The Women’s Evolution Retrospect

It’s the last Raw pay per view before Wrestlemania and there is a buzz in the air. For a February night it was anything but cold in the arena as the excitement drew near. It was the first ever elimination chamber match involving women, and as the chamber lowered it would be etched in history. You could see on each woman’s face as they walked to that metal cage that they had helped carve this path for each future female superstar, they would give the girls in the audience hope. Bring us back to January 28 for the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. The rules for the match, the will, and tenacity showed that these women could pull off a great match of these standards just as well as the guys. It showed that even someone as small as Sasha Banks could last in the ring at nearly 55 minutes. It gave us the opportunity to see the legendary talent we have been missing from the ring, and it even showed us the talent that was soon to come. Now these weren’t the only two pay per views that women managed to make a name for themselves. On the night of June 18, we would see another piece of history be put on the shelf right next to the men. The first ever women’s money in the bank ladder match. Now I know it was not the ideal winning situation with Carmella getting help from James Ellsworth, but she was able to go to Smackdown within those two days and win it herself. Carmella managed to hold her briefcase for a record breaking 287 Days before successfully cashing in on Charlotte Flair and now being Smackdown Women’s Champion.

Before any of this could have happened for these women there needed to be another step involved. Push back 10-15 years ago and women’s matches were nothing but bathroom breaks. Unless it was your favorite in that ring fighting for the championship title, no one really paid attention. Despite the obvious fan favorites of Trish Stratus, Lita, Mickie James, Michelle McCool, And Layla; the women’s matches were turned into jokes. The prestigious women’s title was quickly turned into the Divas championship and the women were quickly becoming known as divas. They were turned into sex symbols and losing respect as the talented superstars they once were known as. On February 23, 2015 It was quickly realized that the women’s division deserved more. A tag match of the Bella Twins and Paige with Emma only lasted 30 seconds. Not only did the women know it was time for a change, but the WWE universe knew it as well. A hashtag began forming and lasted 3 days; #GiveDivasAChance. This hashtag would quickly change the history of the women’s division as we knew it.

The matches continued to be short or even cut from most televised shows or pay per views. Once this hashtag began the women were able to show off their talents, or even bring up women from NXT. Those women down in NXT were able to showcase such amazing match ups, including iron man matches between Sasha Banks and Bayley. It was matches like this that gave the universe hope, hope that would spark a revolution. With the help of the four horsewomen Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair; it would really start to show how much these women wanted to shine. Pan over to Wrestlemania 32, a triple threat match for the Divas Championship. It was a match that was escalating for weeks. The day of though, it was a completely different story. Lita, a former women’s champion herself, revealed to the universe that the Divas Championship would be coming to an end. The era of women being called Divas was done. That night, Becky, Sasha, and Charlotte competed for the Women’s Championship. Charlotte became the first woman to hold this brand new title.

With the new title being displayed on Raw and Smackdown it helped show off their new potential with the WWE universe. The brand split would soon occur which would bring the brand new Smackdown Women’s Championship. Becky Lynch would be the first ever Smackdown Women’s champion. With notches like this under the women’s belts it shows change and history being made. NXT superstars like Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Carmella, and Nia Jax would come up and try their hand at these prestigious women’s titles. Alexa Bliss would make history by holding both Raw and Smackdowns Women’s Championships. It was the power and will that these women had that made it possible to proceed with the pay per view matches, the amazing matches on raw. Charlotte and Sasha made history with the first ever Hell in a Cell match. With the positive feedback from critics and fans, it meant that this evolution was in full swing.

When I began watching wrestling, it was the Divas era. I looked up to these women, but found it difficult to enjoy a match when there was nothing to watch. Watching these women flourish and show off their amazing abilities has really shown that this evolution is what was needed. They have been able to get proper titles, pay per view matches like the guys, and are getting recognized as the superstars they are. The women have come far in the history of the WWE and hopefully there is more to come. The ideas that we may get an all women’s pay per view in the future, women’s tag team belts, and more tournaments like the Mae Young Classic is possible. I see more and more happening in the division and I can’t wait to see what else is to come.