Our Get to Know Series is back to bring you a special conversation with the host of the Wrestling Winedown Podcast, Lo.
It can be challenging for up-and-coming content creators to stand out from others to find success. In the wrestling podcasts community, people may share their opinions or review weekly what happened on shows from WWE or AEW. However, other podcasts like Wrestling Winedown try to give fans a different alternative.
Created and led by Lo, Wrestling Winedown has become a successful brand that likes to discuss deeper topics of professional wrestling relevant to current wrestling news. Lo also supports and collaborates with other talented creators to share their stories or experiences in wrestling. This has created unique content that wrestling fans may not get from other creators.
I recently had the chance to speak with Lo about the success of her podcast. Here’s the video of our discussion, followed by written highlights.
How did Wrestling Winedown Begin?
It's been three years since the start of the Wrestling Winedown podcast. The creation began while Lo was still attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for Journalism. Her friend Hayleigh liked wrestling and wanted to get into podcasting. Talking about wrestling intrigued Lo, especially when a female wrestling podcast was still uncommon.
"...I started looking, doing some research, and I noticed that it was mostly men doing wrestling podcasts, so there weren't a lot of female options out there, and that was one striving reason as to why we started it," said Lo. She continued,"...We wanted to have that girl talk. Be in the week girl friend chat about professional wrestling. So we started thinking and I'm like we need to incorporate something else. My friend loves beer and I was like, I'm not really a beer drinker, I don't know about that and I was like what about wine.
Wrestling Winedown had its first podcast on Apr. 13, 2019. Hayleigh eventually stepped away from the podcast, and Lo changed the format to what it is today. The growth of the female-founded brand has led to great opportunities in wrestling and could possibly inspire other female wrestling fans to get into podcasting.
Discussing Serious Topics in Wrestling
One thing that separates Wrestling Winedown from other podcasts is the approach to discussing serious topics in wrestling like diversity and representation. Lo organizes and moderates a panel of different content creators to have constructive and informative discussions. It's also done in a way that looks at past issues in wrestling and how it relates today.
"...There is a lot going on within professional wrestling and I think a lot of people they get scared to talk about certain stuff because they don't want people to look negatively at it or they don't want to start an argument on the timeline," said Lo. She continued, "...We come fact base. We are not just saying stuff to say stuff, but we also encourage people to share their thoughts because it is important that even though you have knowledge whether it's institutional knowledge or you gained it on your own."
Outside of the panel episodes, Lo also reviews wrestling events and does interviews with wrestling-related content creators that fans enjoy. She enjoys having conversations about wrestling but isn't afraid to speak on topics that others may shy away from.
What's Next for Wrestling Winedown?
The podcast will be going through a rebrand in its third year of creation. Now that Lo is leading the brand, she hopes to shape Wrestling Winedown more into her vision. She also has added Wrestfriends Iridian Fierro to the team as an assistant on social media, and she will be more involved in future projects.
Lo has also started a new series for Wrestling Winedown called "The Life of a Wrestling Fan." She will be interviewing successful people that are not involved in wrestling but that happen to be big wrestling fans. She recently interviewed a former MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon executive Andria Parides in her first episode. Lo revealed that she already has several interviews planned and will be releasing them soon. When discussing the idea behind the new series, Lo expressed that she created the concept to bridge the gap between wrestling and people from other job fields.
"...There are so many amazing wrestling fans who are doing stuff offline that is great for the community or their career, and we don't know because we are not talking about online. We are focused on what's going on RAW or AEW that we are not sharing Hey, I did this at work, or I made this impact in my community, or I'm working at the Met Gala. There are so many amazing things that wrestling fans are doing that needs to be brought to the forefront along with being a wrestling fan," said Lo. She revealed that several interviews are already planned and will be released at a later date.
The future of Wrestling Winedown looks promising as the brand continues to thrive. Possibly, a wine sponsorship is on the horizon as well.