Top wrestling star Allie Katch has vowed to keep kicking fans out of wrestling shows for saying “dumb s***”.
Allie, 29, was speaking exclusively to the Daily Star before appearing for PROGRESS Wrestling in Manchester on Sunday (February 12).
The Texas-native has become a trailblazer within the industry – alongside long-time tag team partner Effy – for being openly queer.
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By being so open, Allie regularly faces heaps of vile abuse, but she has zero intentions of shying away from the trolls.
She said, shortly before beating Session Moth Martina in an impromptu match at the O2 Ritz: “I have kicked two fans out now for dumb s**t they’ve said, and I want to make sure it’s normalised and that people feel OK punching somebody (like that) in the face for saying something gross.
“I want to make sure that there are more Effys and Allies that have the space and ability to grow and be seen in the business as top performers.
(Image: Progress Wrestling)
“I want to see fans be more comfortable, and places take more measures to police who they hire in the locker room and tell others to not make people uncomfortable or ‘don’t use language like that’.”
Allie has seen a huge rise in popularity since wresting returned from its pandemic-enforced break – specifically in the UK.
Formerly known as Allie Kat – yes, it was a cat-like gimmick, but a very cool one – she debuted in the ring in August, 2011.
She was ranked 51 in the top 150 female wrestlers in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 2022 – seven places higher than the year before.
And she recently appeared on All Elite Wrestling’s Dark show – a company that has an openly gay wrestler in Sonny Kiss.
(Image: Progress Wrestling)
Rivals WWE has top star Sonya Deville, but Allie wants to see more showcasing of the LGBT community, but in a way that doesn’t make it look like a “secret”.
She explained: “WWE did a pride month, and they showcased it, and Sonya gets to wear rainbow gear etc.
But at the same time, it’s like, sometimes these wrestlers in the top companies, they do things that are queer-coded that only like queer people realise, and queer people know.
“And it’s a nod to us – like a little secret for us – but I don’t want us to be a secret.
“And so hopefully, and I hate to have to put it like this, but hopefully these companies see the money in these performers because at the end of the day that’s what this is about – making money for your company
“I hope they see that there is money in people like Sonny Kiss, and they give them more time on TV. . . an actual storyline with real people and not just like, the straight girl kiss another girl.”
Referencing a recent storyline in WWE where Liv Morgan and Lana had a lesbian-style love triangle angle despite both of them being supposedly straight – she added: “Some people are saying it’s like queer-baiting, but at the same time, we don’t know these people, you do not know us and you don’t know who we are behind closed doors.
“Just because me and other people are so open in our sexuality, some other people aren’t, so there’s that to consider.
“And then there’s also queer storytelling – as a queer woman, there are straight women that I’ve just pined over, and there is a heartbreak that you have to deal with it sometimes.
“You do need to see stuff like that on TV to be reminded that there are complicated love stories within the queer community that straight people won’t know.”
Allie’s attitude and openness has seen some fans take a leaf from her book.
She recalled the story of a fan coming up to her and proudly stating that they had come out to their friends and family because of Allie being their role model.
And she wants to take that platform to the next level as she looks towards how she wants her future to pan out.
“I wrestle for the fans, and that’s what I’m here to do, but then there is the part of me that’s like, I do want to do well, I want to be respected by my peers, and I want them to look back and to think that like I was good,” she said.
“I love seeing my growing fan base and, even just last night (during an event in Newcastle) somebody who had never seen wrestling came with their son.
“Now she wants to come back because she watched my make, and I’m just like, OK I did it – I did my job, I got a new fan, I made somebody like wrestling and now they’re part of this thing that I love.
“And that’s that’s all I’m supposed to do.”
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