That’s some rare company. There are a lot of wrestlers in the world today and it takes something special to make them stand out in the crowd. That is something that can be hard to figure out, though there are ways to do it without involving anything that is done in the ring. Now another star has taken a rather bold step that makes her all the rarer kind of wrestler today.

During an interview with Breakfast Television In Canada, Impact Wrestling star Gisele Shaw revealed that she is a transgender woman. Shaw said that she made the announcement to be true to herself and wanting to love herself. Impact Wrestling has put out a statement praising Shaw, including a quote from Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace praising Shaw for being a role model. Shaw made her full time debut in Impact Wrestling in January.

IMPACT Wrestling Supports Gisele Shaw
IMPACT Wrestling Knockout competitor Gisele Shaw has disclosed she is a transgender woman to the wider public. Shaw, who joined IMPACT’s roster in January of this year, informed IMPACT of her decision several months ago and made the disclosure in a series of interviews today.

IMPACT Wrestling fully supports Gisele, including connecting her with prominent LGBTQ+ resources, including GLAAD and Athlete Ally, and will continue to support her.

IMPACT Wrestling Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore said: “IMPACT Wrestling has been at the forefront of empowering female performers for over 15 years. Our company believes featuring storylines with women athletes and characters from all different walks of life can not only entertain, but also inspire.

“Inclusiveness and representation are important to IMPACT and parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment, but I’ll also add Gisele is in IMPACT Wrestling because of her wrestling ability, her charisma and because she fits in with our roster. She is in IMPACT Wrestling because she’s one of the best young talents anywhere in the business.”

Reigning IMPACT Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace expressed her whole-hearted support for Shaw’s decision. She said: “As her friend, I’m excited for Gisele to be able to inspire people with her story. I know that is important to her. I’m biased, but I think the trans community has a great role-model in her.”

Opinion: This is one of those situations that took a lot of nerve for Shaw to do and she should be proud of she she did. She has been a success in the wrestling world with a reign as Progress Wrestling Women’s Champion and has done well enough in Impact so far. I’m curious to see how much of a difference this makes for her career, but hopefully no one gives her a hard time over the whole situation.

What do you think of Shaw? How far can she go in Impact Wrestling? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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