Is The Women’s Revolution Losing Steam?

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!