Opinion: Are the fans responsible for WWE's stagnant Wome's Revolution

Since its inception in mid-2015, what began as a hashtag created by frustrated fans (#GiveDivasAChance which trended for three days straight, sparking a response from not just Stephanie McMahon, but the chairman himself, Vince McMahon), was given life by then Divas such as AJ Lee and Paige.

Before long, it ushered in an entirely new era in women's wrestling on the WWE landscape. Gone were the bikini matches, feigned airhead behaviour and the pink sparkly butterfly belt. In its place were hell in a cell matches, longer & arguably stronger in-ring promos and the newly designed Women's Championship belts for RAW and SmackDown! Live.

Things went well for a time. Strong women backed by both amazing athletic ability and good storyline writing were dominating the landscape. Women were, for the first time, regarded in the same light as their male counterparts. But, as with everything in life, after some time passed and fans grew to expect these landmark announcements (the first Women's Hell In A Cell match, the first Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match, Elimination Chamber and Royal Rumble matches), part of the lustre wore off.

It's not that fans suddenly became uninterested in women's wrestling or that the female talent pool at WWE was somehow tainted. WWE have a tendency to find it's comfort zone & stay there regardless. The same, formula matches and predictable feuds began to resurface and fans who were elated just a few months ago at the progress being made were once again taking to social media to vent their frustrations at WWE.

Yet again WWE dropped the ball when it came to their female talent, seemingly ignoring good chunks of the roster in favour of the select handful who appeared on TV week in and week out.

In just over two years since it's induction, there have been 13 RAW Women's Championship reigns by only five women, two of which were barely blips on the radar. Five women have passed the same title around for two years; meanwhile, there are 13 active women wrestlers on the RAW roster. Let that sink in.

That means there are eight women who show up night after night, give their all for this passion of theirs, this company they worked so hard to get to, only to be told: "you're not good enough". Meanwhile over on SD Live, there have been 8 championship reigns among 6 women and one vacancy in its 2-year tenure.

There are also currently 13 active women on the SD Live roster. So why do WWE seemingly hold their female rosters to such impossibly high standards? Why do they seemingly show such blatant favouritism? Well, the problem lies within those questions. Perhaps it's not the WWE holding these women to such ridiculously high standards. Perhaps the problem lies at the doorstep of us as fans.

The 2016 Survivor Series Team For SmackDown! Live

Though the days of bra & panty matches, food fights & the ridiculous spot where one or more women inevitably wind up in a kiddie pool full of pudding/jello/water/etc. are behind us, and the WWE has invested countless hours (and dollars) into really showcasing these women for the talented athletes they are, no amount of PR push can change the mindset of some wrestling "fans".

There are still men who believe the women are nothing more than eye candy who should be seen and not heard, and especially sadly, there are still females out there who, whether it's born of their own insecurities, a desire to "fit in" with an online "clique", or just sheer nastiness, feel it necessary to rip other women to shreds. Don't believe me? Head on over to the comments section of any photo on any WWE female superstar's Instagram and read through them.

From body shaming comments, remarks about how horrible they are in the ring or on the mic, to the ever so lovely "kill yourself" comments, it's a war zone in those comment sections.

Stephanie McMahon Announces The Women's Royal Rumble Match

The women of WWE can't win for losing with certain "fans" of wrestling. If they're successful it's because obviously they've slept their way to the top or given out sexual favours like Halloween candy to every breathing male backstage. Heaven forbid it to be because she's actually a talented, dedicated athlete who's put in years of hard work to achieve her dreams.

If she's perhaps not as successful as some of the others it's clearly because she's a demanding woman who has a bad attitude and "major heat" backstage for one reason or another, according to a "reliable source" who's all too eager to talk to the various dirt sheets (can you feel my eyes rolling, because I really think you should be able to).

She's either too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, has too small of breasts, too large of breasts, and on and on. No matter what these women look like they will always be TOO something. It is the reason women like Renee Young and Paige have chosen to either heavily monitor their Instagram comments or block them all together, which I'm sure they'd rather not do.

The connection to the Superstars of WWE that social media allows is a double-edged sword. It is, on one hand, a fantastic tool to allow them to connect & interact with the fans on a much more intimate level. On the other hand, it opens them up to a constant stream of cruel ridicule, judgment, and in many cases, downright harassment.

So, how can we as fans, whether we're a part of that group responsible for such vile behaviour or not, possibly lay all of the blame for the perceived "failure" of the Women's Evolution on WWE? In short, we cannot. We must all keep in mind that though these women come on our TV's each week and play these larger than life characters, they are, in reality, simply human beings just like us. They are daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, friends. They're real people with very real feelings who, quite frankly, deserve much better from us.

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