WWE Trades Ruthless Aggression For PG | Wrestling Timelines
February 23, 2015 | Give Divas a Chance
On the February 23, 2015 edition of WWE Raw, the Bella Twins defeat Paige and Emma in 30 seconds. Even by WWE’s increasingly hideous creative standards, this is an appalling finish; Emma goes to check on a blindsided Paige before Brie hits her with her finish. It barely qualifies as a distraction because the set-up for the Bella Buster takes several seconds, accounting for about 50% of the entire match. AJ Lee has seen enough.
AJ is one of the better women’s wrestlers. She has gained fan support even throughout short matches deliberately promoted as an afterthought. AJ, who was once told by high-ranking executive John Laurinaitis that nobody wants to have sex with her, has nothing to lose. She has one foot out of the door, and uses the other to give WWE a well overdue kicking.
In response to a tweet posted by Stephanie McMahon praising Patricia Arquette’s women’s rights-themed Oscar acceptance speech, AJ points out that female WWE independent contractors receive “a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster” despite selling record levels of merchandise and popping ratings. Twitter has seen enough, too; in the wake of this news story, the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance trends on Twitter.
It is a source of immense embarrassment that the so-called dumb hicks that make up the WWE audience are actually begging the company to be more progressive. Or at least, it should be.
It isn’t; the subsequent ‘Women’s Revolution’ - which basically entails WWE treating women like athletes, as opposed to a prompt to urinate before the main event - is reframed as an act of Stephanie McMahon’s benevolence.
WWE promoting the bare minimum equality as an ultra-progressive and kind act is almost beyond belief, but this is the bubble in which the promotion is permanently encased. As with much of the PG Era, it is humiliating but somehow, far more fruitful. WWE creates a foundation from which to sign former UFC megastar Ronda Rousey in a couple of years - a signing that many fans do not grasp the importance of.