10 Secrets Nobody Has Told You About WWE Yet

5. Women's Devolution

Rhea Ripley Dominik Mysterio
WWE.com

There's no easy answer to the question of "why is North American wrestling doing so poorly by the women's divisions", but WWE have - for years - attempted to earn a quick win on representation alone.

As opposed to AEW as well as its own less-than-ideal history, World Wrestling Entertainment at very least shoots for parity between the women and the men thanks to the likes of shared stipulations, television time and priorities of specific characters. WWE can, if required, defend itself against criticism by highlighting that Rhea Ripley is the true leader of The Judgment Day, that Bianca Belair was a company figurehead as she broke longevity records as Champion, and that Becky Lynch was one of - if not the - last bankable top star the organisation created.

All just about true, but all increasingly irrelevant when women's matches are given the short shrift time-wise, storylines have wafer-thin premises or don't exist, and there's nothing close to the roster depth to assemble a sequel to the celebrated 2018 Evolution pay-per-view or even a credible Mae Young Classic tournament.

The bar across the board is currently far too low, but there's nowhere near enough discussion about WWE's willingness to limbo under it rather than take a giant leap or two.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett