Former WCW and TNA star Daffney passed away recently after posted a very disturbing video on her Instagram live. Daffney’s official cause of death was also announced.
Vince Russo talked about Daffney and Chyna’s death on a recent podcast and also highlight issues that many female pro wrestlers face in the industry.
“It brings me back to Joanie. It brings me back to that, knowing what these women were going through on an emotional and mental level. You know Chris, listen, man, I’ll get heat for saying this because, Chris, in 2021, men and women are equal. No, they are not. No, they’re not! And I can tell you, Chris, from what I endured in the wrestling business, I couldn’t imagine being a female and going through what I went through. And I said this with Joanie’s death, bro, when it’s over, there are some people that, and you know this as a psychologist, Chris. There are some people that can deal with it, and there are some people that can’t; it depends on your make-up and who you are.
I never blamed Joanie because she couldn’t deal with it, and it looked like, obviously, you know Daffney was struggling for a very, very long time, and bro, I’m sitting here and thinking about Ashley Massaro. And I’m like, we have to be a little bit more delicate with women in this business. The notion that they are equal to the men, no, they are not. No, they’re not. Men and women are different physically, emotionally, and mentally. And now when I’m looking at Joanie and Massaro, and I’m looking at Daffney now, like, ‘Woah, wait for a minute, guys. We need to look at this, man. We’ve heard Mickie James talk about ageism and how for women, it’s over at a certain age. Guys are going into their mid-40s. There is a lot here when it comes to women in the business, and bro, we need to really start paying attention to that, bro.”
