AEW's Willow Nightingale On How To Address Poor Treatment Of Women In Wrestling
The two-time TBS Champion Willow Nightingale describes what actions would constitute for better and safer environments for women wrestlers.
Willow Nightingale poses backstage ahead of her double title defense at AEW Revolution on March 15, 2026 - AEW As International Women's Month marches on, women's wrestling continues powerbombing through doors once closed to them. In spite of the popularity of women's wrestling, the harassment most go through both in person and online remains at an all-time high. Although she's known to "smile anyway" through her daily triumphs, Willow Nightingale cannot smile past these unfortunate circumstances.
Speaking with Soundsphere Magazine, the two-time TBS Champion describes the precautions AEW has set in place for moments like this. "I mean, at AEW, we have security. If ever we feel unsafe we call them, and we have a whole crew that is out there making the show possible and making sure we're safe," she said.
Regarding how to combat it entirely, Nightingale recommends those, including fellow wrestlers, to be more aware of and police the dogpiling (a term describing the disorderly heap those take on another person) before it gets out of hand. "The only way to really police fan behavior is to try to create a culture where that kind of dogpiling, everybody looks down on. Really, everybody has to get on board," she noted.
"I love my fans, I love when they defend me. But I never like it when fans have to put somebody else down to try to hype me up, and I think it's making that known, and speaking in that regard, will help inform the culture further. " The former and inaugural AEW Women's World Tag Team Champion and Nightingale's partner, Harley Cameron, took her fair share of abuse online after they defended and successfully retained their titles against MegaBad (Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne).