Roxanne Perez went on OutKick and said something that shouldn’t need saying in 2025: don’t stake out wrestlers at their hotels. Don’t corner them at baggage claim. Let them exist like human beings for five minutes between cities.
And here we are, three outlets picking it up, because apparently this is news.
That’s the depressing part. Not that she said it — good for her, and I mean that — but that it lands as a *statement* rather than a given. Thirty years I’ve been around this business. I’ve watched talent eat cold airport food at 2 a.m. after working hurt in front of fifteen thousand people, and I’ve watched the same talent get followed to their gate by somebody with a phone who decided their need for a selfie outweighed basic human decency. It was ugly then. It’s uglier now because everyone’s got a camera and a platform and a warped sense that access is owed to them.
Here’s what I want the people doing this to genuinely understand: the character does not live at the Hampton Inn. Roxanne Perez the performer exists when the lights are on and the deal is mutual. Roxanne Perez the person exists all the time, whether you’ve decided to respect it or not. Those are not the same thing, and confusing them isn’t passion — it’s entitlement dressed up as fandom.
I’ll give WWE some credit here, which I don’t do lightly: the meet-and-greet infrastructure has genuinely improved. You want a moment with your favourite? Fan Axxess exists. Signings exist. There are legitimate avenues built specifically so that transaction can happen cleanly, on terms that work for both sides. Use them. They are not a consolation prize. They are the actual product.
What grinds my gears is that the people Perez is addressing probably won’t read this column or her interview and think, *”She means me.”* They never do. They’ve already constructed a story where their behaviour is love and devotion and she’s the one drawing an unfair line. That’s the mentality you cannot reach with a quote on OutKick.
But she said it anyway. Publicly, clearly, without torching anybody. That takes composure, especially from someone who is — let’s be honest — still building her main roster footing and doesn’t need to spend political capital on a PSA.
Respect the workers. Respect the craft. And for the love of everything holy, let them get to their gate.
That’s not a lot to ask. It’s the least you can do for people who give you everything once those cameras go live.
