Cathy Kelley discusses harsh criticism women face in wrestling on The Nikki & Brie Show

On today’s episode of SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki and Brie are joined by Cathy Kelley.

During the interview, they discuss the harsh criticism they face being women in the sport, especially during live commentary.

Nikki and Brie Garcia and Cathy Kelley on criticism during live commentary (6:35-8:15)

Nikki Garcia: I used to get so nervous back in the day when Vince would want us to do commentary like you know during how we sometimes I’d be during people’s matches because I’m like I would rather do a live promo in the ring than have to get on commentary because it’s so difficult having everyone in your ear watching reacting engaging. It’s tough work and to like I couldn’t imagine then doing it for every match and like having to know every little detail.

Cathy Kelley: And people are so critical of like the tiniest little misstep. I’m like when someone says botch it’s such a cringy word cuz I’m like you don’t realize how hard like even running the ropes is and like giving people the credit for all of that stuff. But commentary too. If you say like the slightest wrong thing, that’s what people are tweeting when you don’t realize that someone else can do seven hours of commentary. We know every single person’s move set and like people don’t misstep in everyday conversation all the time.

Brie Garcia: So I mean I’ll even call my kids the wrong names. I look at my son and be like “Brian,” I mean “Buddy.”

Nikki Garcia: I mean but you walk down the street and you can trip and fall. You know it’s like life. We’re not perfect. So whether we’re in a sport, we’re talking, like this is all normal things. And so when I see people write the botch things, it like bothers me so bad.

Cathy Kelley: But I would always be in my head because I feel like I’m such a perfectionist at heart. And like especially when you’re first starting out, like having that is such it impedes your success in so many ways. Like you’re your own worst enemy. When in reality, like a lot of people are rooting for your success. They want you to do well because that means that their job is easier.

Cathy Kelley on the harsh criticism and names she would be called (18:30-19:15)

Cathy Kelley: So, when I was starting to watch wrestling, there were a lot of male fans and they were criticizing me for not knowing a lot of the product and basically saying, “You’re a dumb -.” And that was like the comment that I got all the time. But I was like, I’m going to take this test so I can prove that they’re half wrong.

Nikki Garcia: No, but I love being a c-word now,

Cathy Kelley: I get that it’s like such a pretentious thing to do, but I think I just wanted to do it for myself because that was the time that I really internalized a lot of what other people said. And now I get to like have a card that says that like I’m smarter than everyone.

The Nikki & Brie Show hosted by Nikki & Brie Garcia is available anytime on the SiriusXM app. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Listen to the full episode here.