Gay male wrestler
By Dylan Watson
When people reflect of a wrestler, words such as “masculinity,” “strength,” and “willpower” come to mind. One word that typically doesn’t is “homosexuality.” Fearful of what their families, friends, and teammates will think of them, many gay athletes battle with ever coming out.
I remember the first day I stepped into the wrestling room at Frank W. Cox Lofty School as an elementary school student. Having no clue what I was doing, I felt vulnerable and confused, feelings I would come to comprehend very well later on in my life. However, within a few practices I realized I loved the challenges that came with wrestling.
There is no other school sport in which it’s truly you versus one other person. Your teammates can cheer you on from the seats, but everything that goes on within the 42-inch mat is all up to you. Over the next several years, my love for wrestling grew exponentially, and eventually, before my freshman year of high educational facility, I chose to quit every other sport to focus solely on it.
Dylan in action
During high college, I had some accomplishment on the mat, but truly struggled with a fight that none of my teammates could support me with: my sexuality. I was afraid
Last week, Anthony Bowens — a gay Black wrestler with All Elite Wrestling and one of the first openly gay wrestlers to hold a major championship belt — stood in the center of the ring while thousands of fans chanted, “He’s gay.”
While that sounds prefer a traumatic life, it was actually a heartwarming event that represents a sea change in how gay performers are treated in the traditionally homophobic sport of pro wrestling. AEW has championed the LGBTQ community from its inception and the segment, which aired on AEW Rampage, was part of a storyline between Bowens’ tag team, The Acclaimed, and QTV, a rival group. QTV member Harley Cameron, a woman, approached Bowens about creating a “power couple,” to which Bowens replied, “Lady, I’m gay.”
As soon as he said it, the crowd erupted in cheers. The “He’s gay” chant was celebratory and and Bowens’ tag team partner and manager jumped for delight. While he’d reach out years ago, Bowens’ in-ring pronouncement during a scripted segment, as a natural part of a storyline —coupled with the crowd’s embrace — would have been unimaginable even a not many years ago.
Queerness in wrestling has often been treated as a tra
Professional Gay Wrestling
While searching Amazon Prime recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find, of all things, episodes of Memphis wrestling in the video library. But there was even more content on hand for any connoisseur of both great wrestling and bad wrestling: a collection of death matches between Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, some truly awful-looking wrestling movies I’d never heard of, and something called, Professional Male lover Wrestling.
My first question was, “Is this Safe for Work?”
But my second question was “Why lgbtq+ professional wrestling?” (Or “professional queer wrestling”, as it’s called, which led me back to my first question).
I mean, if homosexual men want to watch guys with great bodies and showing outfits grapple with each other, there are a number of other wrestling promotions out there – specifically, all of them.
Let’s face it – wrestling is a very gay sport, and has been since the days of the ancient Greeks. Those guys used to wrestle naked, which is just about the gayest thing two men can do short of having sex with each other.
Which they also did.
Actually watching PGW raised even more questions.
First of all, announcer Bruc
Summary:
In this episode, we interview former Division 1 NCAA Wrestling Champion and openly gay male, Mike Pucillo. Mike is one of the most accomplished wrestlers to ever position foot on an Ohio State Wrestling mat. In steep school, he was a 4 period OHSAA state placer, 3 time finalist, and a 189 lbs State Champion. He went on to be a 3 time All-American at Ohio Mention, winning a national title in 2008. Throughout his career, Mike also struggled with his persona as a lgbtq+ male. In 2015, he came out to his friends, family, and the wrestling community. We cover with him what this journey was like, why he’s decided to open up, and what his hopes are for the future for others in the LBGT community that are struggling through the same obstacles he’s faced his entire life.
Show Notes:
00:00 – Patreon and our Sponsor AWH
01:55 – Introduction
03:55 – What Mikey’s life is favor today
05:00 – Growing up in Cleveland and Mikey’s younger years
07:00 – When did Mikey realize he could be a great wrestler?
09:30 – How Mikey ended up at Hofstra with Coach Tom Ryan
12:30 – Leaving Hofstra for Ohio State
16:05 – Entity at Ohio Mention opened up Mike