Zoe Serrano has been trapped underneath some seriously foul wrestlers—and the woman formerly known as WWE’s Zoey Stark says the smell can hit you at the absolute worst time.
During her new “Zoey 101” series, Serrano was asked whether she had ever wrestled somebody who smelled terrible. She didn’t hesitate. According to Serrano, bad hygiene happens in professional wrestling far more often than fans might realize. Serrano explained that wrestling requires performers to get extremely close, which makes it impossible to escape once an opponent starts throwing off a nasty odor.
“In professional wrestling, this happens a lot more than I would like to say. I have wrestled several people where body parts are all over you. Let’s just say, in certain areas, when you’re doing certain moves, you can really get a big whiff.”
There were times when the smell was bad enough for Serrano to wonder whether the other wrestler had showered. She also remembered gear bags being opened backstage and immediately stinking up the area.
“Sometimes it’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s time for a shower, buddy. What are you doing?’ There have been times when someone would open up their gear bag and it would reek.”
Serrano made sure the women she worked with didn’t take the blame. She said the worst offenders were mainly men she encountered on the independent wrestling scene. She also explained how it happens. Indie wrestlers can work three or four shows in a row without getting a real opportunity to wash their gear. By the time they finally return home, several nights of sweat have already soaked into everything.
“I need to say this: this was never the women. This part was mainly the men, like on the indie scene and stuff. But it happens. You’re doing three or four shows back-to-back, and you don’t have time to wash them. You usually just wash them when you get home. The smell accumulates, and things happen.”
Serrano didn’t expose any of the wrestlers who nearly knocked her out with their stench, but they probably know exactly who they are. Taking somebody’s sweaty body to the face is already part of wrestling—doing it while their gear smells like it has been rotting in a car trunk is another level of punishment.
What would you do if you had to wrestle somebody who smelled that bad? Leave your feedback in the comments.
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