The Only Mirror In The Locker Room. Xtina Kade.
By Xtina Kade
Many pass through, but only a seldom few stay.
Whether it’s due to injury, being humbled just one too many times, or the reality of it all just not living up to expectations, I’m not too sure.
Being a woman in a male dominated field is always a challenge. Being a woman in wrestling is a whole different kettle of fish.
My introduction to wrestling wasn’t particularly the old textbook story. I grew up in a household of non wrestling fans, with only free-to-air television. The feeling of witnessing these larger than life characters on the TV screen was not something I ever got to experience. I was so far removed from that world that until I was well into my teens and found myself surrounded by wrestling fans, I probably wouldn’t have even been able to pick John Cena out of a lineup.
It was my sister who first introduced me to the local wrestling scene in 2018. Her and her partner (who was a local wrestler) had invited me along to a friend’s house where everyone was watching the Super Showdown PLE that had come to Australia (an event that my partner at the time had gone to see live). It was there that I was introduced to a handful of the local talent, some of whom have actually played an integral role in my own wrestling career so far.
One of these people was Bobby Bishop, one half of the brains behind Three Count Pro Wrestling Academy. This is the place where it all really started for me. After a couple of years with a couple of casual training sessions under my belt, I had already started to build relationships within the scene, and I found myself really yearning to be a part of it all.
Now, I was never an athletic kid growing up. You know those kids that would always be sick or conveniently forget their hat right before PE class? I was one of those. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and I wanted to wrestle, so that’s what I did. A year later I made my debut at Venom Pro Wrestling, in a tag team match as the newest member of the Strong 94 faction, defending the titles against Decadence. We lost the titles that night, but what we lost in gold, I gained in passion, drive and all round love for this crazy business.
I’ve now entered my second year of wrestling, and my time in the ring hasn’t come without its challenges. Being a woman in this industry is, to put it simply, an absolute rollercoaster.
No, really, imagine putting a bunch of women from completely different walks of life in a hot, humid room together, they haven’t had time to eat, they have one hour to plan a match AND put on a full face of makeup, while fighting over the one singular toilet stall so they can get changed into their gear. They’re stressed, hungry, and hormonal. Tensions are bound to get high. And yet, this kind of environment has been the catalyst for forming some of the strongest sisterhoods I think I have ever known. And it’s beautiful.
Queensland has a very small women’s roster, I think across the handful of promotions that I work regularly, there’s maybe a total of about five or six women. This means that we often find ourselves working each other week after week. This has its benefits. We all know each other like the back of our hands. You can pretty much put any two of us in a ring together and we’ll be able to pull something off. But I know we’re hungry for more. We want new experiences, we want to learn new things from new people. We want to work more experienced wrestlers, we want to elevate less experienced wrestlers. We want to stop being stuck in the same place, and we want to grow the women’s division in Queensland.
I could wax philosophical about the whys and the hows of the lack of female wrestlers in this state, but I think the most important thing to focus on is what we can do to elevate the division we have.
I know one of my biggest downfalls is not travelling as much as I should. I often find myself wondering how my peers can even afford it in the middle of a cost of living crisis. However, this year I really want to work towards changing that, but for the meantime, branching out in my home state and soaking up as much knowledge and experience as I can along the way is my biggest priority.
I’m incredibly lucky to have an amazing support system within the industry, with amazing trainers and mentors who are always willing to give feedback and advice where it’s needed. I’ve also been given some great opportunities to work across the roster of both men and women, meaning I can gain more in ring experience with many different wrestlers, something I am incredibly grateful for.
Ultimately, the goal is to soak up as much knowledge as possible. We in Queensland are in somewhat of a unique situation among the women with us having such a small roster, and I think we would benefit from scouting for more diverse booking opportunities to expand our skillset.
We have some of the best wrestlers in Australia in our little corner of the country, and it’s been such a wild ride watching us grow and create a product we can be proud of. We are only getting better, and I would love to encourage more women to join us on this crazy little journey that is Queensland wrestling.
