I grew up in an era where women's wrestling was little more than a break in the action. The WWF had 3 or 4 women on the roster at a time.... 2 of whom might wrestle early on the card....and they got virtually no TV time.
It was a time when the Fabulous Moolah was the Queen of all women's wrestling. Mainstays like Lelani Kai and Velvet McIntire was almost always one of the 2 women wrestling in the "women's match". You could name all the WWF women's wrestlers on one hand and have fingers left over.
In the mid 80s, Wendi Richter brought the spotlight to the women's division, but her competition was still incredibly limited. The Jumping Bomb Angles brought women's tag team wrestling out of a dark corner...but again facing minimal competition in the 12 months they were around.
In the 90s the WWF once again tool a cue from Japan and tried to regenerate interest, with Alundra Blayze (Madusa Micelli), Bull Nakano and Bertha Faye...but not much more. But this time, Women's matches were appearing on some Pay Per View events, but sparingly.
In the New Decade (2000's) women's wrestling started becoming a larger part of the roster. Not only did Chyna become an Icon in the division, but Lita, Trish Startus, Gail Kim and Jackie Moore were 4 of many women's wrestlers getting exposure. They appeared on RAW as well as the Pay Per View events.
More and more women were making their way to the roster, but by this time, the women were playing a dual role: not only were they 'competing' but they were positioned as sex symbols. Almost all of them had a similar career arc in the WWE: debut as a "personality", get in an argument with an established star, start performing in the ring, win the Women's title, lose the women's title. Also: post for a calendar, use your body to distract a male superstar and some cases get an offer to pose in Playboy.
This is in no way meant to be demeaning. The women worked hard, and in many cases got to enjoy a lot of fame and fortune. But when you look at their work-rate....their ability to put on a competitive and convincing match....there were still a lot of hurdles. For every Trish, Lita and Gail that worked hard at their craft, there were Divas who struggled to be convincing. hair pulling, clawing and slapping made up a large part of their repetoire, and ultimately even the best of the bunch were seen as eye candy first, competitors second.
Far too many women passed thru this era to name them all, but I want to be clear: they all worked hard. But the WWE was clear that they were being marketed as models. As Divas. As sex symbols.
Recently, the WWE rounded up a crew of Divas who are as talented in the ring as they are beautiful. Charlotte (Ashley Flair), Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Paige, Asuka and Bayley are good examples. Nattie Neidhadt, a WWE mainstay, returned to the forefront. For the first time in a long time, the women actually impressed the crowd with holds-and-counters. Submissions and Reversals.
And while it's refreshing to see them taken more seriously, we have a new problem now: the WWE regularly positions these women as Main Eventers. Their matches have closed out episodes of RAW and gotten featured status on Pay Per Views.
Why is this a problem? 2 reasons:
1) Despite the high level of talent, there is a large POOL of talent...so when you divide them over 2 shows (RAW and SmackDown) you are back to the same match ups each week.
2) Despite the high level of talent, the fans collectively do not view them with the same level of stardom as their male counterparts.
Is this a "sexism" issue ... or is it true that the female superstars just do not generate the same level of interest? Is this a "glass ceiling" issue ... or is it true that a percentage of the female superstars just are not as fluid or athletic as the male stars they are being compared to?
This isn't to pain them all with the same brush. I don't think I've seen anyone quite like Charlotte Flair before. And Sasha Banks is even more amazing. But Nia Jaxx is no Chyna, and Eva Marie is...well, she's gone. But you know what I mean.
When the women Main Evented RAW it was novel, and it was nice. But when the SAME 3 women Main Event RAW again a month or so later...it's not so novel and it's not so exciting. It's not ANYthing like watching Roman facing Stroman. Even is Sasha Banks was your very favorite WWE Superstar, do you want to watch her wrestle Bayley more than once? How many more time will a women's wrestle switch from face to heel to face to heel depending on which of her fellow Divas has the title?
The WWE women's competitors are more physically competitive than ever before. They're dynamic and they deserve the TV time they get. Never before has there been such a great blend of beauty and talent. But I'm not convinced that the FANS are convinced that they are Main Eventers. I'm not convinced that the fans think they are as interesting and awe inspiring as their male counterparts.
It's not a glass ceiling. It's a reality check.
The fans want to see them wrestle...but they aren't ready to call them the stars of the show.
Thoughts?
No comments:
Post a Comment