This evokes a lot of mixed feelings.
On one hand, I have no interest in wrestling and cringe at anything related to it. I’m also super uncomfortable about anything related to WWE making its way into the aspirational Star Trek franchise.
When the early wrestling shows were on local television in my childhood, my parents explained it was all performance and not real sport. So, I have always associated it with a kind of fraud and grift.
I’m always extraordinarily uneasy when young children talk about wrestling heroes as it seems an unhealthy influence. It always seems to represent a demographic that we have nothing in common with. While I’m sure some of our kids heard about WWE at school, they never expressed any interest so there was no pressure to bring anything related to it into our home — for which we were very grateful.
So, the other hand, having this strong aversion to ‘professional wrestling’, when ‘The Rock’ Dwayne Johnson first made his dramatic acting appearance on Star Trek Voyager, I was so annoyed that I didn’t watch the episode.
I realize now that I let my strong bias against the performance of ‘wrestling’ get in the way of assessing an actor on his own merit.
I also recognize that Secret Hideout has been doing its best to bring in actors that will appeal to demographics that are likely to be critical of Starfleet Academy while retaining true diversity.
So, I’m going to try to swallow my aversion and wish this woman performer success as she tries to break out of the WWE circuit.
(I still think Paramount+ senior executives are trying to do everything they can to make our household drop our subscription.)
Wrestling’s an interesting…“sport” isn’t quite the right word, but I can’t think of what else to call it right now. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but it was also pretty inescapable in the late 90s, so I’ve seen my fair share.
It’s absolutely a performance, but especially over the last couple of decades, the industry has shifted away from maintaining “kayfabe” and mostly just embraces the phoniness (though they still play it absolutely straight in the ring).
At the end of the day, it’s a very unique type of performance art that requires both athleticism and, for the most successful wrestlers, acting chops.
And yeah, there are definitely toxic aspects to it and its fan base.
