Backstage WWE Update On Frustration With Women's Divison

Because four minutes for two SmackDown matches really is taking the piss.

by Andrew Pollard
Zelina Vega Toni Storm
WWE.com

Like so many of us, it appears that there's significant frustration within WWE about how the company's women's division has been handled in recent weeks and months.

As per Fightful, there has been internal frustration from WWE talent and staff about how Vince McMahon's promotion has featured its female talent lately.

This unrest stems from the overall booking of WWE's women's division, in particular for the amount of time (or lack thereof) given to matches and segments featuring the company's ladies.

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Fightful also adds that the finish of the Liv Morgan vs. Carmella match on Friday's SmackDown was changed at the last minute, with Morgan initially due to get the win before that was eventually changed to Carmella picking up the victory in this opening round Queen's Tournament contest.

To highlight how badly WWE has handled its female talent lately, the aforementioned Morgan vs. Carmella bout and Zelina Vega vs. Toni Storm on SmackDown went just over four minutes cumulative. As in, these two Queen's Tournament matches were afforded barely four minutes between the two of them.

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In contrast, the first round King of the Ring matches on that same episode of SmackDown were given eight minutes (Sami Zayn vs. Rey Mysterio) and 12 minutes (Finn Balor vs. Cesaro) - highlighting a clear disparity between SmackDown's male and female rosters.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.