestling: EVE talents (who is no longer part of the roster as a result) that emerged over the weekend, EVE promoter Dann Read issued a statement about all-female promotions and where they stand in pro wrestling. Today, SHIMMER founder, Dave Prazak also weighed in.

As background context to that ‘situation’, on Friday night, the official EVE Twitter page posted the following: “Has been called ‘bad for the wrestling business’ as apparently we’re sexist. Any opinions? Are we as an all female wrestling company sexist?”

Later, they followed up with this tweet: “A member of the EVE roster agrees with the allegations thrown at us. Sadly this is not ‘a work’ thus this person is no longer a part of EVE.” You can read two more tweets here and here.

And now, Dann & Dave’s comments below.

Dann Read, the Producer of Europe’s Pro-Wrestling:EVE, issued the below statement this past week.

Pro-Wrestling:EVE is committed to the progression of Professional Female Wrestling throughout Europe. The next few months will be telling as we separate those who believe in women’s wrestling from those who don’t and find out who’s passion for the female industry matches our own. Everyone must be on the same page and everyone must be committed to their own improvement.

Pro-Wrestling:EVE works alongside some of the very best in the women’s wrestling industry and supports the efforts of those doing the very same thing such as SHIMMER, Female Fight League, NCW – Femmes Fatales, ChickFight & many others around the world in addition to those who give coverage and support to the female wrestling business such as Diva-Dirt.com, CapruredBeauty.com, RedHotDivas.com, Wrestlegasm.com, WrestlingFusion.com, (there are so many I’m sorry if I haven’t mentioned you, send me messages on twitter and I’ll #FF to make up for it!).

We support them, they support us, we all support each other and we all have the same dreams and goals.

More after the cut:

Not everyone will agree with this mind set and belief in female wrestlers and female wrestling. In fact some of the female wrestling industry’s biggest critics are from females themselves – not approving of professional wrestling knows no gender specifics and rightfully so. We in turn wish them the best of luck with their own goals in life and bare no ill will or grudge. We are all unique and the world would be a boring place if we all felt the same about everything. But those of us who DO believe in the sport, performance art and entertainment of female professional wrestling do so with passion that is perhaps unmatched anywhere else and we will continue to do this for as long as we’re in existence.

We appreciate those who support us and our efforts and we hope we can continue to rely upon you to keep spreading the word of the fantastic efforts being put forth by female wrestlers and staff members involved in these projects. We in return promise to give you nothing but 100% in effort, commitment and dedication to the cause – to produce a product that while perhaps not yet ready to be accepted by the masses is a product that we watch and enjoy not on the basis of it being a female product but on the basis of it being a GOOD product that challenges to change our mindsets and break down previously placed walls and barriers.

We know you know no ignorance, no prejudice and place no road blocks before us but simply put your trust in us to do right. We hope to live up to these justified expectations and do you proud.

Thank you for your support.

Dann Read
Producer
Pro-Wrestling:EVE

We at SHIMMER would like to stand alongside Dann in support and agreement with everything he included in that statement.

It is through the existence of companies like ours here in Chicago, PWWA in Australia, several promotions in Japan, and Female Fight League member companies Pro-Wrestling:EVE in Europe, nCw Femmes Fatales in Canada, and ChickFight in California, that women wrestlers have had the opportunity to display their true skills inside the ring, in an environment where they are the stars.
If it were not for all female professional wrestling companies promoting live women’s wrestling events, many of the industry’s best female performers would not otherwise have the opportunity to headline shows, wrestle a main event style, and be given the chance to show what they are really capable of. Each of these women’s wrestling companies that promote live events in their respective parts of the world have also given many female performers the tremendous experience of wrestling in foreign countries. This has helped to both increase each wrestler’s own worldwide reputation and visibility, and in some cases has added new influences to their repertoire that they may not have otherwise been introduced to.

We at SHIMMER consider those athletes who choose to ply their trade in the aforementioned companies first, when evaluating potential foreign imports for our future events. What each of these companies carry is credibility, and they choose to promote their events (and therefore each of their individual roster members) in the appropriate manner. They have the same goals as we do.

Though some may frown upon the idea of female wrestlers being able to headline their own events, and put on entertaining shows that rival some male dominated cards, there is no denying the place that all female wrestling companies have in our industry.

Dave Prazak
SHIMMER Women Athletes

 

6 Comments

  1. AMEN! Dann & Dave speaking the truth. I have a confession to make though. Before 2010, I was a fan of womens wrestling but not a huge fan like i am now. I was more interested in the male wrestling stuff than the females. But my love for womens wrestling began when the Knockouts Division came into existence. And my love for womens wrestling was cemented when i began watching Shimmer earlier this year. I am now & forever will be a womens wrestling fan all thanks to Shimmer. I now watch as much womens wrestling as I can and i am now more interested in the female wrestling stuff than the males. So I would like to say thank you Shimmer. Thank you Knockouts Division, Thank you to all of the rest of the womens wrestling promotions. Thank you Diva-Dirt, thank you Dann Read, & thank you Dave Prazak.

    P.S.

    Thank you to all of the female wrestlers involve in wrestling. Thank you womens wrestling fans & supporters. In general, thank you to everybody.

  2. This complaint against EVE sounded bizarre to me. It never occurred to me that EVE (and similar promotions) were doing anything but providing opportunities for, and shining a spotlight on, athletes who don’t get chances or attention at established promotions.

  3. when they are calling Eve sexist do you think they mean it’s sexist to men? i don’t really understand how an all female promotion can be sexist towards women

  4. Wow, that comes off as very odd to me also. There are a good sum of promotions that are male dominated why would anyone complain about the few that give women the chance to shine? I just don’t quite understand that. I have been a wrestling fan for 15 years in all it’s form. I feel each serves a purpose whether grande or minimal. But the passion women wrestling fans usually have are above the usually standard. It’s still a difficult thing and unsettling when so many have no faith and assume what it’s all about. I can’t recall the naivity I’ve been exposed to it’s unreal. I’m a women wrestling fan, I’m training myself, I believe in what it represents and what the ladies can do. That’s why I rarely reflect harshly on anything.

  5. I don’t really understand it, either. Is it sexist to have all-women’s wrestling shows? Absolutely not. That’s a ridiculous statement. If that were the case, then the NFL must be sexist since there are no females on the teams (I don’t actually think this, by the way). The women involved in the respective promotions are featured as respectable women who prove that they are just as capable as the men and that women are not just models that wrestle in sloppy and/or rushed 2 minute matches. Some of these girls even wrestle in matches over an hour long. If anything, WWE is the most sexist company right now. They rarely allow the women to put on a great 10 minute match. They have two main shows weekly that run for about 90 minutes (taking out commercials), yet only give 2-5 minutes of screen time for the females, who work just as hard. They travel alongside the men. They train alongside the men. Yet they barely get their time to shine. Their matches are sometimes used as fillers (Last night for example). These companies, however, truly give women’s wrestling the praise they deserve. I applaud any company that does this. Look at Serena Deeb. She was in the WWE for about 7 months and she had one match (A mixed tag, not to mention) that lasted about 3 minutes. She returned to SHIMMER last month and within two day, had 3 matches that were at least 10 minutes each and received praise from the fans. If that’s sexist, then I’m proud to be a sexist as well.

  6. Exactly Dan And im pretty sure women like Gail Kim, Nattie Neidhart, and Beth phoenix have to dumb down their moveset so they don’t show up the men. TNA at times can be no different we have yet to see what sarah stock and hamada are all about

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