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What's the story?
WWE's treatment of its women's roster has vastly improved over the past several years. Going from, at best, five-minute matches on PPVs to main eventing the shows and finally earning tag team titles again, the company is taking their female athletes to the next level, and a certain female star believes she was the catalyst behind the whole process.
In case you didn't know...
WrestleMania 35 ended with the main event between former Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey, former SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, and the eventual winner of the triple threat, Becky Lynch. The company has come a long way from WrestleMania 29, where they famously nixed an intergender match-up mid-show, completely eliminating the women from competing at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Since then we've seen stars like Charlotte, Becky, Sasha Banks, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, and Ronda Rousey bring the division to the forefront of the WWE over the years. With their own annual Money in the Bank, Royal Rumble, and Elimination Chamber matches, the women continue to move closer and closer towards their male counterparts.
Fans are sort of split on who exactly to thank for this direction. Impact's Knockouts Division definitely helped pave the way with matches that involved the likes of Gail Kim and Awesome Kong. The women of the WWE are also a lot more technically sound now than they were in the past. There are several key factors that, along with some inspiration from other companies, led the WWE to take the women's roster more seriously. However, one star believes that all boils down to their championship victory a few years ago.
The heart of the matter
Sexy Star, real name Dulce Garcia, managed to capture the Lucha Underground Championship during Aztec Warfare III in the third season. Star ended the 238 day long reign of the deadly Matanza Cueto, who managed to put away former champions like Mil Muertes, Fenix, and Prince Puma (WWE's Ricochet) during his run.
In a recent interview with The Roman Show, Star stated that she felt the WWE found inspiration to adjust how they handled the women's roster after seeing her win the Lucha Underground Championship.
I personally think that, yes, WWE took notice. I am proud that (Lucha Underground) gave me that opportunity as a woman, as a Mexican and as a warrior. I felt that (WWE) found out that had a big buzz all over the world. I think it inspired them to act.
Star is a heavily decorated competitor, but many competitors turned on her back in 2017 after she injured Rosemary using a shoot armbar at Triplemania XXV, forcing her to be stripped of her Reina de Reinas Championship and blacklisted from several locker rooms.
What's next?
The Women's Revolution brought first WrestleMania main event led by women into reality, and the star studded roster will surely continue to break down barriers as we move forward.
As for Star, she recently debuted in Combate Americas, picking up her first win in her debut MMA match. She defeated Mariana "Mana" Ruiz via unanimous decision.
