Pro wrestlers behind ‘The Progressive Liberal’ heel say audiences ‘more violent’ than ever before

Two pro wrestlers who developed “The Progressive Liberal” villain for their matches say the environment has gotten darker in recent years.

Inspired by the 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, wrestlers Beau James and Dan Harnsberger created the persona as a way to generate audience reaction, or “heat,” at their gigs in the mountain towns of Appalachia, reports CNN.

The conservative James was mulling over the idea when he reconnected with Harnsberger, a liberal who had been testing how his politics would play in the ring.

After getting a strong reaction to bringing a Hillary Clinton flag in one night, they created “The Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards to play the villain, or “heel,” in their matches. James helped workshop Harnsberger’s positions into lines that would rile up the crowd, like “We’re coming for your guns.”  

Crowds ate it up. One time a fan reportedly flashed a handgun on his hip and told Harnsberger to come over and take it.

But they also entertained. In more moderate areas, the Progressive Liberal sometimes had half the crowd on his side.

“The heat you want is the heat where people are upset at what you stand for… and they want to see you get your ass kicked,” Harnsberger told CNN in 2017.

In 2022, the friends say that the atmosphere has gotten “out of hand.” Harnsberger has increasingly become a target for locals pent-up with the national state of affairs.

“People have become more frustrated, more divided, he said. And the Progressive Liberal offers an outlet for that built-up energy,” said James.

“We’re complete opposites,” James added. “I’m a gun-owning, tobacco-chewing, Bible-believing mountain person; Dan is not. But Dan and I can get along. And if we have arguments, we have a luxury that most people don’t have – we know somewhere in the next few days, we’ll be in the ring together so we can just punch the other one in the back of the head.”

But audiences are started to see their stagecraft as more. The two had to cancel a recent match in Stickleyville, Virginia – an area Trump won by about 80% in 2016 and 2020 – because the audience fought over whether or not Hansberger should be allowed to deliver his lines.

“It got beyond the point of heat to it’s dangerous,” James explained about why their bout was cut short.

Backstage, the pair admit they could have handled the situation better.

But neither said they created the problem.