Willow Nightingale was a recent guest on A Wrestling Gal with Ella Jay and talked about having a platform to inspire others. Willow said it’s an interesting position to be in, but she hopes to create a bigger space for representation and make people feel like they can do anything, no matter what their background is.
“Sometimes it’s a little jarring because there are moments when I look at myself and based on like what I physically look like, what my personality is, like my interests, and sometimes I feel like a little bit of an oddball amongst what the role of a female wrestler might be in some other people’s eyes, which is, like, very glamorous, very slender or whatever. Some people think that is the look that is supposed to be. So sometimes it feels like, ‘well, why? Why me?’ Like, why? Why am I just being put in this position to be like, I’m beneath someone or like, I’m just like the example of what you shouldn’t be and like, ‘she’s going to come here and we’re going to beat her up.’ But I’ve been really fortunate to see that people believe in me. I’m winning matches. I’m being put in spotlights. People are giving me the opportunity to talk and really kind of share what I’m all about, the things that I represent, I don’t know that that was a position I ever thought I would be in, so I’m definitely trying to make the most of it.
“And what exactly is that? I am trying to create awareness and create a bigger space for the representation of black women, for queer folk, for fat people. And I know sometimes when I say the word fat, it makes people uncomfortable because some people are like, ‘well, you’re not fat, you’re this’. And like, ‘Well this person is fatter.’ You do with that what you will. I’m definitely a bigger person at the end of the day, no matter what, and if there is any person who has any kind of feelings about their body not being whatever this ideal image is and looks at me and thinks, ‘oh, like she’s still a complete fat ass.’ And like, you know, hopefully I’m a babe too in their eyes, and I could help them feel better about themselves. I just want everyone to be like, ‘I can accomplish anything.’ And personally, I get to feel like a superhero while doing it. So it’s so much bigger than just being like ‘I’m being put on a show that is really cool.’ It’s like, I want to make sure that all this stuff also kind of spills through from having this platform.”
Willow Nightingale also spoke about the return of SHIMMER, explaining that it’s another exciting opportunity to be part of that legacy in women’s wrestling.
“SHIMMER is one of those companies throughout the entire pandemic, I’ve been like, ‘Oh man, I really SHIMMER’ because it’s such a team. You know, you get a whole roster of these women wrestlers from all over the country and all over the world, really. You get a lot of Australians. Personally, I’ve never had the opportunity to work with any Joshi talent from there. But Dave Prazak really puts the effort into making sure that he is scouting the best possible people to be there and uphold the reputation that they’ve built for themselves, from the time that they started, right? SHIMMER was really one of the first places to be like, ‘we are doing women’s wrestling and we are doing women’s athletics most importantly.’ So to kind of carry on that legacy and be a part of that means a lot to me on a personal level, but also from the standpoint of just being able to see all these people. I don’t really get to cross paths with them regularly because they’re overseas or what have you. It’s really exciting on that level, too, so you could say excited would be one word for it.”
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