I respect and adore women’s wrestling; I’ll
just put that out there. Being a female myself, seeing a minority of women step
up in an industry that is completely dominated by males fills me with joy and
pride. What men can do, women can do 10x better, right?
Well, in the wrestling world and in the
year 2014, I hate to say it, but that is now arguable. Since it’s inception in
2008, the Divas title, unfortunately, has represented femininity and prettiness
(don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being pink and girly, but that’s not what I
want for them in the wrestling world). I also understand that WWE want to brand
everything, therefore they can sell everything but naturally it seems as if the
respect of women’s wrestling as a whole was lost with the unification of the
Women’s and Diva’s title in 2010, hence retiring the WWE Women’s Championship.
Visually, the butterfly belt in itself is
tacky, embarrassing and well, ugly. The women’s title was timeless; it
represented female empowerment and the fact that they could kick ass hard, as
hard as any man could. How many people genuinely believe that the butterfly
belt suit Paige or AJ’s style? The women’s title complemented any female who
carried it.
If you go back in history and look at all
of the names who have held the women’s strap, from Lita to Moolah to Ivory to
Chyna and the list goes on, undeniably these women were respected and proved it
in the ring as to why they were. Trish Stratus went on to be a record-setting
7x Women’s Champion, but records to me, are made in order to be broken and if
you look at the Undertaker’s streak, I’m sure we can all agree on that. Now,
there is no one to step up to that and there is nothing for these women to beat
or aim for, in order to be the best. Indeed AJ is the longest reigning Divas
champ but in all seriousness, is the Divas title even taken seriously nowadays?
Total Divas has only advanced the marketing
of the term “Diva”, it is no longer about the in-ring skills, more about how
you present yourself and what you do outside of the ring. Brining back the
Women’s title, would bring back respect to the division, it would show that it
is not simply about being pretty or looking good but about kicking ass for the
gold and fighting to be at the top.
This may be a minor detail, but the fact
that there is zero gold on the belt says it all. A champion NEEDS to hold gold
imo, not pink and silver simply because they’re women. It’s disrespectful.
Am I ranting? Possibly. But am I passionate about women’s wrestling being respected? I damn sure am. Bring back the Women’s Title WWE and let all these women fight to be the no.1 woman on the roster and prove that they can still kick ass, and compete on the level that a man can.
Yet, despite all of this, it can still be
argued that bringing the women’s title back would not necessarily improve the
quality of wrestling that these women in 2014 bring. It’s no secret, women’s
wrestling in WWE today is heavily lacking, they just do not have the ability to
GO, in the way that those prior to them could, e.g. in The Attitude Era.
However, that burden can be put on the back of the WWE; for they are the ones
that have chosen to push female wrestling to the bottom and now, promote Total
Divas.
NXT is where you will find the real deal, which
is partially why I love it so much. The respect for women and what they can
bring is 100% there. A few days ago, Charlotte and Bayley were provided with
the opportunity to main-event an NXT live event, which instantly shows you the
difference in the treatment of women there and on the main roster. I have read
a whole load of comments from guys who do not watch “Diva” matches, they change
the channel or use it as a bathroom-break, I would tell all of those guys to
watch Charlotte Vs. Natalya at NXT Takeover and Paige Vs. Emma at NXT Arrival. The
main roster may be lacking, but the NXT roster sure as hell is not. They are
legitimately female WRESTLERS, not Divas. When these women get called up, they
could bring prestige back to the division. Although, then again, look at Paige…
she can wrestle, she has the look and she had a character down in NXT (the
anti-diva) but she hasn’t been able to transcend that on the main roster and fully
shine in the way that she was able to on NXT.
Being a female who grew up watching and loving
such incredible women wrestle their way to respect, I guess I am possibly too
attached to what the women’s title symbolises and maybe, just maybe it’s time for
me to move on with the times and let it go…
- Zara
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