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The Women's Revolution has been one of the more positive things WWE have done over the last few years, giving female wrestlers more opportunities to put on lengthy matches, wrestle match stipulations usually reserved for men and even, though many of us never thought we'd see the day, main event WrestleMania.
The catalyst for the Women's Revolution remains a bone of contention with ongoing arguments raging on as to who is responsible and when it started. Many believe AJ Lee and her 'Pipebomb' promo was the start, many believe it was WWE's decision to interrupt an anticipated tag-team match involving the Bella Twins with a male-orientated angle. Others feel it was the spotlight on 'The Four Horsewomen' of NXT.
The truth is the 'Women's Revolution' didn't start from one fixed point, and isn't the result of one person's actions. No individual or even small group can take credit for WWE's pivot towards 'giving the women a chance'.
It is, however, partly, a result of all of the above moments, as well-born from the efforts of every female wrestler before it and in answer to growing and sweeping societal and sociological changes happening in the real world.
But, aside from the corporate pressure WWE would've had from it's sponsors to jump on board the political movement happening in the real world with the birth of 'Me Too' and equal rights for men and women one of the biggest and undeniable factors that led to WWE's change in approach towards women's wrestling was the WWE Universe.
The audience were vocal, they campaigned, they begged WWE to change and they made enough noise that the billion-dollar company couldn't ignore it anymore.
Suddenly women were competing in cage matches, they were showcasing their wrestling ability in Hell in a Cell, they were getting their own Survivor Series and Money in the Bank matches. They were given their own pay per view last year in Evolution (albeit in shady Saudi Arabia related circumstances) and everyone in the WWE Universe cheered.
But, at the same time that people in the audience complained that the women weren't getting enough television time, that they weren't getting enough storylines, that they weren't being allowed to shine, there were sections of the WWE Universe more than ready to tear the female wrestlers down, to criticise them, to put them down.
There have been underlying moments that show that whilst WWE and its female stars might be on board with the progressive Women's Revolution, the audience that campaigned for it might not be.
Take Brie Bella for example, alongside her sister Nikki, she returned to WWE last year and wrestled several times. It's worth noting that Brie Bella had just had a baby and Nikki Bella had recovered from a serious potentially life-threatening neck injury and both decided to return to the ring, even though they didn't have to.
However, Brie accidentally knocked out Liv Morgan with an admittedly reckless kick and suddenly received a torrent of abuse to the point that she had a breakdown as a result of the cyberbullying. She told Digital Spy,
We’re not perfect, no one’s perfect, you know how many people have been injured in the ring? But for some reason I was like showcased in such a way of like, this evil person, and ‘look what she’s done’ and I got bullied really bad.
“I wanted to run into a cave and you’ll see [on Total Bellas]. I don’t think people have ever seen me break down as bad as they will during the whole Liv situation.
Compare this to the reaction male Superstars received when they accidentally injure someone like most recently Rey Mysterio busted Samoa Joe's face up with a heavy Senton and Braun Strowman recklessly launched Mustafa Ali headfirst into the announce table. Neither of them received the level of vitriol, claims that they couldn't wrestle and calls to retire that Brie Bella did.
Then we can look at Becky Lynch. A Superstar who was hotter than hot between SummerSlam and WrestleMania. She was garnering huge crowd reactions, was the biggest star in the company and was the next coming of Stone Cold Steve Austin made female.
And yet the moment WWE gave the WWE Universe what they wanted, her at the top, they turned on her, they decried the WrestleMania main event wasn't that great. They decried that she was being shoved down our throats, and they said that she isn't even 'that' good.
Read Also: WWE and its fans are already jumping off the Becky Lynch bandwagon
Sasha Banks received an incredible amount of criticism for her decision to step away from WWE following her post-WrestleMania frustrations at being booked to lose the Women's Tag-Team Titles that her and Bayley had campaigned so hard backstage to be introduced. People called her spoilt, and entitled and again, said she isn't even that good.
Meanwhile, the likes of Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose), Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger), Luke Harper, Pac (Neville), Kenta (Hideo Itami), TJP and others were applauded for their decision to 'stick it to the WWE' and leave the company
Read Also: Fan response to Sasha Banks rumors has been troubling
Since WrestleMania, Becky has come up against Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans and is soon to take on Natalya at SummerSlam? How have people reacted to all of this? They've said that Evans can't wrestle, they've said that Bliss cant' wrestle, they've said that Natalya can't wrestle. They react negatively to everything WWE put in front of them from the women's division and then they wonder why women aren't being given a bigger spotlight.
On the most recent Monday Night RAW Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi and Natalya wrestled in a Fourway Elimination Match to determine Becky Lynch's next contender for the Raw Women's Title at SummerSlam.
It was a match that had some good moments but was ultimately really bizarrely paced and agented and inevitably the crowd did turn on them leading to 'CM Punk', 'Boring' and 'This is awful' chants.
Alexa Bliss and Naomi then took to social media after the match to voice their upset towards the crowd labeling them disrespectful and rude. Now, crowds pay their money and can and should be encouraged to voice their opinion, but it could be argued that there is a line.
Also, over the last few months, I've seen many, many men's matches as badly paced and as unnecessarily long as that match not receive the same reaction.
All of the above reactions towards female Superstars show that even though we think we want a 'Women's Revolution' that we need to think about how we as the WWE Universe affect it.
We need to look at our hypocrisy in criticizing the WWE for how they treat women whilst simultaneously tearing female Superstars down the moment they make a mistake, dare speak up for themselves or get treated like a star. Maybe it's no longer the WWE themselves holding back female wrestlers, it's us.
