Impact: Gisele Shaw Comes Out as Transgender, Slammiversary 2022 Early PPV Buys, New Chicago Events

Jun 25, 2022

Gisele Shaw Comes Out as Transgender, Impact Issues Statement of Support

Toronto-based television show Breakfast Television held a recent interview with Impact Wrestling talent Gisele Shaw. One of the topics discussed include Shaw publicly revealing that she is a transgender woman and being proud of who she is.

“The news is that today I’m fully living my life to the fullest, truly authentic, freely, and I am a transgender and I’m very proud.
You know, it’s super scary but I feel the more I speak about it and it gets normalized and I just feel more free and accepting my own self and loving my own self and I think that’s really important.”

Following her interview, Impact Wrestling issued an official statement supporting Shaw and her decision to publicly come out as transgender.

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.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Slammiversary 2022 Early PPV Buys Estimates

Impact Wrestling is currently estimated to have generated around 1,200 to 1,400 traditional cable pay-per-view buys for this past Sunday’s Slammiversary 2022 event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that around 80% of all purchases from traditional cable PPV providers for this event were from Dish owners. Meltzer reported that while cable PPV buys were very disappointing, his sources stated that the streaming PPV buys was higher than last year’s Slammiversary event.

Impact Announces New Set of Events for Chicago This August

Impact Wrestling recently announced that they will be holding two new events this August in Chicago, Illinois.

The first event was announced to be Emergence 2022 and will take place on August 12th at the Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.

The second event was announced to be Second City Slamm and will take place on August 13th at the same venue.

Join @IMPACTWRESTLING LIVE for #Emergence and #SecondCitySlamm from The Cicero Stadium in Chicago. Don’t miss your favorite Stars and Knockouts LIVE from the Second City!

Tickets:

Emergence: https://t.co/c7juX5weK7

SSS: https://t.co/LMlThPHn3B #IMPACTWRESTLING pic.twitter.com/MxHB02UIly
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) June 24, 2022