Earlier today, during an installment of Women in the Business of Sports hosted by The Female Quotient, WWE Superstars Naomi, Bianca Belair and Kayla Braxton spoke on representation in sports.

The Superstars joined CBO Stephanie McMahon and The Female Quotient CEO Shelley Zalis in discussion on representing women of color in sports, their experiences and struggles as women of color, and how best to encourage female sports participation and coverage.

During one part of the discussion, Naomi discussed how important certain legends were in forming her character today. The Superstar stressed how Dusty Rhodes helped her develop the idea behind “The Glow”, in order to help her be more relatable to a wider audience.

“Dusty Rhodes would always talk to me about race and how do I counter [misconceptions with] that. He would tell me, ‘There’s nothing wrong with [being myself],” Naomi revealed.

Naomi on coming up w/"The Glow": Dusty Rhodes would always talk to me about race and how do I counter [misconceptions with] that. He would tell me, 'There's nothing wrong with that.'

But, he helped her develop "The Glow" to be relatable to everyone.#WomenInTheBusinessOfSports

— Kristen Ashly (@KristenAshly) February 17, 2021

70% of female leaders in sports say lack of media coverage limits girls’ sports participation. Bell To Belles’ Co-Owner Kristen Ashly asked all three women to discuss how they encourage sports participation and positive representation with their roles in WWE.

McMahon stated sports media needs more women involved to help cover women in sports. She emphasized going back to the basics and really pushing coverage of women.

Braxton added that WWE takes coverage of women in sports seriously.

“WWE is and should be the blueprint on how other sports should cover women…females in sports are not a joke,” she stated.

Bianca Belair added that while coverage from women is important, support from men is just as important. Also adding that the “first-evers” that are covered for women’s sports are not that surprising to female athletes.

“We just need coverage…we need men allies, as well…we need them to help us, as well.”

See the entire talk below.

Please credit the two questions asked by “Kristen” near the end of the call to Kristen Ashly of Bell To Belles. Credit transcriptions of the call both in this article and @KristenAshly to Bell To Belles.

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