Are we really ready for Intergender Wrestling in WWE?
Intergender Wrestling has been a topic which has always divided opinions in the wrestling community. There is a section of the audience which feels that a wrestling match between a male and female competitor could be a start of something new, and should be given a chance, while others feel that it isn't their cup of tea and detest the concept.
While Intergender Wrestling is a common phenomenon in the independent circuit, the bigger promotions have usually shied away from having a man and a woman squaring off against one another. That is, until now. WWE created a lot of buzz by having Nia Jax enter the Men's Royal Rumble. While a female superstar entering the Men's Rumble isn't something new, given how Superstars like Chyna, Beth Phoenix and Karma did enter the Rumble during their time. But, back in those days, there wasn't a separate Rumble match for the women, and given how much women's wrestling has progressed, it was quite odd to see The Irresistible Force enter the Men's Rumble. She had a great showing, eliminating Mustafa Ali, and making quite an impact during the course of her short stint in the match.
Many thought that this was a one-off but then came another, when the next night on Raw, Nia Jax blasted Dean Ambrose inside the ring while the former was delivering a promo. This led many fans to believe that the company is building a feud between the two. This was further fueled by the fact that an advertisement for a February 22nd House Show advertised a match between Jax and Ambrose. But, WWE eventually decided against it and scrapped the match.
Ever since WWE went PG in the year 2008, it did push away many aspects of it's programming to make it more family-friendly. Among the many things that the company scrapped, one was men and women being in direct conflict. This is not to say that the company hasn't toyed around with the idea of Intergender matches, but most of them were either mixed tag teams, where men faced off against men and women against women, or against male Superstars who acted as a comic relief.
The world has changed quite a lot over the past decade, but some fans may not be ready to see a woman get hit by a man on prime-time television. Something about it just doesn't feel right, especially when topics like masculinity and feminism have become hot topics for discussion. While it is fine for have a one-off once in a while, especially if it's done for comic relief, in the long run, Intergender Wrestling maybe isn't something that will go well with the crowd.