When #GiveDivasAChance began trending after the February 23, 2015 episode of Raw, many people thought it would fizzle out. Wrestling has always been and will always be a man’s sport.
Women have always been eye candy, always been overly sexualized. Even with the efforts of the women during the 90s and early 2000s, they have never been true contenders in the extremely emasculated world of wrestling.
Supposedly, that all changed with the Divas Revolution, which began with the promotion of NXT wrestlers Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks in July of 2015.
The ensuing three-way feud between Teams PCB, B.A.D., and Bella, was some of the most entertaining material in recent memory. Do you want to know why? Because as the original hashtag claimed, divas were finally being given a chance.
Fast forward to WrestleMania 32, where Lita unveiled the new Women’s Championship, which put women on the same level as men. Charlotte became the Women’s Champion, and the change became a revolution in female representation.
Fast forward again to the July 19, 2016, episode of SmackDown Live, where the brands were formally split. The Women’s Championship became the RAW Women’s Championship, and SmackDown got their own version of the title.
The beleaguered feud between Charlotte and Sasha Banks will go down as one of the longest games of hot potato in history. Then, once Becky Lynch lost the SD Live Women’s Title at TLC, many people sensed a slowdown in the women’s divisions of each show.
Now, almost a year later and a few days away from WrestleMania 33, the Raw Women’s Champion Bayley is going to defend her title in a fatal four-way elimination match as one of the show’s most anticipated matches, while SmackDown’s Women’s Title match has been demoted to the pre-show.
I mean, what?
Seriously, we went from an epic three-way feud between some of the best female talents in the company to…this? Sure, Charlotte and Sasha made history by being the first women to compete in a Hell in a Cell match, but that was overshadowed by just how many times those two had gone head to head.
Emma hasn’t been on WWE programming in months, unless you count the botched Emmalina promotion, which was just a huge waste of time. Tamina may have returned at a live event a few weeks ago, but hasn’t been on TV in quite a while.
So of the original three way feud, we have Charlotte and Sasha on Raw, and Naomi and Nikki Bella on Smackdown. Nikki isn’t even in the Women’s Title picture, despite being the longest reigning Divas Champion in history, and Naomi returned from injury just in time for WrestleMania.
So, yes. I’d say the Women’s Revolution is definitely losing steam. The women have gotten complacent, and the revolution is hardly mentioned on TV.
If WWE really wants to promote women the proper way, then creative needs to make sure that all of the female superstars stay relevant. Not just the four main ones in Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Nia Jax.
If that means brand switches for a few of them, then so be it. Women deserved a chance two years ago, and they deserve to have it maintained.
Thoughts? Opinions? Agree/Disagree? Sound off in the comments!
The SD women are booked brilliantly In my opinion. Raw’s division has taken a severe beating because of there was only 3 being used and Dana Brooke being a manager/understudy. They should not have messed around with Emma and I never felt that Nia Jax was ready for the step up from NXT.
SmackDown have hit a golden curve with Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Becky and Mickie James returning to add experience. I kind of agree that some steam has been lost but from the perspective of Raw. SmackDown seem to have gotten things right with their division. I feel that Raw needs Emma back and possibly calling up Asuka to add more depth and strength to their division.
Sorry for the long post.
The problem is that a lot of the women in WWE just aren’t that talented. Nia Jax is just a monster of a woman and is built as more of a spectacle than a superstar. Dana Brooke, while good in NXT hasn’t had the success on the main roster. She is constantly making mistakes and missing spots. Carmella is just plain annoying…her gimmick doesn’t work without her being with Enzo and Cass. Natalya sounds as if she’s been smoking cigs for 40 years and has not and can not live up to the Hart name. Alicia Fox…enough said. Nikki Bella, while being known as the longest reigning Diva’s champ, isn’t really anything special in the ring or on the mic (which is the downfall of a lot of the women on the roster). Paige can’t keep clean. Tamina is just a smaller Nia Jax. Mickie James just doesn’t have it like she used to. Summer Rae has been off TV, and I’m not offended by this at all. Lana isn’t a wrestler. Maryse is just a piece of arm candy for The Miz. WWE can’t decide what to do with Emma. Asuka is regulated to the terrible NXT Women’s roster along with Ember Moon. They are the most talented women in NXT and are stuck there for that reason. Unfortunately for Balyley, her fan-girl gimmick just looks like a lot of recycled moves that she stole from her idols..and the Bayley to Belly is a very lack luster finisher. Not to mention, she is constantly squaring off against Nia Jax….as in sports in general, matchups matter. You are left with Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Alexa Bliss to carry the split division. How do we fix this? Make the women exclusive to one brand like they did with the cruiserweights. Now instead of 2 or 3 talented women per roster, you have them all on one, allowing for different matchups to happen more regularly. @danspayne:disqus your post wasn’t that long. LOL
Put the raw womens match in the preshow and the smackdown womens match in the main card…give me a reason to watch mania 33, cause every match booked on the main card is poor…goldberg vs lesnar…not interested, undertaker vs roman reigns…not interested…ok, maybe sasha and charlotte but you can do away with nia and bayley…and as far as im concerned ambrose and corbin is the only match im interested in, jericho and owens…eeeh. if Balor doesn’t return at mania im rioting. Also for the love of god, do we really have to watch cena vs the miz…its bad enough reigns is at mania, now i have to watch them two also!