While the Women's Division going into Wrestlemania last year wasn't in the greatest shape, it was still in significantly better condition than it is now. With two of its most influential staples, Lita and Trish Stratus, retiring from active wrestling duty in the WWE a few months ago, the already sparsely populated division finds itself lacking in serious competitors who can actually wrestle matches on par -- or better -- than those of their male counterparts. As it stands now, the division's focus has shifted from honing in on athletic, highly-competitive women who happened to be above-the-boards attractive to placing an undue emphasis on cheesecake first and ring prowess a distant second.
Many of the so-called "Divas" culled from several seasons' worth of "talent searches" are now being enlisted to active duty, not merely as eye-candy. In terms of making for interesting and entertaining matches, it does nothing. Many of the Women's Division matches have gone from being full-blown affairs replete with hurracurranas and Lou Thesz presses to the current fashion of a lot of hair pulling and even more top- and bottom-cleavage.
That's not to say that a little bit of T&A doesn't have its place. We live in a very sexually charged society and have been conditioned to expect a side of titillation with nearly any main television course.
As a female, I'm not going to cry that it's "degrading" to women to shake their goods and smile for the camera. In fact, I applaud these dames for being smart enough to use what they got (or what they bought) and make a career off of it. It's just plain business savvy and these girls are intelligent enough to ride that gravy train for all it's worth. Can you blame them?
However, what I do find to be "degrading" is for The Powers That Be to think that wrestling fans fall so far into the Lowest Common Denominator category that the weekly ration of televised cleavage has to come with little value in the way of sports entertainment.
Even the most libidinous of wrestling fans knows that the latest trend of Slap n' Tickle women's matches on RAW won't prove to be nearly as satisfying as tuning into Skinemax after 11PM on a Friday night or hoofing it on over to the Trenchcoat Empornium. (Not that I'd know anything about that.) It's a tease. Nothing more. There is significantly more payoff in seeing a good wrestling match in which the combatants happen to be women than having five minutes of airtime sucked up by two chicks rolling around on a mat and chipping their nails. Why not offer something different instead of what can be found elsewhere -- and better? The payoff in watching a skin flick is obvious. It serves its purpose. However, a women's wrestling match serves an entirely different purpose in a different sphere of entertainment.
While it's a widely conceived stereotype, not all wrestling fans breathe through their mouths, answer to the name of "Cletus," or eradicate their bellybutton lint with a toothbrush. Yes, most wrestling fans know it's fake. It is the standard line most of us out-of-the-closet wrestling fans hear from many a non-wrestling fan. While the storylines may be scripted, the athleticism of wrestling is real. At least it used to be.
Currently, very few members of the Women's Division are capable of competing at a high level, exhibiting strength and some innovative maneuvers on a weekly basis. There are better ways of creating an illusion of reality and more entertaining ways of keeping that illusion palatable to a fan base. And in its current state, the WWE, particularly the women's division, isn't doing such a hot job of it.
What could be even worse, is the trend towards the superficial overkill spilling to the bulk of WWE programming, more specifically, the Men's Division which encompasses all of the major titles and accounts for most of the televised matches.
Just this past weekend at the Arnold Classic, the WWE had a recruiting booth as part of the competition's festivities. This could be disastrous. While bodybuilding is also a much-maligned sport that requires tremendous discipline and conditioning to compete in, just because a guy is jacked doesn't mean he can wrestle.
As in any case, there are notable exceptions to the rule. Both Triple H and John Cena were junior bodybuilders in their teens, competing for titles. Obviously, they've done very well with their transition to the world of professional wrestling. However, not every body builder can move fluidly and learn how to wrestle. There is more to wrestling than learning how to do a bunch of colorful moves. A big part of it lies within making your opponent look good, putting on a convincing show, and especially ensuring that no one gets hurt while doing it. Safety is paramount, no matter what the sport. Besides, what's wrong with calling up some wrestlers from the indie federations who already know what they're doing?
If professional wrestling becomes nothing more than a venue for body-beautiful eye-candy on display, it destroys a legacy of talented men and women and gives credence to everyone who sneers down their noses that "wrestling is fake." In removing the importance of ability, or lessening it within the equation, it makes sports entertainment less of a sport.
Even more so, if fans are feeding into your product and supporting it (with either money for various and sundry type of merchandise, tickets to shows, or with Nielson ratings), the creators owe it to those fans to treat them with respect and not sit back and go "Here. Have some crap. You won't know the difference anyway."
In closing, as it pertains the Women's Division, a few months ago, it was mentioned that Nattie Neidhart, daughter of Hart Foundation legend Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart was signed to a developmental deal. Just recently, she's started wrestling dark matches for the WWE. Also, Beth Phoenix has yet to return to active duty following a broken jaw that required her to be sidelined for several months before being shuffled off to OVW to wait to be called up again. Additionally, Jillian Hall is being squandered on the Smackdown brand and is therefore unable to compete in a wrestling capacity with females at her level. She has a great flair for comedy, has absolutely no shame (a virtue in my book!), and is a skilled wrestler. It's a shame she hasn't had much of an opportunity to showcase this facet of her abilities.
Ideally, if these women were added to the WWE RAW Women's roster, it would round out the division quite nicely and restore the legitimacy of the grouping. With the load carried by only four or five wrestlers, it severely limits the variety of styles and matches for fans to enjoy.
Here's hoping things start looking up for the Women's Division, and in turn, it will make all aspects of the WWE better.
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