Lola Vice Says Not Everything About Women in Wrestling Needs to Be Sexualized

Lola Vice is done with the outdated idea that being feminine means you can’t be dangerous—and she’s got the fight record to prove it.

During her appearance on Busted Open After Dark with Bully Ray, the NXT star opened up about battling stereotypes in both MMA and WWE, explaining how people constantly underestimated her because of how she looks.

Vice recalled how even in the MMA world, coaches dismissed her before she ever stepped in the cage.

“That’s another thing. So, like, when I was in MMA, it was so hard to break a stereotype. I would walk into MMA gyms. No coach wanted to train me ’cause they thought it was a joke because of how feminine I was.”

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But Vice credited her upbringing for teaching her to balance both sides of herself. Her mom encouraged martial arts and ballet, helping her own her femininity without sacrificing toughness. That same attitude carried over to WWE, where Vice says women no longer have to choose between looking good and being taken seriously.

“I feel like women could be beautiful and also be badasses, right? And not everything needs to be sexualized, but that’s how it is sometimes. But I’ve always felt like you could try to sexualize me. But if I get in that cage and knock you out… it shows that I could do both. And I try to do the same thing here [in WWE]. I try to look the best that I can, but I’m also going to look as credible as I can because of my background and do the best of my ability. And hopefully one day I’ll be recognized for that.”

Vice’s comments come as WWE continues to move away from the outdated “Divas Era” mentality and toward a landscape where women can be both attractive and credible in the ring. As Bully Ray pointed out, being “nice to look at” never stopped stars like Randy Orton from being legit—and it shouldn’t be any different for the women.

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