10 Ways WWE Has Screwed Up Its Women's Division
A ton of missteps: ruining Rhea Ripley and Shayna Baszler, bad matches, releasing wrestlers.
It might come as a shock to realize that just two years ago, WrestleMania 35 closed with a women’s triple threat for both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
Women’s wrestling felt like it was on the ascent, with Ronda Rousey dominating for a year and “The Man” Becky Lynch riding a huge wave of popularity. Throw in a roster filled with talent and you had a women’s division that was a jewel of Raw and SmackDown.
But as we sit here in June 2021, women’s wrestling in WWE has reached a nadir not seen since 2015, when the Bella Twins were still the center of what was then called the Divas division, AJ Lee was gone, and Paige was the shiny object.
What was once a high point of Raw and SmackDown now regularly produces cringe-worthy moments every week. Matches are short, clumsy and uninspired. Can’t-miss prospects are being screwed up. And a doll is dominating women’s storylines right now.
So how did we get to this point? It’s easy to point to the recent mass releases of talent, as we’ve seen more than a dozen women nixed from the company, thinning out an already-thin division. And while that’s certainly a significant reason, we need to trace a series of significant missteps WWE has made in the past couple of years that has contributed to the degradation of the women’s division.
Buckle up, because it’s a bumpy ride. Let’s get to it…
10. Match Quality Degradation
There’s no doubt that match quality has dropped off precipitously in the past couple of years.
Don’t believe it? Ask yourself: When was the last truly memorable women’s match on Raw? Aside from Bianca Belair’s title win at WrestleMania 37, what was the last great PPV match involving women?
Even Charlotte Flair, who has been one of the most reliable women on the roster, has been off since returning to action in December and can’t be counted on to elevate a match. Aside from Asuka, Sasha Banks and Bayley, there really haven’t been those bankable wrestlers who can deliver every time out.
Worse, there seems to be more superstars who turn in a subpar effort regularly. Sorry to say, but once you get past those top 2-3 women on Raw and SmackDown, the quality (at least what we’re seeing on TV these days) just isn’t there.