The WWE can hardly be accused of furthering the feminist cause. At one point during the late 90s and early 2000s not a week would went that there wasnt some form of bikini contest, pudding match, bra and panties match or any other excuse to get WWE divas in the ring in as few items of clothes as possible. The women were there to be looked at by the (predominantly) male audience who lapped up every second of it. Trish Stratus, now remembered as one of the most celebrated divas to ever grace a WWE ring, was involved in an angle on RAW on March 5th 2001 that shocked many viewers for its overwhelming and unashamed misogyny. During a confusing angle which saw Trish and Mr McMahon begin a romantic relationship only for Vince to side with Stephanie and dump Trish (William Regal was also shoehorned into proceedings), Trish decided that she needed Vince back badly and was going to do whatever she needed to convince the owner of the fact. Displaying all of his usual tact, Vince demanded that Trish get down on her hands and knees, crawl around the ring on all fours and then bark like a dog. To make things even more uncomfortable for Trish and millions of viewers, Vince then had Trish strip to her underwear for him. The angle was deemed so distasteful that it was not shown on the version of RAW broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK and raised further questions about WWEs sexualisation and poor treatment of their female talent.
