Social conservatives used to criticise wrestling for its bad language and violence, now liberals say it’s too sexist. That cultural shift may be reflected in voting patterns too, if Donald Trump can persuade enough people that the Democrats are today’s prudes, says Will Cooling
It is nearly a decade since Donald Trump descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower to assume his place as the main character in American politics.
What followed has often been obscene and always bizarre, but if you looked closely, you could understand how Trump marshalled voters to achieve surprise victories – be it by running hard against immigration from Mexico or running away from previous Republican pledges to cut benefits for American pensioners.
Even so, one thing that baffles many onlookers about the strength of his comeback is that many moderates or even libertarians are considering voting for him. This, after all, is the man whose appointed supreme court judges overruled the federal constitutional right to abortion – an assault, some would say, on a woman’s fundamental right to choose. Yet some voters who care deeply about personal freedom still feel that the Republican Party is closer to them on cultural issues.
And I think you got an insight into why this is at last week’s Wrestlemania. The biggest weekend in pro-wrestling, over 70,000 fans watched live as superstars including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena performed for an international television audience of millions. It was also the first annual supershow WWE has put on since its founder Vince McMahon was forced to leave the company due to allegations of sexual harassment and abuse.
The Rock would use a pre-show appearance on Fox News to express regret for backing Joe Biden back in 2020, believing that his endorsement had created division. He would also explain that he felt America was moving in the wrong direction and that cancel culture, and woke culture, bugs him. It’s probably not a coincidence that earlier this year The Rock was criticised for accusing one of his opponents of looking like a cross-dresser.
The next day the WWE held its latest induction ceremony for its Hall of Fame, of which Trump himself is a member. There veteran pro-wrestling promoter and manager Paul Heyman laughed at the suggestion he was going to be cancelled for something he said in his speech, bragging that he had been cancelled many times before and had always come back stronger.
The Rock and Heyman are both icons of pro-wrestling’s late-1990s turn towards trash TV with its emphasis on scantily clad models, bad language, and ultra-violence. At the time that made it a target for social conservatives, but as the years have gone on, it is liberals that are more likely to push back at the objectification of women, mean spirited humour, or male aggression.
That cultural shift is perhaps reflected in voting patterns too. The Democrats’ success in the 2022 midterms shows that if people focus on abortion, they will punish Republicans for trying to police women’s bodies. But if Donald Trump can instead focus attention on liberals’ attempts to police people’s behaviour in the name of equality, he might just convince enough swing voters that the Democrats are today’s prudes.
Will Cooling writes about politics and pop culture at It Could Be Said substack