Priscilla Kelly On Backlash To Tampon Spot, Says The "Real Revolution Is Being Treated Equal As Men"

Priscilla Kelly made her name go viral recently during an indie event in California. Kelly pulled out a bloody tampon and proceeded to shove it down her opponent's mouth in a spot that many were disgusted at.

Kelly said the negative reactions she received because of the spot are part of the double standard in wrestling as she told Nick Hausman when she spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.

"I've seen men do way worse things that are disgusting and very much real in the ring and on television," said Kelly. "No one raises a single finger or uproar while a women's menstrual cycle is something that you should be embarrassed about and ashamed of ? and I'm not talking about a century ago; I'm talking about still today. People are very weird when you bring up a women's period. It's something that's natural; why do we have to feel so ashamed?"

She then brought up Rob Zombie films and other brutal content that is prevalent, but once it's shown up close at a live pro wrestling show it takes on a "disgusting" label.

"If that's not entertainment and that's so disgusting, then you better not be buying tickets to that new Rob Zombie film," stated Kelly. "It's just hypocrisy because people say I'm disgusting and I don't know how to entertain. I was doing something that was entertaining to myself and I didn't do that to gain the attention of the internet. I didn't know it was going to be a big deal, as I've said before, when you do a show like that, you don't know that footage is gonna make it anywhere. A lot of matches are filmed that never see the light of day, so I thought it was something funny and something to entertain myself with."

There were varying reactions to the spot with a few thinking it was creative and funny. But Kelly says the harshest critics of her act were other women.

"There were a lot of men that didn't like but I would say the more hateful comments were from women actually. Most of the bad, bad heat came from women," admitted Kelly. "When you come to the business side of pro wrestling, there were a lot of men speaking out saying they liked it. They thought it was cool and different. Just to name a few, Taz and Tommy Dreamer spoke about it. But there were a lot of women who wanted to bash me. They said it was counteractive to the Women's Revolution."

Kelly then contended that the Women's Revolution doesn't mean just one thing. It can be women wrestling gimmick matches like steel cage matches or it can be women winning titles. But she also says that "real revolution is being treated equal as men."

"Men, in their section of entertainment, there are all different styles. You have catchpoint, guys that flip, guys that entertain with their private parts, Joey Ryan, and you've got everything in between. In men's wrestling everything is accepted and you can do everything. You can spit in another man's mouth on TV and that's seen as edgy and cool," said Kelly. "But if a women does something of similar disgust, it's not even a real thought. It just gets bashed and I think people need to realize that all women's wrestling doesn't have to be the same. Women should stop being so afraid to push the envelope."

Kelly added that some of the women who preach about a Women's Revolution are the same women who tore her down on-line. She said there are women who tear apart other women for no reason and that needs to stop.

There has been much progress made in the ways women should be viewed but Kelly says the double standard is a generational issue that dates back decades.

"It dates back to the beginning of time with women being told that they should speak when spoken to, should cross their legs when they sit and shouldn't speak out or have an opinion," Kelly said before adding that discussions about abortion and talks about menstrual cycles are seemingly still stuck in the 1950s. "It's just really sad. I saw a protest a few weeks back where a woman was holding up a sign that said, 'I can't believe I'm still having to protest this crap' and it's true. People need to stop putting women in that position where we can't speak up or be who we want to be."

"I've even had girls tell me they enjoyed my tampon spot and they wish they could have done something like that themselves, but they are too scared. And that's what wrong with things because men aren't scared to do anything. Men aren't scared to push the envelope because nobody will put them down for it."

Kelly will be participating in an upcoming event for the RISE promotion and she talked about what makes it so special.

"I think RISE is getting eyes on people and allowing new talent to come up and be seen by the world. One of the recent ones was a guy named Dave Odd who was in the six-way at the last RISE with me. I had never heard of him before RISE but he was amazing and so charismatic with every move on point. You wouldn't have people breaking out like that if it wasn't for RISE," said Kelly.

Priscilla Kelly will be in action at RISE's The Summit from Toronto on August 10th and Regional Rising Stars on September 1st from Berwyn, IL. Information for both shows is available via rise-wrestling.com/events. Her full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it Kelly discusses what makes RISE special, her upcoming match with Jake Atlas, Effy's LGBTQ promo, backlash from her infamous "tampon spot", what a real women's revolution means to her, her conservative upbringing, her marriage to AEW's Darby Allin, her pro wrestling future and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.