Konnan Compares Intergender Wrestling To Lucha Libre: "Get Used To It"

MLW's Konnan was on a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where he and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman discussed all things MLW. Konnan and Hausman talked about the new faces that have emerged in wrestling over the past few years including Alicia Atout, also of MLW. Konnan praised Atout saying "she's got a lot to offer this business."

"She's done good. I had worked with her in Impact, and they weren't really doing nothing with her," Konnan recalled. "And she's really a good looking girl. She really likes wrestling. She's really passionate. She always looks nice. She's always very friendly.

"She's got a lot to offer this business, and I think Court [Bauer], like I said, you don't need to show Court somebody that's talented more than once. Once he sees them, he knows. That's part of his brilliance, and he's got her. And he's working with her, and she's doing some cool s**t. And I'm really happy for her because she's a cool girl."

Atout and MLW manager Salina de la Renta are currently in a heated dispute that has been seen on Fusion and on social media. Hausman asked Konnan if he envisions Atout and de la Renta settling their differences in the ring.

"I don't think Alicia can wrestle," Konnan said. "She's not a wrestler, and I think Salina, the last time she wrestled, she broke her leg or something. I don't think that's their strong point, but you could put them in a three-man match or something, and they're the two women on each side.

"And once they get in there, you get the obligatory catfight, a good clothesline or somebody goes through a table. It'll get a pop. I don't know if a one-on-one match would be good because neither one of them are really wrestlers."

MLW announced a women's division in late 2019. However, there has been no update on the future of the women's division since The Restart began. Konnan noted on the podcast that he's not only a proponent of a women's division but also intergender wrestling in MLW.

"I haven't talked to Court, but he knows I'm a big proponent of that, and I'm also a humongous proponent, which everybody's so afraid of and Court's not a big fan of either, is intergender wrestling," Konnan said. "Bro, get on the bandwagon now because it's going to happen.

"It doesn't matter how much you resist it. It's going to happen, and those matches are so fun to do. The thing is, since people don't know how to do them here because it's not part of this culture. You got to remember in Mexico, bro, that's been going on for over 20 years. So we know how to do it.

"People love it. People accept it. They get into it, and it's another tool that you can use to give a different match to the fans. And you always want to do that. AEW doesn't really do intergender matches. Nobody does intergender matches."

Hausman noted that there are many within the industry that are not fans of intergender wrestling. In response, Konnan stated that it doesn't matter because it will come, and he compares it to lucha libre and how many in the industry were abrasive towards lucha libre at first, until it has now become part of the modern style.

"Doesn't matter what people say," Konnan expressed. "I'm telling you, and I'm gonna say this emphatically, it will happen. And you will see the creative matches that you can get out of this. It's one of the things that I use in Mexico a lot, and people like it. It's just something that hasn't been accepted here.

"Bro, it's just like when lucha first came here. 'What is that? What's going on?' And now everybody does lucha. You see a lot of lucha moves now, which you did not see before. Most guys didn't know, didn't want to take it, work with it or against it, but look at where it's come now.

"It's prevalent everywhere. You see the lucha-centric style prevalent everywhere. So like I said, intergender matches will happen, and you'll see how creative you can get with that and the different combinations that you can do. It's another tool that I use for to entertain the fans."

Konnan, like many in MLW, is making the long travel for MLW tapings. He discussed his experience traveling from Mexico to the states.

"Like everybody else, it's a pain in the ass because being on a plane for two or three hours with that mask on is brutal and all the protocols that you have to take, but we're in a pandemic. And we're at the tail end of it," Konnan stated. "Thank God that vaccinations are going to be rolling out. I would surmise that by the summer, we'll have this under control. We'll probably be seeing mass gatherings. I don't know in what size, but that's kind of what we're looking at right now."

Hausman asked Konnan if he foresees MLW welcoming fans anytime soon now that vaccines are being rolled out. Konnan said he does, and he noted that some wrestlers are struggling without a crowd because of how vital they are to a match.

"1,000%. They're that element that's missing in the matches," Konnan pointed out. "A lot of wrestlers, you see them without a crowd, they're not the same. There are certain wrestlers that need that pop from the crowd, the crowd favorites, the energy you get from the crowd.

"So obviously, everybody misses the crowd, plus the generating income aspect of it, making money. How do you pay your talent if you're not generating that ancillary income? I know that almost everybody's getting TV rights, but unless you're WWE or AEW, you're not really getting a lot of money for that."

Konnan can be seen every Wednesday night as part of MLW Fusion on MLW.com. Konnan's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here. You can find the full interview in both video and audio form below: