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With Evolution now a week away, WWE is likely to go into even fuller propaganda mode concerning the pay per view, especially given how controversial Crown Jewel still is.
The name "Evolution" itself is something of a propaganda term, because it's allowed WWE to rewrite history when it comes to its women's division. The "revolution" in the women's division that emerged around 2014-15 was meant to be just that - a break with the past, where women's wrestling was treated as a joke by the company. By using the term "evolution" instead, WWE has attempted to rewrite history according to its own fancy, which has also allowed the division to stagnate. Indeed, the Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella main event is itself propaganda. It's a display of convenient amnesia as well as the failure of the division to follow up on the promise it showed in the middle years of the decade.
Despite what WWE says, Nikki Bella didn't elevate the division to something that would be worthy of having its own pay per view, and Stephanie McMahon, ever eager for cheap publicity and mainstream recognition, had nothing to do with the building of the women's division into something grand.
The people responsible for actually making the show possible will be detailed here in chronological order. Whether it emerges as something other than a disaster will be on them as well.
#1 Triple H
In 2012, Triple H took over WWE's talent division. Though it didn't seem likely at the time, this was, in fact, the first major step on the road to WWE's women's revolution.
Triple H's predecessor, John Laurinaitis, didn't care much for ring or character work. His practice was usually to hire fitness or bikini models with the purpose of being eye candy. The women's division in those times has earned its reputation as being a sideshow in between the important parts and John Laurinaitis' hiring practices guaranteed it would stay that way.
When Triple H took over, the people who came into WWE's doors were of a much different sort. He favoured wrestlers with independent experience who could go in the ring and tell good stories with their characters. Putting on a good show became the highest priority.
This was the time when the seeds were planted for things to come and it was Triple H that tilled the soil.
#2 Sara Amato
Formerly known as Sara Del Rey, Amato was the personification of Triple H's hiring philosophy. A former wrestler with many years of independent experience, Amato was hired as a coach at what would become the new Performance Center in 2012. In 2015, she was promoted to assistant head coach, making her the number two on the coaching staff behind Matt Bloom.
Amato is also the lead in the women's wrestling program. She is the one that moulds the superstars of tomorrow and hones their presence in a WWE ring. All of the presentation we've seen in the women's division in some way stems from her.
When she was honoured at last year's Mae Young Classic, it was for a reason. All of the women in the tournament went through her in some way. The change in the in-ring product from a bathroom break to the main event wouldn't be possible without her.
#3 Paige
On July 24th, 2013, Paige officially became the inaugural NXT Women's Champion. The title would go on to be the talisman of the women's revolution and is still the standard bearer in the company when it comes to actual, quality women's wrestling.
Though she wasn't a Triple H hire (she came into the company in 2011), Paige's NXT career was in fact the forerunner and early adopter of the improvements to come in the division. She took to calling herself the "anti-Diva." While the main roster was stuck in its usual ways, Paige's tenure rewrote the norms of the women's division. She was never an afterthought or treated as eye candy, but was a legitimate champion with lengthy, respectable matches.
After a reign that lasted for over 200 days, Paige was elevated to the main roster as an unbeaten champion, where her rivalry with the Divas champion she defeated would be another important turning point.
#4 AJ Lee
At the same time Paige was redefining women's wrestling in NXT, her future rival, AJ Lee, was having the then-longest Divas Championship reign. While hampered by the usual main roster nonsense, AJ Lee's immense popularity made her an effective speaker for the state of the division in general.
It was the combination of AJ Lee's respected tenure as champion and popularity that made her biggest contribution something that no one would ever forget.
In early 2015, there was a 30-second Divas tag team match. When Stephanie McMahon attempted to virtue signal on twitter about women's equality, that was when AJ Lee struck. Attacking the company for the way it treated its female talent, despite strong ratings and merchandise sales, the trend #GiveDivasAChance lasted for several days.
The campaign effectively embarrassed and rattled a usually out of touch company, which started to make some changes in the months afterwards which mirrored some of the things NXT was already doing.
AJ Lee sadly didn't get to take part in the actual revolution on the main roster, retiring mere months before it happened, but were it not for her efforts in turning the spotlight on the company's practices, that revolution might never have come.
#5 Ronda Rousey
It was in her UFC, rather than her WWE career, where Ronda Rousey contributed to the women's revolution.
AJ Lee's public embarrassment of WWE came at the right time, because Ronda Rousey was having major success in the UFC. She was a major draw for the company, often grossing over a million pay per view buys whenever she fought. She was also one of the most searched people in the world in 2014 and 2015.
It's easy to talk about abstract ideals like women's progression, but money does the real talking. Ronda Rousey's success in the UFC showed WWE first hand that there was money to be made in women's combat sports, leading to more focus and attention to its own women's division.
When the genuine article became available, it was unsurprising that WWE would bring Ronda Rousey herself into the company, though she's not nearly the draw now as she was back then.
#6 The four horsewomen of NXT
While Paige's career laid the foundation of the revolution of WWE's women's wrestling product in the ring, it reached maturation during the heyday of the four horsewomen of NXT, when the division reached an apogee it has yet to surpass.
Following Paige's departure, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley battled with each other in a storied rivalry for the NXT Women's Championship. All four were hired by Triple H. They brought his vision to fruition in 2014 and 2015.
Their storied matches were some of the best women's contests ever seen in a WWE ring, culminating in unquestionably the most important women's match in the company's history between Sasha Banks and Bayley for the NXT Women's Championship at the first TakeOver: Brooklyn.
The four horsewomen of NXT proved once and for all that women can be trusted with the main event spotlight and Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch's rivalry this year has proven it again. They should be the main event at Evolution.
#7 Asuka
Though she came after the most glorious days of the horsewomen, Asuka was tasked with carrying the NXT women's division in the aftermath of their mighty wake, and she did an excellent job, which mattered in more ways than one.
Asuka was the first major international free agent signing in the new era. Though one of the top women's wrestlers in Japan, some observers at the time wondered whether she would succeed in WWE's environment. She would go on to become immensely popular, break Goldberg's record undefeated streak, reign for over 500 days as NXT Women's Champion, and come on to the main roster with a ton of fanfare, winning the first women's Royal Rumble match in January.
Asuka's success put international talent on notice that they, too, could succeed in WWE, paving the way for the Mae Young Classic and other high profile international signings. Kairi Sane and Io Shirai's entry into WWE certainly came as a result of her success, but another top international talent from around the world, like Toni Storm, were watching, too. She can justifiably claim to have put the "world" in World Wrestling Entertainment's women's revolution.
