Interview with British Wrestling Experience Podcast: APPG Report discussion

Last week, our Partner, Alan Collins, was a guest on the British Wrestling Experience podcast. He joined host, Martin Bushby, to discuss the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wrestling report, alongside Labour MP and co-chair of the group, Alex Davies-Jones and Will Cooling from PW Torch.

The All-party Parliamentary Group on Wrestling published it's report into professional wrestling in Great Britain on 8^th April 2021.

The report makes interesting reading and the authors make a series of recommendations.

Wrestling has come on a long way from the days of Saturday afternoon television where audiences were entertained by stars such as Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. These were household names.

That was a time when terms and concepts such as “safeguarding” did not feature on the public lexicon. Child abuse and any association with  wrestling or the risk of it would never have featured as a consideration. The APPG in its report have drawn to our attention, and in particular the world of wrestling, that the sport is not immune to the risk of child abuse, and that it needs to act.

In the podcast we discuss safeguarding and the risk of sexual abuse in wrestling, and what action needs to be taken to address the concerns raised by the APPG and others. Moreover, we discuss the implications for the sport if sexual abuse occurs, and the lessons that, perhaps, can be learnt for example the need to ensure that there is the right culture.