Wrestlers’ welfare has improved since the 1990s – but they still have a fight on their hands
In the recent Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon (2024), former wrestler and bodybuilder Tony Atlas claimed: “We would have been looked upon, in today’s society, as some of the worst human beings walking the face of the Earth.”
Abusive behaviour, violent risk taking, scandals, drug use, misogyny, homophobia and racism have characterised professional wrestling since its inception from the 19th-century fairground onwards. Even during the filming of Mr. McMahon, which explored the controversial career of the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, allegations of real-life misdemeanours hit the news.
For all its performativity and spectacle, wrestling is decidedly dangerous. The risks of wrestling have been captured on the big screen by movies such as The Wrestler (2008) and, most recently, Iron Claw (2024). While it is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world, its troubled history remains difficult to reconcile for both fans and wrestlers.
As Atlas’s rather sheepish comment might suggest, there is no doubt that professional wrestling is safer and more equitable today than it was in the 1990s. And yet, as the 2020 #SpeakingOut movement showed in graphic detail, there is much more to be done. Several wrestlers took the brave step of sharing their experiences of “locker room” culture and widespread sexual harassment as part of the online campaign.
There are, however, some barriers to making improvements. As I have explored in my research, wrestling’s unusual identity as not-quite-a-sport, not-quite-an-art but probably-both-and-neither, means it does not come under typical jurisdictions or guidelines.
Because wrestling is difficult to define it is, therefore, difficult to legislate and virtually impossible to govern in any meaningful way. This allows things to unintentionally (or sometimes intentionally) fall through regulatory gaps.
Set up a rugby club tomorrow and the Rugby Football Union would soon be knocking on your door to ask about concussion protocol or safeguarding. Set up a wrestling school or promotion and, well, no-one will demand anything.
Continues at…
For the full article by Professor Claire Warden visit the Conversation
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: PR 25/08
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running.
Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2025 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
In the recent Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon (2024), former wrestler and bodybuilder Tony Atlas claimed: “We would have been looked upon, in today’s society, as some of the worst human beings walking the face of the Earth.”
Abusive behaviour, violent risk taking, scandals, drug use, misogyny, homophobia and racism have characterised professional wrestling since its inception from the 19th-century fairground onwards. Even during the filming of Mr. McMahon, which explored the controversial career of the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, allegations of real-life misdemeanours hit the news.
For all its performativity and spectacle, wrestling is decidedly dangerous. The risks of wrestling have been captured on the big screen by movies such as The Wrestler (2008) and, most recently, Iron Claw (2024). While it is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world, its troubled history remains difficult to reconcile for both fans and wrestlers.
As Atlas’s rather sheepish comment might suggest, there is no doubt that professional wrestling is safer and more equitable today than it was in the 1990s. And yet, as the 2020 #SpeakingOut movement showed in graphic detail, there is much more to be done. Several wrestlers took the brave step of sharing their experiences of “locker room” culture and widespread sexual harassment as part of the online campaign.
There are, however, some barriers to making improvements. As I have explored in my research, wrestling’s unusual identity as not-quite-a-sport, not-quite-an-art but probably-both-and-neither, means it does not come under typical jurisdictions or guidelines.
Because wrestling is difficult to define it is, therefore, difficult to legislate and virtually impossible to govern in any meaningful way. This allows things to unintentionally (or sometimes intentionally) fall through regulatory gaps.
Set up a rugby club tomorrow and the Rugby Football Union would soon be knocking on your door to ask about concussion protocol or safeguarding. Set up a wrestling school or promotion and, well, no-one will demand anything.
Continues at…
For the full article by Professor Claire Warden visit the Conversation
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: PR 25/08
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running.
Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2025 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
