Former TNA wrestler and Mae Young Classic participant Marti Belle spoke to WPW Weekly recently! You can see highlights below, and the full podcast at this link.
Marti Belle Talks about Experiencing Racial Bias As A Professional Wrestler:
Thankfully, a lot of things have changed. Not only for people of color but women of color. I think we are starting to make our mark more and more, not only in this industry, but every industry. It is hard because if something has happened because of my race, or because of how I have looked it hasn’t been said to me. There might have been opportunities that I haven’t gotten because of that. I know that there is this one promotion that I have tried to work for in another country---I won’t mention who it is, but I have tried working for them in the past and I finally reached out to one of my friends and since I know they work for that company I asked him what the deal is because they haven’t reached back to me, and he said that they only bring in white girls with big boobs so I guess that is not happening. I don’t get offended by that, but if you are going to limit yourself to that it is what it is. Even with the hair comment, I get people who tell me that I should straighten my hair, but I tell them that I don’t want to. I have done it before, and I am not against doing it. I mean, I am not my hair; I am not my skin color, and I am not even my gender, I am who I am, so I don’t think I should gain or lose opportunities because of how I look, it should be what I bring to the table.
Possibilities of working overseas:
I have been in talks with a few places in Mexico. Mexico has always been my dream ever since I was a little girl. Even before I was a wrestler, I always had dreams of living and working in Mexico. I think it just stems back to growing up and watching telenovelas. Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, those are the hotbeds for telenovelas, so I think that has always stayed in the back of my mind. Now with wrestling, I think that it is the greatest opportunity for me. With NWL closing, I believe sky is the limit to where I can go and what I can do, so I have definitely been in talks with some people down in Mexico, so I hope that will come into play for the next several months. I haven’t spoken with anyone in Japan, nor have I reached out. I guess because my focus has always been Mexico. I would not be opposed to working in Japan, of course. I believe it would be a good challenge for me to grow as a performer, wrestler, everything so Japan is also something that is the idea for the near future.
