As previously reported, WWE has been planning an intergender match between Nia Jax and Dean Ambrose for a house show. Scheduled for February 22 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the match was announced through a local commercial. The intergender match is now reportedly scrapped.
Per Wrestling Observer , it has been announced that, per WWE’s conversation with Dave Meltzer, this match was announced by mistake. A second source, Post Wrestling, also states that WWE reached out to them to confirm the incorrect news. Post Wrestling explains that the commercial, which announced the match as an “Intergender Special Attraction,” was reportedly outdated. While this match is not happening, the idea seems to have turned some wheels.
Intergender wrestling has not been an active attraction on WWE television for quite some time, the reason for which is subject to speculation, with many different views on the topic. Men wrestling women in the independent circuit is quite common and is not considered taboo. WWE, however, even avoids any contact between performers of opposite gender during mixed tag team matches. In these matches, the men face the men, and if their female tag team partner is tagged in, the other female must enter the ring at that time, avoiding interaction between the men and the women. So what has changed recently?
Nia Jax shocked the world as she entered the male Royal Rumble match at their last pay-per-view, attacking the last entrant to the male match, R-Truth, and inserting herself into the match. This is not the first time a woman has entered the Royal Rumble; however, this is the first time a woman took multiple attacks from her male counterparts.
The full reason of the cancellation of this match is currently unknown. The only reason given was that it was an old commercial. Perhaps a reason for it could be that WWE was trying to gauge a reaction from fans to see if this kind of match would be possible in the future.
Just as with many controversial issues, a match of this caliber would garner reactions on both sides of the fence. Whether or not these two participants would be involved in an intergender match remains to be seen.
WWE announced that Ambrose would not be renewing his contract with the company after WrestleMania this April. As with many announcements in the wrestling business, many fans won’t believe it until it happens.