5 Female Superstars who will bring 'edgy' back to WWE
Low ratings for WWE programming during the holiday period seems to have turned heads at Titan Towers and fans clamouring for a return to the 'Attitude Era' might get a few tit-bits to satisfy them.
While the Attitude Era was famous for controversial and sexually explicit content, WWE has considerably toned down its nature of programming during this decade. Segments such as Trish Stratus getting down on all fours and barking for Vince McMahon's amusement has been replaced with the likes of Becky Lynch and Charlotte having five-star matches in the ring. But signs are pointing towards a shift in company policy - at least regarding female wrestlers.
Last week featured two segments on WWE TV harking back to the 'Divas era' of women's wrestling and both segments proved to be extremely popular. While ratings and YouTube views aren't the primary focus of WWE's business model at present, the fact that the McMahon family showed up on RAW and promised change cannot be unrelated to this change in direction.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio said that these changes were part of the company's efforts to 'make things sensual'. This list takes a look at five female wrestlers in the company who can be the poster-girls to usher in this 'edgy' content.
#5 Lana
WWE must be regretting that the new outlook did not come a couple of years back when Lana was 'over like rover' on the main roster. Despite being a heel, fans had really dug into her 'evil Russian' persona and she was getting more cheers than the hottest male babyface.
A botched initial baby-face run and a horrible 'love quadruple' angle put paid to all of that. Later attempts to present Lana as an in-ring competitor did not work as the 'Ravishing Russian' could never match the in-ring skills of a roster comprising of Charlotte, Naomi and co.
She is back as a babyface with Rusev but the focus has shifted to the United States Champion and Lana is no longer the centre of attention. She could have been the Sable of this generation to Rusev's Marc Mero, but she is not an entirely lost cause.
While her promos aren't anything remarkable, she does have the looks to play the femme fatale. She would need the WWE Creative to come up with a strong story-line that accentuates her strengths and the audience does seem to have the appetite for a beautiful and sophisticated anti-american whom they can love to hate. She might need to make an impactful heel turn on 'Ru Ru' first, though.