Meet the Fil-Canadian trans wrestling diva touring with Impact
Photos from giseleshaw08/Instagram
In case you haven’t heard, the Quintessential Diva of American pro wrestling is a Filipina-Canadian and she’s about to showcase her moves in the UK with Impact Wrestling this October.
Trans wrestling star Gisele Shaw has joined the lineup for Impact’s UK Invasion Tour from Oct. 26 to 29, the promotion’s first run across the pond in eight years.
While 34-year-old Shaw, whose real name is Gisele Mayordo, made her Impact debut as the Quintessential Diva in 2022, she’s been building her pro wrestling reputation since her 2015 debut in Canada.
Her foray into the British independent scene started in 2019 and has since racked up women’s championship titles on Progress Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling. During her time at Women of Wrestling in 2019, she also wrestled under the ring name Reyna Reyes who called herself “the pearl of the Philippines.”
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With Impact, Shaw’s style is flashier and her entrances more fierce. She’s exactly what we’re looking for in Impact’s first Filipino main event competitor. It helped too that she’s become more confident after coming out as trans at Toronto Pride in 2022.
“I was not expecting to disclose at all. I was like, I’ve always had the mentality of, my gender doesn’t have anything to do with wrestling,” she told Metro.co.uk. It wasn’t until an emotional meeting with a trans woman fan that she felt ready to “celebrate who I am” and “fully just live life properly.”
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“Growing up, I looked up to these incredible women, the Knockouts, the Divas, who inspired me to be the person that I am today. I had that opportunity.”
And her motivation can also be traced back to her roots, as a kid who grew up in Toledo, Cebu and relocated to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories at 12. “Coming from an Asian background, being the oldest, there was an unsaid rule, the expectation was that I would carry the family name, that I would set an example, that I would take care of my sisters,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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“Sports is great, I would want everyone to be included…Trans people are discriminated against, trans people are the targets of violence…I want to come out now to help people hear about these things,” she added.
UK fans can catch Shaw in the ring alongside fellow Knockouts Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, and former WWE wrestler Trinity. Impact Hall of Famer Gail Kim will also be making a special guest appearance. Tickets are on sale on the Impact Wrestling website.
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