Paris Is Bumping, the mix of pro wrestling and ball culture born from the mind of out pro wrestler Billy Dixon, is set to return for its fourth event, “Paris Is Bumping: 4ever,” on August 17. But this one feels different in several ways.
The 2023 dissolution of Pro Wrestling VIBE, the promotion founded by Dixon and Lo McGrath that housed previous Paris Is Bumping events, caused plenty to question if another event in the series would happen.
The announcement of “Paris Is Bumping: 4ever” soothed those doubts, but its return comes with a sense of finality.
The first inkling came when out pro wrestler (and unsung foundation-layer for the LGBTQ pro wrestling rise) Eddy McQueen announced that the August event would be his final pro wrestling appearance. McQueen has been a key fixture of Paris Is Bumping since its creation in 2020, appearing on every show. He formed the House of McQueen with out wrestlers Gabby Ortiz, Karen BamBam and D.M. Kiddeaux. He was inducted into the defacto LGBTQ pro wrestling hall of fame Paris Honors in 2022.
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McQueen’s influence goes back more than a decade, carving a path for himself and peers like Jamie Senegal in New Jersey, New York and other areas that allowed the large number of LGBTQ talents that came afterward to grow. Paris Is Bumping has historically been a place to celebrate McQueen, hence why it makes sense that he chose it to be his final appearance.
But McQueen’s legacy goes far beyond it. That’s why the announcement drew shock, an outpouring of praise and a sense of loss despite the inevitable nature of time.
This year’s Paris Honors holds similar emotions in a different form. AC Mack, pro wrestling’s first out LGBTQ male world champion, is the sole honoree this time around. There is no question that he deserves the honor for far more than just his historic title win, but his induction will come just over a year after his own retirement from pro wrestling.
Just like McQueen, Mack’s legacy is intact and worthy of the celebration that comes with Paris Honors. It’s right that the LGBTQ community has a chance to give him his flowers, both physical and metaphorical, especially when it wasn’t known if the chance to do so publicly at an event built by and for queer people. After having moments at ACTION Wrestling and Naptown All-Pro Wrestling last year to say his goodbyes, Mack deserves that chance on a queer-specific show as well.
Those previous points grow even more in importance when faced with the fact that this may be the final Paris Is Bumping event as well. Dixon said as much recently via social media.
“Likely the last Paris Is Bumping ever and [to be honest] this one will finally match the vision in my head,” Dixon said.
Dixon dropping that possibility is certainly bittersweet, but it carries a weight of positivity that exceeds the common idea of a silver lining. Paris Is Bumping, like many avenues of queer celebration and expression, is built on a foundation of creation that only comes from explicitly queer communities. That history is what Paris Is Bumping honors every time it occurs and what it communicates to those who find themselves in the audience. It isn’t just a fun, liberating uber-queer wrestling show. It is a chance to educate people on queer culture and experience, and that doesn’t go away if this truly is the finale.
These events live on through video, clips shared online, the stories told between people over coffee. The same is true of people like McQueen, Mack and any of the other talents who walked down the aisle at Paris Is Bumping. It is the same feeling that arose when Pro Wrestling VIBE closed. All things end in time, but what you do with the time you have is what defines you rather than the end. And Paris Is Bumping hasn’t wasted a second.
