The internet is a toxic sewer for wrestling talent
Jonathan Coachman finally said the quiet part out loud, and honestly, it is about time somebody with a headset history actually stood up to the basement dwellers of the wrestling internet. For those living under a rock, Chelsea Green nuked her Twitter account after a tidal wave of harassment aimed at her political leanings. Coachman, who has spent more than enough time dealing with the irrational vitriol of 'fans' since his days on the Raw desk, didn't hold back. He pointed at the reality we all pretend doesn't exist: wrestling twitter has become less of a community and more of a digital firing squad.
Let’s call this what it actually is: pathetic behavior from people who confuse being a fan with being a gatekeeper. Chelsea Green is one of the most hardworking, creative, and physically gifted performers in the entire business. Whether she is doing a Canadian Destroyer off a ladder or making a ridiculous skit go viral on TikTok, she puts in the work. You don't have to agree with her politics to recognize that she is legitimately great at her job. If your instinct upon seeing a social media post you disagree with is to harass a performer until they leave the platform, you have completely lost the thread of what entertainment is supposed to be.
The myth of the fan as an authority figure
We are currently living in an era where everyone thinks they are a booker, a talent agent, and a supreme court justice all at once. It’s gotten worse since the days when we just shouted at the TV during the Attitude Era. Now, the feedback loop is instantaneous, and it is usually fueled by the worst impulses of the human brain. Coachman isn't out of line for saying the fans have crossed a line; he’s accurately describing a rot that has infected the way we consume wrestling. It wasn't that long ago that people were losing their minds over the booking of the tag team titles while ignoring that these performers are human beings with actual lives outside of the squared circle.
Remember when fans sent death threats to people because they didn't like a finish to a match on a random episode of Main Event? It’s exactly the same energy. If you are typing out abuse in all caps because you don't like who Chelsea Green supports or what she tweets, you are not a fan. You are just a parasite waiting for a reason to be offended. Coachman’s stance is that these people have zero skin in the game, yet they act like they pay the mortgage on the Performance Center. It’s a power trip for the powerless.
The wrestling locker room isn't your personal debate club
The most exhausting part of this entire fiasco is the performative outrage. Wrestling has always had talent from every end of the political spectrum. If you go back to the 1980s, you think everybody underneath that spandex was a saint with a sociology degree? Please. People gravitate to wrestling because it is a spectacle. It is a carny business that demands loyalty to the show, not to the candidates a performer checks a box for in November. When fans start acting like they are entitled to a full public apology for someone’s private beliefs, they aren't 'holding people accountable' as they claim, they are just being bullies.
Is there a cynical side to this? Sure. The product is often a mess and the booking can be nonsensical. Sometimes the creative team forgets continuity exists for months at a time, or we end up with matches that feel like they were decided by a coin toss in the parking lot. You have every right to complain when the show is boring or the storytelling is incoherent. But that is where the criticism should stop. Focusing on the off-screen life of a performer is cheap. It’s the easiest way to feel moral superiority without actually engaging with the show that is happening in front of you. Coachman is right to call it out, even if the mob will just sharpen their pitchforks at him next. It is time to treat wrestling like the circus it is and stop expecting the performers to pass an ideological purity test before they hit their finisher.
