Adult Star Turned Wrestler Nadia White Calls Out Sexism in Pro Wrestling

The world of professional wrestling has gone through many changes and there is a lot of inclusivity that wasn’t there before. With that said, adult star turned pro wrestler Nadia White has called out the sexism and discrimination they have faced in the industry.

While speaking on Perched on the Top podcast, Nadia White shared their thoughts on the connection between professional wrestling and the adult film industry, saying the two are closely related and often overlap.

They mentioned how adult stars like Jenna Jameson and Minka were used in wrestling storylines to attract viewers, but when someone works hard and helps out at shows, they often don’t get the same respect. Nadia explained that they are not ashamed of their adult film career, as it has given them a good life, but they are frustrated with being ignored or disrespected by some promoters.

“I mean, the adult film industry has been a part of professional wrestling for a long time. They are mirror industries, and the similarities go down to the fine print. They are one and the same, and the adult industry has always overlapped with pro wrestling. Growing up, we saw Jenna Jameson, Minka, and many other famous porn stars that everyone knew on TV, and that was fine. It was okay to use them to get viewers, but when someone actually puts in the work—does what they’re supposed to, helps out at shows, bends over backwards, cleans up garbage—I’m not good enough to wrestle? That’s just what it feels like to me. I don’t know. I just want to say, everybody is entitled to hire whoever they want for whatever reason.

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I’m not arguing that I should be on every single show. My issue is that I lay it out there. I don’t try to hide anything. I’m not a dishonest person. I’m not ashamed of how I feed myself and my family. It’s afforded me a really fantastic life, honestly, and I don’t regret anything. But if you’re going to hire someone, at least look at them a little bit. If not, you’re wasting my time, you’re wasting my mental energy, and you’re messing with my finances. That’s not okay.”

Nadia remembered their first wrestling show, where another wrestler tried to get them removed because of their adult film work. The promoter supported Nadia and found a new venue, but it was a tough moment. They pointed out that fans, including kids and their parents, don’t usually mind their past in adult films, but it’s often other wrestlers, promotions, or venues—especially in conservative areas—that have an issue with it.

“How often has this happened? Brother, it was my first show—my very first show after training. The girl I was supposed to wrestle didn’t agree with my job, so she went to the venue to get me removed from the show. But luckily, the promoter didn’t think that was right, so we moved the venue and I had a different opponent. But my very first show? How can you do that to someone? I worked my ass off to get here. I moved across the country twice to get the training I wanted. You can’t say I’m not dedicated to pro wrestling.

I’m a girl, but that has nothing to do with anything. You can do whatever you want in this life. The kids at the show and the parents of the children at the show don’t have a problem with it. It’s the promotions, the venues, or the other wrestlers, and I’ll admit, a lot of them have been from America’s lovely Bible Belt. But that doesn’t stop you from being able to use Google. Whenever I hire anyone for my production company, you can bet that I’m going to look at their work before I give them any money. And this could have easily all been avoided, but it’s happened time and time again. It even happened again with a custom company last week. I’ve had enough. It’s been going on for two years now, and it’s time I stop wasting my feelings on it.”

They also mentioned how other wrestlers like Matt Riddle and Nic Nemeth have attended adult industry events without criticism. Nadia believes the way they are treated differently is unfair and sexist.

“That’s also what makes me angry—it’s a sexist thing. Hands down, it’s a sexist thing, and that’s what it is. It’s amazing and fun for Matt Riddle to do skits about going to the AVN Awards for WWE, but who else do you think is at the AVN Awards? Me. Nick Nameth, Dolph Ziggler, was my boy and very active in going to the AVN Awards. He’s always posting pictures with Kendra Lust. So, the more you dig, the more you realize it’s a sexist thing. 100%.”

They also talked about custom match requests, saying that while some companies claim to promote women’s empowerment, the truth is many of these matches are made for people’s fetishes. Nadia pointed out the contradiction of companies rejecting them for working in adult films, even though these same companies often seek out adult stars for content.

“A few of them have had the decency to do it over the phone. No one’s ever been derogatory, but we also live in the day of screenshots, so I think people are more mindful of their wording now. But yeah, I’ve had a few custom requests too. I think they’re really fun, and I do them in my other line of work too. We do the same exact thing. A lot of these custom companies like to pretend they’re not making porn or fetish videos, but why do you think these guys are buying them? They don’t buy these videos for the love of pro wrestling. I’ll tell you that much. You can lie to yourself all you want.

This one company I ended up working for—I made a post on Facebook because I also work for an adult wrestling company in a similar area, and the guy was going off, saying, ‘I can’t believe these girls go over there and do topless and all this. I can’t work with any of them.’ I was sitting there reading like, ‘Wow, I was waiting for the call, but I guess he wanted the custom money to go through, so he let me stay.’ The last one was with a company that contacted me through my adult Instagram. They wanted to bring me out to do custom matches, and they were parading around, saying they promote women’s self-defense and empowerment.

I might not identify internally as a woman, but I have a woman’s body, and I’m in women’s wrestling. What’s wrong with that? They wrote back, ‘We can’t work with you because you work for these websites.’ I wrote back, ‘Why? Because I do porn? You contacted me on my porn page.’ Normally, I just let it go because there’s no use in expending more energy, but I had to respond this time.”

Despite all the challenges, Nadia remains determined and unashamed of their work, acknowledging that while they may be treated unfairly by some, they are not willing to let this hinder their journey or career in wrestling and that’s all that matters to them. Regardless, fans do hope there will be more inclusivity for people like Nadia White in the future.

Do you believe the wrestling industry is still struggling with inclusivity and acceptance of people from different backgrounds, like adult film stars? Let us know in the comments.