10 Times TNA Went Further Than The WWE Attitude Era

5. Vince Russo's Slut-Shaming Obsession

TNA Garbage
Impact Wrestling

While TNA was the first major North American wrestling promotion to treat women as something more than a big pair of t*ts - Christ almighty, imagine being behind Vince Russo's curve and actually bragging about it, like Stephanie McMahon did in 2015 - it was still an exceptionally misogynistic place before and sometimes after Gail Kim and Awesome Kong pioneered a new chapter of the industry.

Athena (not the AEW women's wrestler) was a marketable and popular talent in TNA's early years, and Vince Russo portrayed her in quite disgusting fashion. Seeking to "parody" the old boy's club mentality at the dark heart of the Attitude Era, he as the Sports Entertainment Xtreme leader reminded her what the company initials stood for. He demanded that she "whip out" her "breasts", and when she refused, he unleashed a toxic rant.

She had "little flapjacks". Russo had seen "bigger t*ts on Dusty Rhodes". Athena was an "ugly wench b*tch" and a "little wh*re", and when she refused to bow to his demands, after the Russo character advanced towards her in disturbing fashion, he instructed the Harris Brothers to annihilate her - via swerve turn, naturally - in a shocking and stiff display of man-on-woman violence.

If this was parody, and it wasn't - it was an excuse to be vile because objectifying women was a once-popular ratings device - it didn't work. Russo was far too into it.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!