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Low ratings for WWE programming during the holiday period seems to have turned heads at Titan Towers and fans clamouring for a return to the 'Attitude Era' might get a few tit-bits to satisfy them.
While the Attitude Era was famous for controversial and sexually explicit content, WWE has considerably toned down its nature of programming during this decade. Segments such as Trish Stratus getting down on all fours and barking for Vince McMahon's amusement has been replaced with the likes of Becky Lynch and Charlotte having five-star matches in the ring. But signs are pointing towards a shift in company policy - at least regarding female wrestlers.
Last week featured two segments on WWE TV harking back to the 'Divas era' of women's wrestling and both segments proved to be extremely popular. While ratings and YouTube views aren't the primary focus of WWE's business model at present, the fact that the McMahon family showed up on RAW and promised change cannot be unrelated to this change in direction.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio said that these changes were part of the company's efforts to 'make things sensual'. This list takes a look at five female wrestlers in the company who can be the poster-girls to usher in this 'edgy' content.
#5 Lana
WWE must be regretting that the new outlook did not come a couple of years back when Lana was 'over like rover' on the main roster. Despite being a heel, fans had really dug into her 'evil Russian' persona and she was getting more cheers than the hottest male babyface.
A botched initial baby-face run and a horrible 'love quadruple' angle put paid to all of that. Later attempts to present Lana as an in-ring competitor did not work as the 'Ravishing Russian' could never match the in-ring skills of a roster comprising of Charlotte, Naomi and co.
She is back as a babyface with Rusev but the focus has shifted to the United States Champion and Lana is no longer the centre of attention. She could have been the Sable of this generation to Rusev's Marc Mero, but she is not an entirely lost cause.
While her promos aren't anything remarkable, she does have the looks to play the femme fatale. She would need the WWE Creative to come up with a strong story-line that accentuates her strengths and the audience does seem to have the appetite for a beautiful and sophisticated anti-american whom they can love to hate. She might need to make an impactful heel turn on 'Ru Ru' first, though.
#4 Zelina Vega
It is baffling to look at Zelina Vega's credentials and comprehend why she has never been thrust into the Women's title picture. While many women on the roster were introduced to wrestling in the Performance Center, Zelina had already been wrestling for six years before reaching NXT.
Trained by TJ Perkins of all people, Zelina had a two-year stint at Impact Wrestling where she captured the Knockouts Tag team Championship. In addition to her Impact run, she also wrestled for major companies like CMLL, AAA and ROH. While focusing on her role as a valet in NXT, she added so much to Andrade's character as he went on to have some of the best storylines and matches in the whole of WWE during their time there.
With her in-ring skills and exceptional talent on the mic, Zelina might just be the total package. A consistent run between the ropes on SmackDown Live can easily land her a spot in the title picture. Her fiery Latina persona makes her the ideal candidate for the WWE to tap into the Latino audience, who haven't gotten behind any Diva considerably since the days of Melina.
#3 Nikki Cross
Take a look across the women's division and nobody stands out like Nikki Cross. Despite being riddled with a gimmick almost impossible to pull off, she has thrived in her 'crazy' persona, even getting her foot in the closing segments of multiple NXT shows.
She was an integral part of SAnity and continued to exceed expectations even after Eric Young and his merry men moved on to SmackDown without her. Her insertion into the Johnny Gargano - Aleister Black feud actually saw people cheering for her in NXT and now it is considered that her rejoining SAnity on SmackDown could actually be a step-down.
Her gimmick allows her to be part of angles where she can play mind games on traditional babyfaces like Bayley and a Women's title run could bring the focus back to feuds based on storytelling. A seven-year experience of wrestling in the indies prior to her WWE run would mean that she is more than capable of holding her own between the ropes.
Compare Cross' standing with the fans compared to Alicia Fox who has also been trying her hand at the 'crazy' gimmick for some time now - and you can gauge her impact in the WWE.
#2 Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss is undoubtedly a top star in the WWE. While she was only supposed to be a mid-card presence when she debuted on the main roster in 2016, she quickly proved the naysayers wrong and became the cornerstone of the women's division for the better part of the last three years alongside Charlotte.
She dominated the SmackDown division in 2016 and did the same on Raw from 2017, earning five different title reigns in the process. While her in-ring skills are adequate, her greatest weapon is her ability to produce consistently awesome promos better than any woman in the roster today. So if she is so great at what she does, what makes her the ideal candidate to spearhead the shift in the women's division?
An obvious answer is that she can be used as a mouthpiece to launch a number of storylines, now that she is inactive from the ring. Her interview segment 'Moment of Bliss' is a testament to WWE's faith in her - Alexa is too good a talent to keep off TV.
Being the first woman to get such a segment gives her an opportunity to stir up controversy much like Roddy Piper did during his 'Piper's pit' or Chris Jericho in the 'Highlight reel'.
However, WWE seems to have more plans for her. Alexa has been right in the middle of the tone shift in the women's division and she was the focus of the segment that aired last week which had throwbacks to the 'Divas era' of wrestling.
The segment show a stagehand accidentally entering Bliss' changing room at an inappropriate time and the segment outscored all other WWE segments for the week by at least a million views on YouTube. The segment has more than 6.2 million views on YouTube and is far ahead of anything Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar or Seth Rollins has done on RAW recently.
The success of this segment would potentially mean that WWE Creative would continue to use Alexa in similar segments at least till she is ready to return to the ring.
#1 Mandy Rose
No surprises here. WWE has anointed Mandy Rose as the successor to the pre-women's Champion version of Trish Stratus and this has been coming for months. Even if you hadn't considered Corey Graves' constant eulogies as evidence of WWE's push for Rose, last few weeks have shown that she would be given more focus on the show - even if it is in segments outside the ring
This is not a slight on Rose's in-ring work which has improved by leaps and bounds. But being part of the most talented women's division of all time, Rose needs something to stand apart from her peers and her 'evil seductress' persona might just be it.
WWE has carefully built up her feud with Naomi involving Jimmy Uso and the segments have gotten edgier week after week. While a picture of Rose in a towel being plastered on the WWE titantron gave the initial shock value for the feud, WWE Creative stepped it up a notch with the segment inviting Jimmy to her hotel room.
While segments like this happened dime a dozen in the 90s and the '00s, having such a program in 2019 would mean that WWE is ready to at least explore another trajectory in women's wrestling.
Mandy is the obvious choice to usher in this change and since that segment with Jimmy Uso had more views on YouTube than anything involving even Becky Lynch, this would mean that WWE cannot keep her in the sidelines anymore.
