7 Reasons Why WWE Hot-Shotting The Raw Women's Title Is Good For Business
6. The Title's Legacy Is Dubious To Start With
If this was the United States or Intercontinental Championship a few years ago, the idea that hot-shotting devalues the belt would have more weight. Those are two of the most prestigious belts in American wrestling history, and both boast a proud lineage of decorated former champions and huge, era-defining matches (Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, anyone?). They’re not what they once were, but the US and IC belts used to mean something.
It’s impossible to say the same of the Raw Women’s Championship. It’s roots come from the Divas Championship, and WWE’s previous Women’s Championship before that. Neither of these belts were ever treated with the same level of importance as the Raw title, and it’s not even close. Propose the idea of two women headlining a PPV during either of the old belts’ lifespans and you’d have been laughed out of the building, but it’s already happened in 2016, and will likely happen again.
The old Women’s Championship was once held by such “luminaries” as Debra, Stephanie McMahon, and Harvey Wippelman. It was regularly defended in demeaning bra & panties matches and bikini contests, and even when talented workers like Lita came long, they were rarely given respect. The belt became a prop for under-trained fitness models: it was treated like a joke, and it’s participants were treated like eye candy.
It’s now a legitimately contested title for the first time in several decades. WWE’s women’s division had a couple of bright spots in the early ‘90s and throughout the Lita vs. Trish Stratus rivalry, but nothing like this. It doesn’t come from a glittering legacy: there’s nothing to devalue, and it’s being treated with more reverence than ever before.