12 Exact Moments WWE Titles Became Worthless
2. Harvey Wippleman Destroys Old Women’s Title
As aforementioned, WWE treat women’s wrestling very seriously nowadays, but that wasn’t always the case. They tried to do it right in the mid-1990s when Alundra Blayze burst onto the scene for choice outings vs. Bull Nakano and Bertha Faye, but it was shortlived. Even so, champs like Sable and Ivory worked well for varying reasons after the belt returned later in the decade.
Then, Harvey Wippleman came along as “Hervina” and 'laughing stock' wouldn't begin to cover it.
Wipps won gold from The Kat on the 31 January 2000 Raw. Days later, this inside joke was wrapped up when Harvey dropped the title to Jacqueline on SmackDown. What a complete and utter waste of everybody’s time. The WWF didn't bother even trying to turn this into a fleshed out story that saw Wippleman hate on women's wrestling like some weedier version of Jeff Jarrett - the whole experiment was over too abruptly for that to sink in if they did.
It was clear as day that somebody (presumably Vince McMahon) behind the scenes just thought it'd be funny if Harvey donned a wig with some makeup and won the Women's Title. That likely got a belly laugh from the boss, but it was a sad commentary on where the title fell in the federation.
Post-Hervina, it took years before the belt was viewed as anything more than a sideshow. Trish Stratus, Lita and select others worked their butts off to try change things. They sowed seeds for the eventual women's revolution to come years later.
Seeing Wippleman hold that belt was something that should've stopped short as a giggle in creative meetings.