Michin is opening up about something deeply personal, and she wants one thing made very clear — taking bumps in a ring does not mean someone consents to abuse at home.
While speaking on Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast, Michin revealed that she went through a violent relationship after moving to Orlando to pursue television opportunities. She said therapy helped her process what happened, but at the time, the pressure was so heavy that she would break down around people she worked with.
“What led me go into therapy was it was a violent relationship and it was hard because like, it’s to the point now it’s been long enough and I’ve been doing therapy long enough where like everything happens for a reason. I learned a lot from it and I forgive everybody. When it was happening to me, what made me want to be vocal about it and tell my story was when I would go and open up to my fellow co-workers or anytime I have Shimmer, like just kind of breakdown and like it was so much pressure at home that once I left, like I just couldn’t help but breakdown.”
What really angered Michin was the way some people dismiss abuse when it happens to women wrestlers. She said the excuse she kept hearing was that wrestlers should somehow be “used to” physical violence because they take bumps for a living. Michin shut that idea down hard.
“The common thing that pissed me off about it all is the fact that as women wrestlers, when we go through that, all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh well, you’re a wrestler. You should be used to that.’”
Then she explained the difference in the simplest possible way. Wrestling is a performance with consent. Abuse is not: “And it’s like, OK, but the difference between being in the ring and being at home is consent. Like I’m consenting to a wrestling match. I’m not consenting to getting choked.”
Michin said she also heard from other women wrestlers who felt trapped by the same mindset. They worried people would laugh at them or question why they could wrestle men in the ring but not defend themselves at home.
“Seeing all of these girlfriends of mine, like, ‘Yeah, you know, we go through it too, but what can we say? We wrestle guys too. What can we say?’ And it’s like, f*** that. Absolutely not. Because that’s why it keeps happening.”
That is why Michin felt she had to speak up. She said there could be a woman wrestling an intergender match while also being abused at home, but staying silent because she fears judgment from the wrestling world.
“I need to put this message out because there’s a woman that’s having an intergender match this weekend that’s getting beat up at home. But she feels like she can’t say anything because she has this freaking match with the guy. Now she’s worried about all these other wrestlers laughing at her because she can’t defend herself at home. But then if she defends herself at home, then she’s the abuser. You know what I mean? So it’s like it’s such a double edged sword, a vicious cycle.”
Michin said her goal is to make sure other women wrestlers understand that none of this is normal or acceptable, no matter how tough they are in the ring.
“I really just wanted to use my own lesson, but also platform it and tell the other women wrestlers like, yeah, even though you’re a wrestler and you may wrestle guys, you may do hardcore matches, this is not OK.”
Bottom line, Michin is using her story to call out a dangerous mindset in wrestling. Being trained to fight, bump, and perform does not make domestic violence acceptable — and she wants women in the business to know they have every right to speak up.
What do you think about Michin speaking out on this issue? Drop your thoughts below and leave your feedback.
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