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What’s the story?
Stephanie McMahon appeared on the British morning show Lorraine and talked about the impact women have been making on WWE and the percentage of women who watch their shows.
In case you didn’t know...
A report published by Sports Business Daily in 2013 showed that women make up more than 50 percent of the population in the United States and less than 40 percent of the WWE’s audience.
Despite being less than 40 percent, the number of women who watch WWE was significantly bigger than the percentage of women who watch professional boxing and MMA.
The heart of the matter
According to McMahon, women now make up 40 percent of the WWE’s fanbase which means the numbers from 2013 have grown.
In 2013, women’s wrestlers competed under the moniker of “Divas” and often had short matches and little to no TV time to build their feuds, but McMahon said that the product had changed and that women’s influence on the product was bigger than it had ever been before.
“There is now a women's only tournament, which is part of this whole women's revolution, where women have gone from lesser roles to becoming the main events at shows. They have taken the world by storm.”
The Diva’s Division was officially retired in 2016 when Charlotte Flair retired the Diva’s Championship in favour of the new Women’s Championship, which later became the Raw Women’s Championship when the brand split was revived a few months later.
What’s next?
Stephanie made a brief return to WWE programming when she came to the aid of her father Vince McMahon after Kevin Owens viciously attacked him.
Stephanie hasn’t been seen since Owen attacked Mr McMahon, but Cage Side Seats reports that she could be brought back to Monday Night Raw if viewership decreases.
Author’s take
Women watching more wrestling over the years is expected after all the work the women’s wrestlers have put in to put women’s wrestling back on the map.
The divisions aren’t without their problems, but women’s wrestling is clearly better today in the modern era than it was in the past.
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