The dynamics of a male/female partnership in pro wrestling has often been the female manages the male. One of the unique partnerships in AEW has been Kip Sabian and his real life fiancee Penelope Ford. Not only have they continued to have her escort and manage him at ringside, but Sabian does the same for Ford. It’s not often you see such a thing in pro wrestling, but Sabian is definitely all in on the idea.
Speaking with ProWrestling.com, Sabian had a chance to talk about his dynamic with Ford and how he wanted it to not be the traditional relationship usual pro wrestling couples have on air.
“One of the things that we spoke about was – a pet hatred of mine is that stereotype of, ‘We’re going to put a female with a male, and the female is going to be the manager. They’re gonna be the eye candy, they’re gonna do some distractions, they’re just there as a focal point during the match.’ I hate that idea, because that’s not the way the real world is. Especially in 2020, that’s not the way it works. If she’s wrestling, I’m gonna manage her, and I’m going to play that role to the best that I can to, to highlight her and to highlight her opponent. I’ve always been a strong believer in intergender wrestling. I’ve had some of my favorite matches in intergender wrestling. I like the extra dynamic. Now, I don’t like the dynamic of – let’s just have a guy punching a girl for cheap heat. There’s lots of ways you can go around it to make it mean something. On the Jericho Cruise, you had me and Penelope vs. Kenny [Omega] and Riho. When Riho gave me the Dragon Suplex, I have never heard a louder live pop from such a small audience. It was huge. Even on the footage that we got, you couldn’t tell how loud that pop was. That’s what I live for in wrestling, is those moments.”
“I wanted to make sure that with Penelope, I would do the same role that she would do for me. But the dynamic that we have is that when she’s involved in my matches, she looks like a badass. When I’m involved in her matches, a lot of the time it’s egg on face. But I’m confident enough in myself that if it adds to the match or the show, and helps highlight her, then I’m happy to do that.”
Sabian and Ford have a relationship that definitely show they’re not a cookie cutter tandem in pro wrestling, and it’s definitely highlighted by Sabian being a constant fixture at ringside for the Superbad Girl when she’s wrestling. The way the two present their characters give them something unique that makes them one of AEW’s more entertaining acts. You can watch more of the interview below.
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