While 2015 could be considered a massive step forward in the presentation and acceptance of women’s wrestling in WWE — our top 10 matches of the year features three NXT women’s matches, for example — it was also the year of the “Divas Revolution,” which sometimes felt more like a marketable hashtag than a mission statement. The talented, popular female performers from NXT were brought up to the main roster without defined characters or stories beyond “you’re all on teams and you have a bunch of matches,” and what should’ve been a reason for unbridled positivity turned into a divisive argument.
In an interview with Alex Obert at Journey of a Frontman, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus spoke about what makes women’s wrestling work for a WWE audience, and praised Triple H for helping put all the pieces together.
“… The thing about Triple H is he’s very smart and is a visionary really. As the person in charge of talent, his job is to recognize their abilities, spot their potential, then provide them with the opportunity that could elevate them that way they can make the most of them in the company. The cool thing is that he looked at the Divas division and he didn’t just see them as women, he saw these amazing athletes and characters that could do well on the show and connect with the fans. That’s what he did, he gave them the opportunity. Once the fans connect with them, they’re golden.”
You’d think that “good wrestling + interesting characters” wouldn’t be such a missing link in wrestling writing, but far too often we go in one direction or the other. The initial Divas Revolution looked to improve the quality of the women’s matches on Raw and Smackdown, but neglected to establish who was wrestling, and why. When you realize that’s happening and push too hard in the other direction, you get stuff like, “your little brother died from a heroin overdose.”
On NXT, though?
“I think it’s amazing. It’s about time. The girls are ready and the fans are ready. I’m really excited to see what’s gonna happen. I think they’re doing a fantastic job. I want to see who is going to break out from the girls now since they came in as a cluster. It’s an exciting time to see these strong characters, these strong athletes, and to be able to sit back and watch who is going to break out and be that star. They’re all stars. They are all great in the ring – and what I love is they all have pretty defined characters from what we’ve seen so far. I’m proud of them. It’s a good time for women in our business right now.”
It’s true, and she’s absolutely correct. Let’s try to go as long as possible without making anybody get on all fours and bark like a dog.
