Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val will be having a GAW-some weekend at DressleMania in Dallas.
The GAW TV team — Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val — recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about their DressleMania event taking place at WrestleCon in Dallas this weekend. GAW hosted DressleMania last year, but it was ultimately hosted as a virtual event due to the pandemic. Now, all three ladies will reunite in Dallas to host the event, which will have a VIP cocktail party feel.
James noted that the three of them just got together for the first time in a while last weekend, but this will mark a special occasion because it’s what the original idea for the first event was. Val noted that the event isn’t just restricted to dresses as they’ve received some men’s suits and shirts as well, with Lisa adding that there are also a lot of people wanting to chip in and help for a good cause.
Mickie: “This was our original vision for it, for a reception and to celebrate, especially now with Tag Me In United and for such a special cause that’s near and dear to us and to the wrestling community, I think. But to celebrate these dresses and there’s some really amazing gowns, like Molly Holly donated her WWE Hall of Fame induction gown, Sharmell donated her dress from King of The Ring when Booker won King of The Ring, there’s just like some really amazing pieces and I think it’s going to be a good time.”
Val: “We wish for everyone to go to GAWTV.com to make sure that they have all the information there for the in-person DressleMania event on Saturday from 2 to 3pm at WrestleCon right where all the action is. We have a ProWrestlingTees shirt that’s amazing and all of the proceeds from that are going to Tag Me In and of course, we have all of the dresses on auction. Even Nick Aldis, our own original GAM, a grown-ass man, donated the first-ever suit and we’re talking a real, fancy suit. Eugene donated some items as well and some of the girls have donated dresses but it doesn’t only have to be dresses, some people have their own style, for example, Torrie Wilson donated her in-ring stuff, she has some gear that she donated. People have blown us away with their generosity and creativity about what they can sell. Like I said, these items are absolute collectors items, so we have some casual fans bidding and we appreciate the donations but people that are actual, like avid collectors, there’s something for them as well.”
Lisa: “It’s so nice too because instead of us, like having to email people, people were reaching out to us and saying ‘hey, is it too late for me to donate?’ Like, Sharmell, she’s momming so hard, just like Mickie and so busy with the Hall of Fame so we were thinking about emailing her but she reached out to us asking if it’s too late and I said it’s never too late, ya know, it’s a good cause. Everybody’s just climbing out of the woodwork and people on the independent scene want to get involved too, it’s a great cause, it’s a great cause and we’re just so proud and we really appreciate it”
When she spoke with WrestleZone last year to promote the inaugural DressleMania event, Val noted that the GAW team wanted to promote their message of female empowerment in a unique way and support a different charity each year. She said those groups would always be ones that promote female empowerment, and now spoke about linking up with Tag Me In United and having IMPACT Wrestling support this year’s effort.
Val: “It’s for a cause very near and dear to our heart. If you’re not familiar with Tag Me In United, you can look them up and find out about their partnership with IMPACT Wrestling as well and look up Gail Kim and Christy Hemme that has been helping out with that. Like Lisa was saying, it’s a bunch of different types and groups of people, Sharmell, people from WWE, Maria Kanellis, who’s an IMPACT Wrestling and ROH personality, we’ve got The IInspiration, Jessie and Cassie, there’s so many different names from different promotions and even on the independent scene, these are girls that you’re gonna see come up through the ranks and are stars in the making. So, we have a nice mix and even Natalya, she’s a busy girl and these people have made time.”
Mickie and Val also spoke about this year’s event really having a community feel, noting how the event also holds special meaning as another way to honor the late Shannon Spruill, aka Daffney.
Mickie: “When we think about how impactful the Tag Me In campaign was when it was launched, it affected even more people than we realized and so just to have that open conversation and to normalize talking about how we’re feeling which is weird to say, because in the wrestling business, you have to have this tough exterior all the time, you have to no-sell everything because it’s a business, you know? But we, at the end of the day, are still humans and it does affect everyone differently and obviously, it’s terrible that we had to bring about this conversation. However, to see so many people be comfortable and that they aren’t alone and that they can have this conversation with their brothers and sisters and that it’s OK, is really cool.”
Val: “It’s all to honor our friend Daffney and the first year that we did it, we chose the charity Girl Up, it’s all about empowerment but at the beginning, we did say that we wanted this to be an in-person event, which for the first time, it is, this year. We also wanted to change it up year-to-year and we’d find things that are important to us and of course Daffney and Tag Me In United was the perfect choice.”
Learn more about DressleMania 2 on the GAW TV website. Tickets for the in-person event are available at this link, and you can also support the cause by purchasing a t-shirt to benefit Tag Me In United at this link. Several outfits are currently up for auction ahead of the WrestleCon event; check out the full list of available outfits here.
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