Impact Wrestling To Become First Major Company To Host A Pride Night

As the world of professional wrestling quickly becomes a more welcoming space for LGBTQ+ fans and performers, Impact Wrestling is teaming up with the Windsor-Essex Pride Fest to celebrate Pride season.

Impact Wrestling announced that the promotion's post-Slammiversary event on July 16 will be a "Pride Night," notably the first time a major wrestling promotion has held a night specifically aimed at celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride. The announcement was made earlier today and had Pride-themed photos taken by openly-gay photographer Vincent Miller, which featured Trinity, Eddie Edwards, and his wife Alisha, Jai Vidal, and other talents from the Canadian-based pro wrestling promotion.

Impact has become a safe space for talents of different orientations, with openly transgender wrestler Gisele Shaw recently speaking about the support that she's received from her colleagues in Impact, since signing with the company in February of last year.

"At work, I mean everyone from management, front office, talent – like, you name it, everyone just super, excuse me — super supportive," Shaw said in a recent interview.

Impact was also supportive of Shaw after she was the subject of transphobic comments from WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner at a wrestling convention held during WrestleMania weekend, saying that the promotion was "in full support of [Gisele] and the LGBTQ+ community" in a statement on Twitter after Gisele shared her story of the harassment. While Impact Wrestling can lay claim to the first "Pride Night" from a major promotion, other wrestling promotions have also acknowledged Pride month. A notable example was the recent segment on AEW television which saw Anthony Bowens receive an ovation for stating his sexuality.