WWE icon Lita says wrestling has to embrace a 'genderless' model

Wrestling icon Lita has revealed she wants wrestling to adopt a 'genderless' mindset when it comes to planning out matches and storylines.

“To me, the next barrier is genderless,” said Lita. “I don’t care how you identify, we’re just going to go out there and show out. And it’s not like ‘what women do we have on the show? Where’s this representation?’ No, fair game. Everyone go. Grab your spot and we go out there. Some nights that might mean eight women’s matches on the card, some nights that might mean two.”

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“To not still feel like it’s a box to check to make sure to represent the women. Of course they’re going to be represented, because they’re good," she explained to the Pro Wrestling Bits podcast. “Just continuing on not being confined by gender, it’s like: ‘I see a prize, I go after it. We’re not worried about what defines my gender. I see a title, and that’s what I want to do.”

If anyone is qualified to talk about this today, it's surely Lita – a groundbreaking technical wrestler who emerged in the WWE (then WWF) at a time when the women's division was mostly reduced to 'valets' and eye candy.

But Lita’s time as a top-tier performer, though hugely influential, was relatively short-lived and seriously hampered by injury, personal issues and wrestling politics. Let’s take a look back at Lita’s career and where she is today.

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Lita, real name Amy Dumas, got her start in wrestling in Mexico, training with the likes of El Dandy and Ricky Santana before making appearances with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 1998. Dumas had been involved with the music scene in Washington DC prior, but was inspired to start wrestling after seeing Rey Mysterio Jr’s luchador-style ring work on WCW. She made the move to Mexico to train and learn more about the sport, paying for her tuition by dancing at a club in Mexico City.

Moving back to the US in 1999, she worked in the independent circuits, most notably Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) and NWA Mid-Atlantic, where she first met Matt and Jeff Hardy, offered to train with her. It didn’t take long for Dumas to start getting noticed and within months she had been booked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), performing under the name Angelica.

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She soon caught the attention of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and would be offered a contract before the year ended. She made her official WWF appearance in early 2000 as Lita, immediately gaining attention she performed technical luchador moves such as the moonsault and the hurricanrana. She would again link up with the Hardy brothers here and form the Team Extreme stable.

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With an alternative, grungy aesthetic and high flying, hardcore style, Team Xtreme became a prominent part of the WWF, and Lita’s popularity skyrocketed. As well as being the first woman to participate in a TLC match, she would go on to win the Women’s title and challenge for the Light Heavyweight title.

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Lita’s physicality and ability to compete at the top level set her apart from many other female performers at the time, to the point she was regularly working with male stars, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boyz. At one point she even took a succession of chair shots from Steve Austin - a contentious move even at a time when head shots were commonplace.

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In early 2001, Dumas and Matt Hardy’s real-life romance was revealed during an episode of Raw Is War, and their now on-screen relationship would serve as a plot device for storylines for Lita, the Hardy Boyz, and the WWF in general. This would be something of a golden period for the trio, and Lita especially.

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In 2002, Dumas suffered a neck injury while filming an episode of Dark Angel. Performing a hurricarana on a stunt double, Dumas was dropped and fell onto her neck, fracturing three vertebrae. The injury would require surgery and saw her on the sidelines for 17 months.

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She returned in 2003 to a new wrestling landscape: WWF had become WWE and split their talent between their two main shows, Raw and Smackdown. Lita was brought onto the Raw brand while Matt Hardy was commissioned to Smackdown. Jeff had also been dropped by the company at this time, so Team Xtreme was officially disbanded.

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Lita would find herself in a range of new storylines, such as a tag team and a feud with Trish Stratus, and breaking new ground as she continued to challenge as a top-flight talent. This included a range of high-profile pay-per-view event matches, such as the first-ever women’s cage match.

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It also included on-screen relationships, such as a bizarre marriage to Kane, and another with Edge. The former caused a major controversy when it emerged the storyline had spilled over to real life with Edge, real name Adam Copeland, and Dumas having an affair.  Dumas and Hardy were still dating at this time off screen, and he detailed the scandal in a blog post.

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This ultimately led to his dismissal from the company, a move that would not sit well with fans who would jeer whenever Lita appeared. He would be reinstated months later due to fan pressure. At live events, the crowd once known for chanting her name had started jeering her, shouting 'You screwed Matt' and 'Bring back Matt' whenever she appeared.

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For their part, the WWE were quick to capitalize on the real life drama and in 2005-2006 used the couple’s relationship as storyline fodder, including revenge matches between Edge and Matt Hardy, and awkward sexual encounters with Lita and Edge. Lita, who had always performed as a baby face, and an incredibly popular one at that, was forced to turn heel at this time due to the poor fan reaction.

In one of the most controversial events, Lita and Edge had a segment where they had sexual intercourse in a bed in the ring for a live crowd at Raw. While the action was more implied than anything, it was not something the performers were comfortable with. Duams was especially vocal about the degrading nature of the event, but was allegedly told she would be fired by WWE if she did not perform the segment.

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This period would be particularly difficult for Dumas, who reflected on podcast Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette in 2022 “I just felt like everyone was against me. I felt very alone and isolated, and just in a really bad place.” She also revealed she went along with the storylines as she felt she needed to be punished for her indiscretion. “It was like you make the bed, you lie in it.”

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Due to the cross-over between real life and kayfabe, the hatred she received from fans was real and intense. While she managed to compete for months with the Edge and Matt storyline – even picking up the Women’s title again in that run – she decided to retire from wrestling at the end of 2006 after struggling with her mental health during that period. She was only 31 at the time.

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It was an unfortunate situation to see one of the brightest and most talented performers in women's wrestling to be reduced to mere storyline fodder, and the star's diminished popularity was proof of that. It seemed like Lita's legacy had been destroyed by her employers.

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After her retirement, she kept a relatively low wrestling profile, making only sporadic appearances in the independent circuit and for WWE between 2007 and 2014. However, she did work on a range of different projects, including work as a radio announcer and performing with her band 'The Luchagors'.

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In 2014 she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by fellow Diva and real-life friend Trish Stratus. Since then, Dumas has been more involved with WWE, working as a trainer, a producer, a backstage producer and writer, and a colour commentator.

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In 2022, Lita returned to wrestling, telling 'Smackdown' she 'had one more run left in her.' She has since performed at the Royal Rumble and won her first ever Wrestlemania event, teaming with Becky Lynch to win the Women's Tag Team Championship. She is currently involved in a storyline with another returning legend, Trish Stratus.

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Thankfully, it looks like Dumas is finally getting the respect she deserved for her work as a pioneer in the industry. Lita is cited as an inspiration for several women, such as Paige, AJ Lee, Bayley, and Deonna Purrazzo, while WWE mentions her as "a Diva who always kept the WWE Universe on their toes. Whether she was flying high with The Hardy Boyz or shocking censors alongside Edge, the four-time Women's Champion knew how to elicit a reaction around the world." 

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