WWE recently posted this photoset of Superstars and Divas revealing their Christmas wishes. Summer Rae wants the perfect selfie, The Miz wants a copy of his new movie (which…seems super attainable to be honest), Eden wants a tropical vacation, and – okay listen, grumpy star man, that lady is a treasure and should probably just be given whatever she wants. I flipped through the gallery, and much like a terrible Carrie Bradshaw segue I couldn’t help but wonder: What is your wrestling Christmas wish?
Now, I realize not all of you celebrate Christmas. I’m still mostly a Christmas newbie, and most of its traditions are confusing and strange to me. I had to have someone explain Elf on the Shelf to me last year and I’m still not entirely convinced that’s a real thing that people do in real life, because it’s bananas. However, this is the time of year for introspection and believing in lofty concepts like hope and being nice to each other and also asking for stuff without seeming weird and selfish about it, so we may as well give it a go.
Sasha Banks has asked for the Women’s Championship, and if we’re being really real here, I’d be shocked if we don’t see it around her waist by the end of WrestleMania. In fact, if they don’t end up bringing it back, I’ll eat my hat. It will be this hat, and it will be delicious and well worth it, but you see what I’m getting at. WWE’s focus on Madusa, her comments on Instagram, recent polls asking if it should be brought back, and daring to mention it at all seem to be clear indicators that they’re slowly but surely ready to phase out the sparkly butterfly some stage hand picked up at a Claire’s before that 2008 SmackDown. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also want this to happen, if only so it can stop assaulting our senses with its Junior Miss rhinestone aesthetic. That said, my Christmas wish would be for promotions embracing the idea of a pound sign Divas Revolution to stop simply cashing in on a hashtag and put in the effort to make these women actually matter.
There are a number of indie promotions who have been running singular, female-centric shows for the past few years. Chikara preaches ‘Equal rights, equal fights.’ Ring of Honor has recently brought back their Women of Honor division (with some…pretty mixed results). The focus on female athletes is a welcome change, however, where they stumble is actually showing their work. I was terrible when it came to doing that in math class, I get it. But handing a lady a championship, or advertising these women as not your mama’s Divas or whatever without actually putting the work in to make it matter is…well, it’s frustrating. How many false-empowerment matches did you stick those women in beforehand? How many dudes on your roster refused to wrestle them properly because they ‘can’t hit a girl?’ How many of those women were kissed against their will, in some cases to cheers and adulation from the audience? Do all of these women on your card have a compelling reason to wrestle one another that fit with their well-established character, or did you throw a bunch of names on a card and then sit back and patiently wait for a cookie and a pat on the back for being progressive and enlightened?
When Bayley won the NXT Women’s Championship, it meant something. Actually, all of the winners carried some measure of emotion and gravitas because they were built up to in a way that seemed important. ‘She’s very good and deserves it’ is a fair point to make, but there are loads of lady wrestlers who are great at what they do. Saying you’re making history by jumping from Point A to Point B in some magical feminist tesseract without making the journey matter is frustrating. Expecting adulation for doing the absolute bare minimum simply isn’t good enough if you’re trying to affect actual change, and in the end you’re standing on the backs of the hard working women in this industry and expecting applause. The even sadder thing is most of these companies use these women as a shield against criticism, without acknowledging that actual equality also means your women’s matches are just as open to valid critique as anything else. These women deserve championships, they deserve your money and your adulation, but they also deserve to be treated like more than a passing trend.
I would also like New Day socks.
So, how about you guys? If holiday magic were real, and you could make one wish, what would it be? Is it also New Day socks? Your favorite indie wrestler to show up at Full Sail? Hit us up in the comments below.
