There have been a massive number of nude leaks in the land of WWE and one can’t help but sit back and reflect on it.
First, there was Paige, a huge scandal that not only involved nude photos, but a sex tape with former WWE star Brad Maddox, as well as current and active WWE star, Xavier Woods. Then, there was WWE talents Summer Rae and Alexa Bliss; however, the jury is still out on whether or not those are legit. Other wrestling superstars to suffer the same fate? Maria Kanellis and Victoria, and more recently four-time RAW Women’s Champion, Charlotte.
I’d be remiss, if I didn’t mention the nude photo scandal in early 2015 with WWE star Seth Rollins and NXT up-and-comer (at the time) Zahra Schreiber.
The situations have been crazy, caused a stir on social media, and made live events (and fan-created signage) an interesting thing. There are some superstars who have hidden under a rock for a bit, while others have jumped back up, dusted themselves off and have carried on with business as usual.
WWE’s head office stance seems pretty clear: unless any ethics have been violated, superstars generally face zero repercussions around these matters. If a superstar has talent and drive, their push continues. In the case of Seth Rollins, while his photos leaked in February of 2015, by the time Wrestlemania rolled on a mere month or so later, Seth was still crowned WWE Champion in a history-making match where the superstar cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the main event of the show, turning the bout into a triple threat match; something that has never been done in the history of MITB.
Reflection on my part: as a fan, the situations are scandalous, but I guess I’m a bit of an empath. I get it, when you do something like this, as spicy as it is for a relationship, you open yourself up to the chances that these photos will get leaked – and you’ll suffer the embarrassing consequences around it. And yes, it is embarrassing (sadly) when you open yourself up in this regard and get exposed to the world. Especially as an entertainer/celebrity, but even more so as a WWE talent, who travels the world and does live events during the week. But in the grand scheme of things it seems, if you’ve got talent, does it really matter? If as a superstar, you can entertain audiences, be a part of magnificent milestones, and make a true difference inside that squared circle … should nudie photos, sex tapes, or anything you do outside of the ring (barring illegal activity, hurting other individuals, spreading hate – you get the picture) affect your career? I say no.
At the end of the day, these superstars are victims of privacy violation. Sure, there is always that chance that photos will be exposed in this day and age of digital media, but they were never intended for the world to see. The true people that should be judged are those who leaked the photos in the first place. Plus, at the rate these photos are leaking, pretty much everyone on the roster will have experienced this … at one time or another.
Judgement is a part of life. We are all judgemental to a degree and surely there is some money to be made, whether via click bait power or otherwise, to go through the trouble of leaking these nudie photos. Still, for those superstars, here’s hoping life simply goes on. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, life is not defined by the mistakes we make, rather how we get back up and tackle the world.
