WWE Hall-of-Famer Lita Reveals Why She Changed Views On Wrestling In Saudi Arabia
Legend talked about WWE hypocrisy in 2018, will wrestle at Elimination Chamber.
WWE Hall-of-Famer Lita has not been shy to express her opinion about a variety of topics, whether it's about claims WWE threatened her with termination if she didn't go along with the infamous live sex celebration, the "double standards" she faced for her role in the Edge/Matt Hardy feud, or her support for the #TimesUp movement.
But the female daredevil has had to explain a change of heart she had about wrestling in Saudi Arabia. Lita is scheduled to compete against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship next week at Elimination Chamber, which comes four years after she criticized WWE in a WrestleZone interview for claiming they stood for advancing women as equal performers and then didn't let female superstars wrestle at Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018:
I do feel this was a direct conflict of interest with them maintaining any integrity or truth to the fact that they say they would like to push forward women, their roles and their reputations in this business as anything resembling equal to a male. Make the money, that’s fine, but don’t try to cover it up. Don’t say, “No, we are doing this because in the future we would like to help progress their culture forward!” No, you want the money, you’re a business and businesses make money.
In an interview with Ring the Belle posted on Thursday, Lita justified her backtracking by noting that she'd spoken to other WWE female superstars who had performed in Saudi Arabia and sold her on the impact that WWE is having on women in the country:
There are women on the card and I've talked to the women personally that have been over there and they are like, 'it's unbelievable. There are women crying, never thinking they would get to see two women be so strong in the ring. It's really powerful, you're going to enjoy that.' Sure, do they have a long way to go? Do we, as a society, have a long way to go? Absolutely. You have to take the opportunities when they are there.
Whether you consider that enough justification or you think that it was the number of zeroes at the end of her paycheck for the Saudi match, Lita is correct that women have gotten bigger roles on the Saudi shows and there's a definite reaction from the women in the audience. Elimination Chamber will take place on 19 February.
(h/t to Fightful for the Ring the Belle transcription)