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Paige recently recalled how she and three other WWE Superstars went against orders during a match on the February 23, 2015, episode of RAW.
The Bella Twins defeated the English superstar and Emma in 30 seconds after being informed that they needed to have a quick match. WWE fans reacted to the poor booking decision by using the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance on social media. The phrase trended for three days and kick-started a women’s wrestling revolution.
Paige explained on “The Bellas Podcast” that although their time had been cut, the match was not supposed to be as short as 30 seconds.
“I remember you guys turning to us and just being like, ‘Shall we just say f**k it and just go out there and do the minimum?’” she recalled. “Like, ‘F**k this, I’m so tired of them treating us like this. Why is it always the women that gets their time cut? Why is it that we have to suffer in order for the men to succeed on the show?’ We were just like, ‘All right, s**t, let’s do it!’”
The match began with Brie Bella knocking Paige off the ring apron. As Emma checked on her tag team partner, Brie hit the Australian with a sit-out facebuster to record the win.
Brie Bella is full of praise for Emma and Paige
During their time in WWE’s NXT developmental system, Emma and Paige established themselves as the future of women’s wrestling. Many fans enjoyed their impressive NXT matches and wanted WWE’s female main roster superstars to receive similar opportunities.
For that reason, Brie Bella knew the RAW tag team match was the perfect moment to prove a point about how women should be presented.
“We were on the main roster and you and Emma were having bada** matches down in NXT, and I felt like that really put women’s wrestling on the map down there,” Brie said. “Both coming up, I knew you guys were going to do amazing things up on the main roster, so I felt like, you and I, Nicole, felt so comfortable to say it to them.”
WWE stopped referring to female superstars as “Divas” in 2016. Women’s wrestling is now more popular than ever, with RAW and SmackDown regularly featuring high-profile storylines involving women.
Who is your favorite current female superstar? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Please credit “The Bellas Podcast” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
