WRESTLING FEES


Let me begin by saying that I am a longstanding fan of women's wrestling.
I became fascinated by the sight of female pro wrestlers on television in
the 70's when I was growing up, and I've been doing private matches with
female wrestlers for about 12 years now. Explaining why grappling with
someone of the opposite gender is so appealing to me would itself deserve a
lengthy dissertation, but suffice to say that, for me, there is an inherent
sensuality coupled with the competitive/athletic aspects of wrestling that
make it, at times, irresistible.


But this piece is not homage to inter-gender grappling. It is, rather, a
call to examine an increasingly disturbing trend that has no end in sight.
I am referring to the growing tendency to raise prices for private matches.
This seems particularly callous to me in light of 2 recent events.


Commentators have babbled incessantly about how the events of September
11th have made us closer as a nation, and how they have the capacity to
make us kinder as individuals due to our, hopefully, heightened empathy.
And the cancellation of the Female Fighting Expo on November 3rd by the
Pasadena police department should have had the effect of creating more of a
sense of solidarity within the female wrestling community and its fans.
The latter incident should also have served as something of a wake-up call
to the people in this business that things need to be changed if we're
seen as such pariahs that a conservative community will bar the Expo from
taking place within its borders. But all this notwithstanding, some
wrestlers still just don't get it. A lot of them still don't, as a matter
of fact. This business is as dominated by greed, opportunism, and a sense
of ME FIRST as it's ever been. I need no lectures on the laissez faire
theory of business. The women in this business wrestle to make money, and
we live in a free market economy where anyone has the right to charge
whatever price she wants for a service. I know all that. But there is a
point at which reasonable people can begin to say that we, the patrons of
this activity, are being taken advantage of. Hugely taken advantage of.



What prompted me to write this is an e-mail I just received from a very
popular session wrestler who travels a great deal. Her message told me
she's coming to my part of the country very soon and that her rates have
gone up: it's now $240 for half an hour and $340 for one hour. This is a
clear departure from the standard $200 for half an hour/$300 for one hour
formula that we've endured (and I use that word deliberately) for so long.
Apparently, $300 of my hard-earned money is no longer enough to roll around
on the floor with me for 60 minutes. This wrestler feels that the work
she's doing is either so laborious, or so intricate, or both, that she must
now be compensated to the tune of $340, an amount of money many people have
to work 40 hours to generate. This sum will be paid to her in under the
table cash, and she will pay no taxes on it. But this woman is by no means
alone or unique in this raising of rates.


A "wrestler" (I use the term loosely) from the South, a very large woman
who is more accurately described as an exotic dancer with very little
grappling skills (she enjoys notoriety solely because of her size) says on
her website that her hourly rate is $400. This woman has as much claim to
being a skilled grappler as I do at being a seamstress. Another Southerner
who is very new to this business told me when I inquired about her rates
that she charges $350 per hour and makes the client pay for a hotel room to
do the match in. This woman hasn't put her wrestling prowess on display in
a single video for a single company and she has no track record whatsoever
as a private match wrestler, yet she feels comfortable jumping right into
the fray and charging more than everyone else. At least 2 of the agencies
in New York City have raised their official one hour rate to $350, and I've
seen several other websites of individual wrestlers who are creeping their
fees up above the "standard formula". The days of the old $150 for half an
hour/$250 for one hour formula are waning quickly.


Being a student of human nature, it's pretty easy for me to look ahead and
see that a monkey-see-monkey-do dynamic is inevitable: "If other wrestlers
are charging over $300 and getting it, why shouldn't I?" Every female
wrestler I've ever known cries the blues about guys pulling no-shows
(making appointments for matches and not showing up). Do these women think
that raising the price is going to make no-shows happen less? As I'm fond
of saying, greed makes people stupid. And before anyone raises the
objection that when wrestlers travel they need to charge a lot to cover
their expenses (air fare, hotel, meals, etc.), these are not just "travel"
rates. It would be one thing if women charged high prices while on the
road and a moderate rate if you see them at their usual location, but
everyone knows that's not how it works. A $325-an-hour wrestler wants $325
anytime, whether you wrestle her in Bombay or on the mats set up in her
living room. What's even scarier than this unbridled greed is the sense I
get from the patrons of female wrestling that there isn't a growing sense
of outrage. Where will it end? Will wrestling someday cost $500 an hour?



The people in this business who pretend to have a shred of decency have an
obligation to boycott this price gouging crap. In terms of what the guys
should do, it's simple: DON'T WRESTLE WOMEN WHO CHARGE ONE PENNY MORE THAN
THE STANDARD RATE. Tell any of the higher charging ones that the most
you'll pay is the standard rate; if they won't budge, just vote with your
feet and wrestle someone else. As for the women, NONE OF THEM SHOULD
CHARGE ONE PENNY MORE THAN THE STANDARD RATE. They could go even further:
there should be an across-the-board policy of discounts for guys who pay
the entire session fee in advance. This guarantees the wrestler that the
client won't pull a no-show, and if he does, it's his loss; the wrestler
would be under no obligation to return his money. Someone willing to pay
the entire amount upfront by credit/debit card or money order should get at
least a 10% discount on the half hour or one hour fee, which would make
them at most $180 and $270, respectively. The discount would only apply to
paying the entire fee; there'd be no discount for someone who merely makes
a deposit, say, $100. It's time for some frank talk on this subject.
Everyone knows that session fees have been a sore point in this business
for years, as well as the behavior of some women during sessions (talking
on the phone on the client's time, booking sessions so close together that
the guy gets shorted out of a full 60 minutes, etc.). Everyone knows that
this stuff goes on, so it's ridiculous to pretend that these problems don't
exist.


Like I said before, the cancellation of the Expo should have sent everyone
a clear message that, rightly or wrongly, the female wrestling business
isn't perceived as being something "decent". By continually abusing
clients with ridiculous match fees, the women in this business are proving
that the government of Pasadena was right.