Why WWE’s Women Aren’t Drawing

by Michael Sidgwick
alexa bliss
WWE.com

Now try Torrie Wilson. Her Lingerie Showdown against Dawn Marie (2,198,677 views) yields the following: “Alexa couldn’t touch them if her ass was on fire,” and, less inexplicably, “Back when wrestling still hot!!!” Now we’re very lucky even Alexa shows some booty.”

Women are sexual objects to these people: Then. Now. Forever.

WWE’s official clip—‘Alexa Bliss is rudely interrupted in her dressing room, Jan. 14’—is currently on 6.5M views. It’s an eye-watering stat, but that’s not the body part WWE aims to lubricate, is it? In contrast, from the same show, 'Ronda Rousey & Sasha Banks Vs. Nia Jax & Tamina' has generated a mere 584,160 views. But Tamina is boring, you may protest. So is Baron Corbin, per consensus, and his segment drew 1,719,882. We can’t for the purposes of comparison bring up the data on ‘Baron Corbin hides from Braun Strowman in the shower’, because, obviously, such a segment does not exist. And if you don’t know why that Alexa Bliss segment didn’t carry over to the next week, it is because the people who watched it got what they needed in a matter of seconds.

“A Moment of Bliss”, indeed.

If some women are sex objects again, when they’re young and fresh and untainted by age, of course, what are these other women good for, exactly? We have the men for the actual wrestling, Christ. Give us a break with this PC bullsh*t, etc. etc. Of course, there are several mitigating factors at play—content fatigue, counterproductive writing, a general pattern of decline not quite exclusive to gender—but under WWE’s umbrella, there is no prestige attached to women’s wrestling, nor any nostalgia. There's no substance yet, no cachet.

Jim Ross spoke on Busted Open radio recently. He said “And you can quote me on this d*mn statement, if Ronda’s not on the roster, there’s not a chance in hell a female headlines WrestleMania and closes the show”.

You only need follow Ross on Twitter to realise what he thinks women are good for, and until WWE translates marketing into action, and don’t undermine the cause, we know what they think women are good for, too.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!