Stepping out, speaking up
Gisele Shaw, left, and Josh Alexander Impact Wrestling Knockout Gisele Shaw just came out as transgender in a big way TAMMYE NASH | Managing EditorGnash@dallasvoice.com isele Shaw has always loved professional wrestling, going all the way back to her childhood days, growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, when she watched wrestling on TV with her family, especially with her grandmother. “It was something we had in common, something we shared,” Shaw said of watching wrestling with her grandmother.
And after her grandmother fell ill and passed away, she said, it was their shared love of the sport that helped Shaw maintain a connection to the grandmother she loved.
She was still living in Edmonton and working as a flight attendant, Shaw said, when the doors into the wrestling world began to open for her. “I would go to the gym with friends, and those friends were friends with some wrestlers.
One day they asked if I want to go to a [wrestling] show with them. “First I asked what kind of wrestling they meant — Olympic wrestling or professional wrestling, because I tried Olympic for about three months in high school.
