First things first, I’m very happy that we’re at the point where women are getting an exclusive pay-per-view in WWE. However, I didn’t get excited when Stephanie announced this on RAW. Or during the other million times it was mentioned by another superstar.
The big thing that really pissed me off was that heels and babyfaces were standing all together. Imagine in the movie Friday the 13
th, Jason Voorhees was about to kill his next victim at camp crystal lake, but then that said victim grabs his hand and begins singing “Kumbaya”. Then the victims killed earlier in the film “rise” from the dead and join in on the sing-along as graphics for (
Insert your favorite charity here), and then Jason goes back to killing the victim while everyone else goes back to being dead.
This would take me out of the story drastically. STOP TELLING ME THAT THE WORLD WWE WRESTLERS LIVE IN IS FAKE! WWE does this crap a lot and it damages the characters and the illusion (both men and women). Thank god Ronda Rousey was “suspended”. They probably would have had her holding hands and then hugging Alexa Bliss after the announcement.
WWE still has ways to go before a true evolution in the division happens. Yes, we’ve passed the days of 30 second divas matches with talentless women, but can you really see WWE booking compelling storylines leading up to the evolution event?
WWE’s current booking of these women doesn’t give me hope that it will change for this all-women event (this excludes NXT because they know what they’re doing). Main roster creative seems to struggle with writing more than one storyline for the women.
Hell, they mostly struggle writing one storyline for the female performers.
Also, I haven’t connected with most of the female roster because creative hasn’t given me a reason to. I’m definitely into Becky’s journey to becoming women’s champion again. She’s such an underrated babyface. I’m also into Ronda Rousey destroying Alexa Bliss at Summerslam. But there’s just nothing else on the female side I care about honestly.
Who is Ember Moon? Is she the twilight princess of darkness? Or a silent assassin born from Planet Moon? Or just a regular woman who happens to have a moon persona?
Look, the woman is a tremendous wrestler, but she has not been given one ounce of character development since joining the main roster. How can I connect with someone when I don’t know who they are?
Honestly, I don’t know who the Riott Squad is either. I guess they’re a pain in the ass to janitors everywhere, but why do they exist? Is it to cause chaos and mayhem to office supplies everywhere? Cool, I guess.
I don’t even know what the hell they’re doing with Bayley and Sasha Banks anymore. It astonishes me that this company [frick]ed up these two. Sasha Banks was once considered the best female wrestler in the world thanks to her tremendous heel work down in NXT.
But apparently, I’m supposed to cheer Banks now because its ok when she abuses Bayley but goes into protective mode when some else does it. WTF?
Bayley, arguably the most popular female wrestler back in 2016, but now is a shell of her former self. I see the comments all the time, “Oh Bayley’s hugger gimmick is stupid! It was never going to work on the main roster” – see the problem is that wasn’t what defined Bayley as a character. Yes, Bayley was a hugger in NXT, but she was a classic underdog babyface that never gave up in the face of adversity.
I remember the excitement in the air when Bayley first debuted at Battleground 2016 (which had the Shield triple threat match and the awesome Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn match). I was their live in the Verizon center and the crowd popped huge for the loveable Bayley when her music hit.
The problem was never Bayley’s gimmick, it was the way she was written from day one on the main roster. WWE took away her character traits that made the fans fall in love with Bayley, by making her too dominant.
There were also numerous baffling decisions she’s had to deal with. Now she’s some creepy hugger, who may or may not be lesbian (based on her beaming smile lately they seem to have done it).
I can’t talk about Asuka anymore. I just don’t have all day for that.
I have no doubt that if given a chance, these women would be able to steal the show. But I’m a story guy and I need fascinating reasons why X is feuding with Y. I need to know why I should cheer X and boo Y. I want to be apart of that hero’s difficult journey.
Though to be fair, the problem stems for most of the main roster, male or female. I’ll be keeping tabs on this all-women’s event, but I’m not going to waste my time watching if I just don’t care about a good portion of the matches. Want to call me sexist? That’s fair. My SJW membership did expire in March.
I truly do hope for the best of this pay-per-view. On a personal note, I hope we see more than Beth Phoenix, Lita, and Trish Stratus. Loved them. Had massive crushes on them. Actually, I still do.
However, it would be nice if the political BS was dropped and women like Victoria, AJ Lee, Melina, Kharma or Gail Kim (though she made it clear that she wasn’t returning ever to the WWE) returned. Let’s showcase the women who were the bright spots in a then damaged division.
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