WWE hadn't afforded either Women's Division much of a story going into WrestleMania 33, but SmackDown Live's in particular had unnerving echoes of the worst time in the company's history for the females.
In front of her hometown crowd, Naomi returned from injury just weeks after being forced to surrender the Women's Championship and won her belt back, but it begged the question why a singles match between her and titleholder Alexa Bliss wouldn't have been the better option.
Natalya, Becky Lynch, Carmella and Mickie James were almost certainly all glad to get onto the card, but they had less agency than the two actually fighting for the title. In delicate times for the division, less still could have meant so much more.
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
