"Yes, if your main intersection with pro wrestling was the late-'90s boom on U.S. cable TV, then you definitely saw a product rife with misogyny and homophobia. But it's a much more inclusive hobby than it used to be, and I tell people who I want to convince to go to an independent show with me that they should expect something like a comic-con atmosphere, not a frat house."
"Paul Levesque, their head of creative, is vice-chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, made up of a who's who of right-wing athletes as well as a couple commissioners. And the current Secretary of Education is Linda McMahon, whose creep of a husband delivered unprecedented profits to the pro wrestling business. The actual WWE television shows are self-consciously sanitized and corporate-friendly, and Ron DeSantis got booed while attending a WWE show in Florida last year."
Fans are debating whether chants of "Fuck ICE" will continue at pro wrestling shows. Pro wrestling fandom has become more inclusive than during the late-1990s cable boom, with independent shows offering comic-con–like atmospheres rather than frat-house environments. Wrestling events can be safer spaces for queer fans compared with many men's sporting events. WWE produces sanitized, corporate-friendly programming and maintains ties to right-wing figures and institutions through executives and political appointees. Political reactions have appeared in the crowd, including booing of prominent politicians at shows. AEW launched in 2019 as an alternative to WWE.
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