From 'Divas' to 'Women', is it just the name of the title that's changed?
Last Sunday, Charlotte faced Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks for the WWE Women’s Championship and emerged victorious, thus becoming the first ever WWE Women’s Champion. She was presented with the title by none other than the high-flying women’s wrestling legend, Lita.
This title has effectively replaced the Divas Championship, which a lot of people believed was sexist in a lot of ways and made a clear divide between the male wrestlers and the female wrestlers.
Until now, the WWE hadn’t placed them on an equal footing. This divide was clearly blatant. The female wrestlers take wrestling as seriously and are as dedicated as their male counterparts, so to speak, if not more.
Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Charlotte proved that by putting one of the best matches on the show, giving Shane McMahon and The Undertaker a run for their money. You just can’t argue with the fact that the women’s division (and am I glad that it’s finally called that and I don’t have to use the term Divas anymore) has always been extremely talented and more so the current division.
The word ‘Diva’ itself was holding them back, making them look like mere models on a reality show rather than talented wrestlers who were starting to get the respect they deserve.
The sports industry is beginning to see a revolution, one that should have happened long ago. Recently, a few members of the United States Women’s Soccer Team filed a suit against the US Soccer Federation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and now the Divas title will fade into oblivion.
But what does this mean for the WWE, and not just the women’s division. A visit to the WWE’s website would show the female wrestlers listed as Superstars as opposed to Divas just until very recently.
Does this mean that the WWE has finally begun to see them on an equal footing? A substantial section of the WWE universe surely does, if the recent reactions and support for wrestlers like Bayley, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Paige are to go by.
Are inter-gender matches on the way? Other popular promotions like Lucha Underground and Ring of Honour have showcased top quality intergender matches with roaring success. Another testament to the fact that female wrestlers can sell out crowds just as well as male wrestlers. It would definitely be very interesting to see intergender matches in the WWE, given the current rosters.
We have seen inter-gender matches in the WWE before, so this concept is definitely not new for the WWE. (Remember in 2004, where newly inducted WWE Hall of Famer Jacqueline defeated Chavo Guerrero for the now non-existent WWE Cruiserweight Championship having answered his challenge?) There also have been several mixed tag team matches, albeit with hardly any action between male and female competitors.
Or is this just a publicity stunt? Is the WWE just looking to jump on the whole women's’ revolution in sports bandwagon and milk it? Or are we really going to see some substantial changes, at least as far as women’s wrestling in the WWE is concerned, or is it only the name of the title and the division that’s changed?
In their defence, given the promos, screen time, entrances, and matches that were dedicated to the female wrestlers, the guys at WWE might just finally have come to their senses and realized how important women’s wrestling is, not just to the competitors or women around the world, but to the entire WWE Universe. Sasha Banks and Bayley main evented an NXT pay-per-view, which was voted match of the month. A gigantic leap for female wrestlers.
Stephanie McMahon wrote an article for The Players' Tribune, here’s an excerpt –
Our female performers are world-class athletes, actors, public speakers and philanthropists. They're role models, inspiring and empowering women and girls to be confident and strong. They dedicate themselves to WWE, achieve great success and earn the same respect as their male counterparts. Therefore, from this point forward, all of our performers – male and female – will be known as "Superstars."
However, let’s not forget that once upon a time, the WWE did have a Women’s Championship. But even then, a lot of viewers would agree that the two divisions were not seen on an equal footing with women’s wrestling being more about cat-fights and “skin showing” with matches like Bra and Panty matches, mud wrestling, intended for just aesthetic appeal.
Of late, however, we have been seeing more of technical wrestling in the women’s wrestling. Perhaps, this time, it will be very different. Perhaps, this is the beginning of a new era in wrestling.