Ava knows professional wrestling can look tough on the outside, but she’s not pretending it isn’t theatrical as hell.
During The Lib’s Finisher podcast with Gianmarco Soresi, the conversation turned to how wrestling and theater are way closer than some fans want to admit. Soresi said wrestling is performance art at its core, and even if wrestlers didn’t grow up as theater kids, a lot of them have that same energy once they step into character.
“I grew up loving wrestling and the ways that it’s like not the same group as theater people but it is theatrical and every like it is theater and everyone in it is a theater kid. True. And true. Like even if they didn’t do it, it’s in their like you it’s like when you would meet a theater kid in middle school and you’d be like same thing.”
That’s when the hosts started breaking it down even more. They pointed out that wrestling has always been full of wild characters, dramatic entrances, colorful gear and over-the-top presentation. The Undertaker even came up as an example, with the host joking that one of wrestling’s darkest characters still came out in purple gloves, long hair and a dramatic outfit.
“I think what’s so interesting though is like theater it feels very broad brush strokes more feminine there’s more like it’s certainly more liberal and left-leaning and like somehow wrestling. Like the Undertaker is one of my favorites, who I grew up on, and I’m like he was wearing purple gloves and a cute little fat tie and long hair.”
Then the conversation went all the way there — wrestling, they joked, is basically drag. The host said every time people push back on that comparison, it only makes it more obvious, because wrestlers are literally performing in underwear, makeup and costumes.
“It is drag. It literally is drag and every time that I bring it to people and they’re like, ‘No, it’s not.’ I’m like, ‘Definitely. Everyone is in their underwear.’”
Ava didn’t fight the comparison at all. She agreed that wrestlers are out there in tiny gear, practically underwear, makeup, costumes, headpieces and all kinds of visual pieces that help build the character.
“It is like everyone is in their underwear. Like you said, they have on all this fun makeup and they’re wearing these costumes, you know, head pieces sometimes, you know.”
The group then joked about how many wrestlers eventually simplify their look over time. Kane came up as an example, with the host pointing out how some wrestlers start with huge masks and elaborate gear before eventually turning into versions of themselves on-screen.
“I love the evolution of wrestlers where they start with like big mask, big everything. And as they get older, they go like Kane was one of my favorites. He was the Undertaker’s brother. Big mask. That must have been a nightmare to wear all the time. And then one day the mask goes away. And then one day they’re like, ‘My character now dresses like I do.’”
Ava said that actually makes sense once you remember how much wrestlers have to travel. She explained that while some gear can be left in road cases for production, wrestlers are often responsible for carrying their own stuff. She even recalled an NXT talent who had to travel with a sword and prove it wasn’t a real weapon.
“Right? Because also when you’re traveling on the road like sometimes you can leave your stuff in a road case and production will take it with you, but most of the time you’re responsible for it. So like you have to be. There was a girl in NXT and she used to come out with a sword and she would have to travel with that sword and she’d have to check it and she’d have to show the little card that was like, ‘It’s not a weapon,’ blah blah blah.”
That is why Ava understands why some wrestlers eventually dial things back and make their character feel more like an extension of themselves instead of carrying around a whole production every night: “So I see why people are kind of like maybe, like you said, I’ll just it’ll just be an extension of me.”
Bottom line, Ava is not trying to strip away the toughness of wrestling. She is just saying what a lot of people know but don’t always admit — wrestling is live theater with muscles, makeup, costumes and a whole lot of character work.
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