On Stephanie Vaquer's CMLL Departure

“Everyone wants to call wrestling ‘the business.’ Why don’t you treat it like a business?”

“Everyone wants to call wrestling ‘the business.’ Why don’t you treat it like a business?”

– Kevin Nash

TW: Brief mentions of sexual violence and domestic/partner abuse

Photo Credit: J O Y F U L 🐻 V I O L E N C E (Flickr)

Some people have called Kevin Nash the smartest man in wrestling, while others have categorized him as lazy, selfish, and greedy. I feel like, if asked, Nash would quip, “why does it have to be one or the other?” Personally, I find Nash hit or miss – he drops some absolute gems, but his bad takes (the worst of which was his recent defense of Vince McMahon following rape and sex trafficking allegations levied against the latter) leave me questioning his character, to put it mildly.

I must admit, though, that I’ve always been a big fan of the included quote – which Nash gave to reporter Jonathan Snowden from the set of Magic Mike in 2011 – and I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past week in regard to Stephanie Vaquer (whom this article is actually about, I promise). Wrestling is a business, and while in my last (and first) post I argued against using business metrics as a sign of quality, I wasn’t advocating against considering wrestling a business – especially not when it comes to the people who work in the industry.

Vaquer has been one of the hottest topics of conversation in the wrestling world over the past week (and it’s been a pretty newsworthy week), thanks to her abrupt departure from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Mexico’s oldest and most popular wrestling promotion. It’s not that her leaving the company was a surprise – and it’s not even that CMLL was trying to keep her from leaving – but many have criticized her for “not doing business the right way” (there’s that word again) on the way out.

First, some context. The Chilean-born Vaquer first joined CMLL in 2019 and climbed the company’s ranks, eventually becoming a heralded star on a very talented roster. Her stock rose even higher after New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Resurgence show in May 2023, where she lost to Mercedes Moné in an acclaimed match. This was the first time a larger global audience was exposed to Vaquer, and the accolades soon followed – she and partner Zeuxis became the inaugural CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Champions in September, she won the CMLL World Women’s Championship a week later, and she defeated Japanese megastar Giulia to become the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion this past March.

Still, those events all had a limited reach when it came to U.S. audiences, so when it was announced that Vaquer would face Moné in a rematch at AEW’s Forbidden Door show in June, it would serve as the triple champion’s true coming-out party. The bout did not disappoint, with Vaquer losing her Strong Women’s Championship but putting on an outstanding performance that was one of the main talking points coming out of the show.

The question wasn’t if Vaquer would leave CMLL for the U.S., or even when (it was bound to happen quickly). CMLL has historically been very flexible when it comes to letting stars out of their contracts to pursue big-money deals in the U.S., even letting top draw Mistico go to WWE for an infamous run in 2011. The only unknown was if she would go to WWE (for whom she participated in a tryout in 2018 but was not signed) or AEW (with whom she would be able to continue to work for CMLL and NJPW). Either way, it was expected that as the reigning CMLL World Women’s and World Women’s Tag Team Champion, she would adhere to the company’s booking plan regarding the titles on her way out.

Following her match on July 9’s CMLL show in Guadalajara, though, Vaquer cut a promo announcing that she would be departing the company immediately and wishing the fans well. While she would go on to suggest that she wanted a rematch with Moné, the subsequent news that she was pulling out of all further bookings – including a long-advertised New Japan appearance in California where she was scheduled to defend the World Women’s Championship – served as evidence that she was likely headed to WWE, due to partnership politics. Sure enough, NXT Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels confirmed hours later that she was heading to the promotion.

There was an immediate outpouring of vitriol toward Vaquer on social media. Sure, she was always going to leave, but why couldn’t she make her bookings and lose her titles? Why couldn’t she “do business” beforehand? WWE historically lets new talent work their advertised shows before they start with the company full-time, so was it Vaquer’s own choice to leave CMLL high and dry?

Of course, the discussions between Vaquer and WWE, as well as Vaquer’s own decision-making process, will remain confidential, but some of the questions around the urgency of her departure (and likely who was responsible for it) were soon answered when it was announced that she would be appearing on WWE’s shows in Mexico City and Monterrey on 7/13 and 7/14, respectively. She ended up wrestling on both shows, beating WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Isla Dawn in two separate matches – an auspicious debut. The Mexico City show ran opposite the California NJPW show at which Vaquer was originally supposed to compete (and, conceivably, could have lost the CMLL World Women’s Title).

Could Vaquer have asked WWE to drop the title at the California show rather than work Mexico City? Maybe she did. I certainly don’t blame her for not insisting on it, though. I wouldn’t. If I were offered a new job making three times my current salary, I would ask if I could give my employer two weeks’ notice. If they said I couldn’t, I’d tell them that I’d see them tomorrow.

I have no idea how much money she was making in CMLL and how much money she’s making in WWE, but I know it’s a lot more now. Anyone expecting her to jeopardize that opportunity is not being realistic or fair – and that includes anyone at CMLL. As much as I love wrestling – and it pains me to say this – those titles she held are props created by CMLL to ultimately help make money for CMLL. Yes, some of that money should, theoretically, find its way to the talent, but Vaquer should never be faulted for making the process more immediate and more lucrative.

In last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that according to “one person close to the situation,” Gala Lutteroth – CMLL’s Director of Culture and a member of the family that owns the company – “is mad at Stephanie” and “considered her a friend, not an employee.” Except she is an employee, no matter what she was considered.

I don’t mean to disrespect Lutteroth in any way, or imply that the power dynamic is the same as it would be for a WWE or AEW wrestler, whose checks are signed by a billionaire. And to address the elephant in the room, by all accounts, both CMLL as a whole and Lutteroth in particular were very supportive of Vaquer last year when she was the victim of alleged attempted femicide by her then-partner, a wrestler at a rival organization. But isn’t that something to be expected?

Those of us who love wrestling romanticize it and expect that those who are successful should be selfless to their own detriment. Like the rest of us, though, wrestlers are assets who only have jobs because they make more money for their employers than their employers pay them. The system runs on us being undercompensated and personally, I hate it. I don’t get mad when someone understands that and puts their own needs above those of their employer.

There’s still a lot we don’t know, and while I tried to avoid engaging in speculation, I don’t know that I succeeded completely. Of course it’s unfortunate that Vaquer’s transition out of CMLL couldn’t be more seamless, and it’s even more unfortunate if a very real friendship between two of the most successful women in Mexican wrestling is irreparably damaged. But again, belts are fake and employer-employee friendships have inherent power imbalances. No matter what business Vaquer is in, she needs to protect the business of herself – and that goes double given that her business is “the business,” where one injury can end her career altogether.

Stephanie Vaquer is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and she’s going to be better rewarded for it than she’s ever been. I’m looking forward to seeing her in WWE, and I hope you’ll afford her the same enthusiasm.