AC Mack makes history as world’s first out gay pro-wrestling champion
"Pro wrestling now has its first openly gay male world champion. This championship, the IWTV World championship — Iris — is staying here."
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Allie McPhetridge
AC Mack has made history as the first openly gay pro-wrestler to win a championship after defeating Alex Shelley for the IWTV Independent Wrestling World championship.
The win came on 21 January in front of a large crowd at the event in Tyrone, Georgia in the United States.
Mack’s win came at the end of a six-month quest to get an IWTV Independent Wrestling World title match after winning the Scenic City Invitational tournament in 2021.
“I am so much more”
Outsports reports that Mack was also named as the number one contender at ACTION Wrestling’s ‘Bangers Only 2’ event in December after defeating Anthony Henry.
Speaking after the match on the 21 January, Mack said: “I started wrestling in 2016. And plenty of people told me, ‘You ain’t gonna never make it out of this state. Not with the way you look, not with the color of your skin, not with who you like to sleep with.’
“They dubbed me Georgia’s finest. Don’t clap for that, because I am so much more,” he said in footage later posted on social media
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Mack continued by explaining that the research showed he had made history and that “pro wrestling now has its first openly gay male world champion. This championship, the IWTV World championship — Iris — is staying here.”
The World’s first openly gay male World Champion! @AC_Mack #SouthEastFirst pic.twitter.com/OCm10NSxa4
— ACTION Wrestling (@WrestleACTION1) January 22, 2022
Mack also kissed his partner in the middle of the ring, in a touching display of love and support.
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