10 Secrets Behind WWE's Stunning Current Success
2. Parity...
...sort of.
From Triple H's supportive reimagining of women's wrestling from 2013 through to the philosophy's migration to the main roster in 2015, WWE aggressively moved to establish parity between men and women on its shows, and the results - when they legitimately managed it - were excellent and long-lasting. Evolution 2018 was unanimously critically acclaimed, WrestleMania 35 and 37's main events were lauded for their significance and quality respectively, and WWE's female audience statistics saw enormous gains as the women themselves saw overdue exposure outside of side projects
The more that was normalised, the more the company started lionising a period they'd derided. Decades of "Diva" derision sat uneasily with The Four Horsewomen et al knocking out match of the year candidates, but Royal Rumbles became useful integration tools. Time's arrow marching forward resulted in the marginal success stories from the 1990s and 2000s being highlighted and Diva Searches and Bikini Contests being hidden away along with the organisation's other poorly-aged atrocities.
Things are not perfect. As of 2023, WWE feels as though it has gradually regressed in terms of featuring women's wrestling on their weekly shows, with time, development and quality at an all-time low on SmackDown in particular. But finally doing the work in the second half of the decade has bought them time in this one, particularly with the likes of Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and Roxanne Perez having a longer future than a past.