Former WWE star shares that she had to follow a strict rule about showing cleavage
A former WWE star recently shared her experience with the “objectifying” cleavage rules she had to follow while working there. Scarlett Bordeaux had two runs in WWE alongside her real-life husband, Karrion Kross. During her second run, she managed him and the Final Testament group. Both Scarlett and Karrion left WWE in August after their contracts ended, and they couldn’t agree on new deals.
Since then, they’ve been wrestling on the independent scene. In a recent interview, Scarlett talked about some of her frustrations during her WWE time, especially rules about how she could dress. Her character, “The Smokeshow,” was meant to be sexy and provocative. But WWE is now PG-rated and very different from the past when female wrestlers sometimes wore bras and panties in matches. Scarlett explained that she wasn’t even allowed to show cleavage on TV.
She said this was a different kind of objectification that held her character back. “Telling a woman to take her clothes off is basically the same as saying cover up,” she said on D-Von Dudley’s podcast with Karrion Kross. “Just let me do what I want. It’s just a different kind of objectification.”
She added that some producers would always tell her before going on TV, “Can you just cover up the cleavage?” She felt confused, since her character was meant to be sexy, but they didn’t want to use that side of it. “After a few months, I was like, what am I even doing here?” she said.
WWE today usually cuts to a black screen if there’s a wardrobe problem, moving away from the more risqué days of the Attitude Era. The company’s NXT brand, run by Shawn Michaels, is a bit more relaxed and lets women wear a little more daring outfits, according to Scarlett.
On Renee Paquette’s show, she said, “I’m a little jealous that the girls now can be a bit more sexy in NXT 2.0. I had to tone it down. Even when my clothes were low cut, they told me to add mesh or pull down my shorts. I don’t think they have that rule anymore.” She also said it’s fun to dress sexy when it’s her choice. “If someone forced me to take my clothes off, I’d say ‘no way.’ But when it’s my choice, it’s super fun and cool.”