Pro-wrestling star Mercedes Martinez recently spoke with SEScoops about a wide range of topics, most notably her thoughts on how female wrestlers are judged differently when they get older than the male wrestlers. Highlights from the interview are below.
How women wrestlers are expected to cut their careers shorter when they reach a certain age:
Professional wrestling has this thing where they put an age limit on the females that after a certain age, you should be stopping. You should be whatever it is that you wanna do but not be in the ring and not be an athlete, whereas the men, they’re, you know, around the same age as us and they’re given opportunities after opportunities. You don’t look at them any differently as if they were 20 years old. But when it comes to females, it’s a whole different ball game like we should stop at a certain age whether it’s 30-years-old or 35. You can’t tell me at almost 41-years-old that I can’t run circles around a 20-year-old and then some. You know, it’s up to me to make that decision.
Says as long as women are able to deliver in the ring it shouldn’t really matter what their age is:
It shouldn’t be up to anybody otherwise and I think that’s where the biggest problem is right now for female wrestling is just that ageism and that age gap when we have to stop and I think if you can go, you can go. There’s always something for everybody, doesn’t matter what your age [is]. As long as you can deliver on what you’re supposed to deliver and do your job and have fun with it, just keep going until you say it’s time to stop, not anybody else.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling)