Maybe Stephanie McMahon Levesque’s image of the women who make up the Divas Division is a bit skewed. They are wrestlers, athletes, and some of the best talent the company has had since the time of Lita and Trish Stratus. They are young, hungry, and more than anything, they don’t want to be taken lightly or portrayed anything more as professional wrestlers.
By definition, a diva is someone who is a prima dona; a flashy entertainer; someone who needs special attention. I assure you these women are not Kardashian-like in nature and have worked hard to get to the top of the mountain. Charlotte, Paige, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks—along with their other colleagues—would rather slap the taste out of the mouth of someone who thinks they are a spoiled sort (read into that, Greg Valentine) as they have taken lumps and bumps just like their male counterparts.
The term is downright insulting, so much that some of the women in the company want to stamp out the notion of being categorized as something other than wrestlers by bringing back the WWE Women’s Championship belt.
It’s something that should have happened long ago.
Bayley, Banks, and Charlotte have all taken to their Twitter accounts and have acquiesced about making the title about wrestling—not the connotation of lip gloss, finely manicured fingers, and glamour over athletic ability. If the women want to be taken seriously in WWE, then the company must eliminate the monikers and preach the importance of in-ring technique, feuds within the group, and placing more emphasis on singles matches instead of the 6-Woman Tag Team matches and three-member factions.
My hope is this simple: treat the women as the company would me—helping them to get over and taking the newest feud between current champion Charlotte and Paige and build heat around it and its supporting cast.
Jim Ross spoke openly about the need to bring back the Women’s Title. “Chances are better now than they seemingly ever have been. It all depends on the storylines and how well the women improve their in-ring presentations and their overall game,” he explained in a post on J.R.’s Blog.
He’s right with all aspects pertaining to the women in the ring. Image is everything. This isn’t about lingerie matches, pillow fights, or even hookers and heels. It’s about the women getting in the ring, much like Gail Kim and Mickie James do, and give their all. WWE has always been a step behind TNA in its presentation of women in wrestling, where Vince McMahon has used females more as objects than a major part of the storyline.
This is now changing with Charlotte—Ric Flair’s daughter—proving to be possibly the best female athlete to come into the business in some time. Lynch, Banks, Paige, Naomi, and Bayley all show off ability as much as sex appeal, which balances the core existence that once ruled the division (take any one of the Divas in the company three years ago, sans AJ Lee).
Putting a new spin on the women in the company is the right direction to move in. Bringing back the Women’s Championship will more than make the division viable and believable.
More than anything, it would give respect and credit to the work these new stars have already done to break down stereotypes that have existed as long as Vince McMahon has been promoting them.
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