Women Empowering Women: Beth Phoenix's WWE Hall of Fame Induction

So as I was trying to figure out what to write for today’s post, I was of two minds about it. Being April Fool’s Day and all, I really considered writing a post as a prank. I had it all planned out; I was going to write a full-on pro-Trump post. Then I thought about it a little more and thought about how it might look later without the context of the day. So I decided to do what I normally do and write a regular blog, but I wasn’t sure what to write about. Then I watched the WWE Hall of Fame induction of Beth Phoenix, and I had my topic.

For my readers who may not know, Beth Phoenix was a wrestler in the early 2000s. She retired from wrestling in 2012. Phoenix was known as the Glamazon. She was tall, strong, and beautiful. Beth was not afraid to mix it up with the guys as one of only three women ever to compete in the Royal Rumble. Her storylines with Santino challenged the gender roles in which she was the more dominant person in the pairing, taking on the more masculine traits. Her rivalries with Melina and Eve Torres was just as good as any storyline for the men. I could go on and on about Beth Phoenix and highly suggest if you aren’t familiar with her work, do yourself a favor and YouTube whatever you can.

Yet, it’s not Phoenix’s body of work that had me most impressed with this amazing woman. It is her kind and empowering spirit that has inspired me. In a moment where she could have just thanked those who inspired and helped her and reflected on her career, she took the time to talk about the women who are making waves as part of the Women’s Revolution. Phoenix showed that empowering and uplifting other women was important. She talked about the camaraderie of the women’s locker room in her time and how she was so proud to see how far women’s wrestling has come. It was a moment that moved beyond the accolades of her career and looked at how women can build each other up. 

Why does all of this matter? Often in society at large and professional wrestling in general, women are pitted against each other as competition. There is this idea that women cannot be friends, that they all hate each other. It was powerful to see this idea torn down for the falsehood that it is. In her induction speech, Beth showed that this was not the case.  She talked about how an established wrestler, Nora Greenwald, better known as Molly Holly anonymously paid for her wrestling training at OVW because she believed in Beth so much. Beth talked about her close friendship with Nattie Neidhart, WWE’s Natalya. It was a moment where you saw her love for Nattie as a person and a performer. This women were as close as sisters. 

Then Beth talked about her two young daughters as her greatest accomplishment. This does not mean that women’s greatest role is as a mother only, but she seemed to emphasize the importance of raising strong, independent women and how that begins as children. You could see the love she has for her family come out in the smile on her face.

If I didn’t respect Beth Phoenix so much already, her Hall of Fame induction speech would have sold me. She is an example that all women can look up to as both a wrestler and a person. Beth Phoenix is one of the gold standards for women’s wrestling and feminism.