Jeanie Buss discusses her love of pro-wrestling.
The renowned business woman, who is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise spoke about another one of her ventures, WOW (Women of Wrestling) with Sports Illustrated. Buss expresses how important it is for her to be a driving force in women’s sports, then talks about the global reach that pro-wrestling has had over the world dating back to the 1980s.
It’s important to see women’s sports that can be self-sustaining. It shouldn’t be just one start-up league that folds after five years and you never hear from them again. It’s heartbreaking to spend time and energy on something that doesn’t make it. Wrestling is part of our consciousness. And I’ve been a wrestling fan for a long time, since there was the crossover to pop culture with Cyndi Lauper and Captain Lou Albano in the 1980s. Wrestling has a global reach, and I wanted to invest my own personal funds into something that was sustainable and could develop an audience. Wrestling has always been able to do that.
Buss later brings up the 50-year anniversary of the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Jean King and Bobby Riggs and how empowering it was for her to see. She adds that the roster in WOW empowers her as well and being involved with the promotion has been an incredible privilege for her career.
That can happen here, too, with our female wrestlers in WOW. Being a part of this empowering group of women has been one of the biggest privileges of my career.
You can check out her full interview here.
