Abstract
This thesis paper, and the digital museum exhibit that accompanies it, focuses on the concepts of diversity and inclusivity as it relates specifically to the entertainment medium of professional wrestling. It is an attempt to tell a story that has largely been left out of both academic and public histories. To tell this story, the paper focuses primarily on a wrestling promotion (or “territory” as it was referred to at the time) known as Big Time Wrestling that existed in the region of Northern California from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, and the wide array of wrestlers that performed there throughout its existence. To further illustrate this idea, the paper also examines the broader historical connections that wrestling and diversity share, beginning with the origins of professional wrestling in the late 1800s, and concluding with modern examples of how companies have largely moved on from leaning into shallow racial and cultural stereotypes to create characters, and instead attempt to present more complex characters that appeal to a wider audience.
The bulk of the paper consists of three primary chapters: the historic context, the methodology, and the historiography. The context tells the near two-hundred-year history of professional wrestling and how it has been able to provide visibility to different ethnic groups in the United States at various points in history. The historiography examines what other historians have said about professional wrestling and diversity, and how this work fits into the wider field of study. Finally, the methodology explains my own process in putting both the digital exhibit and the paper together, and ultimately why I chose to tackle this topic in the first place. This paper is the culmination of years of research, and a lifetime’s obsession with the great drama that is professional wrestling, and I am hopeful that it contributes to the subject gaining greater attention in both academic and public circles.