The Evolution of Female Wrestlers in WWE
From female eye candy to world champions
I grew up watching WWE in the early 2000’s with my dad and brothers, around 2004 to 2006; this was deemed the Ruthless Aggression Era in June 2002 by Vince McMahon. I got to witness the ever-growing popularity of John Cena, the “you suck” chants for Kurt Angle, and my personal favorite, Booker T, being a menace on the mic and in the ring.
One aspect of wrestling I wasn’t so fond of in those days was watching women wrestling. As a kid I couldn’t explain why, but looking back, it may have been due to their lack of character development, matches, and being sexualized at every turn. Since these wrestlers weren’t given a chance to show their skills, neither in creative promos nor matches, the fans weren’t able to appreciate their athletic abilities or see them as complex human beings.
If you aren’t familiar with this era of WWE for female wrestlers, let me give you an example.
WWE Divas: Undressed
In 2002, WWE began promoting a PPV titled, “WWE Divas: Undressed.” On the June 27, 2002 episode of Smackdown, a few different Divas came out giving entrances showing off scantily clad outfits, with the men in the audience immediately standing up, trying to get the best view possible. Jerry Lawler and the other commentators joined in making sexual remarks towards the women’s outfits until a fight broke out between the Divas.
That weekend, the Divas competed in a lingerie competition in New York City commentated by Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. In the front row were the judges: Maven, Edge, Al Snow, Paul Heyman, and Jazz, a former WWE Women’s Champion who was immediately booed.
The show goes as you’d expect, with Divas walking down the runway, stripping off a shirt, and teasing the hell out of the men in the audience by pulling on their bra straps and panties. There was also an ambush from Jazz to Trish Stratus as she was on stage, brutally hitting her on the back with a crutch. This moment was described by Michael Cole as a “catfight on the catwalk.”
There were some fantastic parts of this show, to be fair. Paul Heyman was shooting photos of the girls with a yellow, most likely Kodak, disposable camera, switching from landscape to portrait like an early 2000’s paparazzi would do. At one point it stopped working, probably just running out of film, resulting in Paul Heyman grabbing a second disposable camera from his jacket pocket. He was very animated, showing me he was very much in character poking fun at the ridiculousness of this event.
The best part of all is when Rico came out wearing a safari-themed robe with a Mardi Gras-esque headband (please excuse my horrid description; you can see a photo above). He seductively teased the judges by gently lifting the robe above his thigh before removing the robe entirely, revealing a hilarious bra and a thong that showed off his well-defined butt. Seeing Maven, Al Snow, and Edge continue to mouth, “no no no” had me in tears. Maven and Edge quickly removed themselves from the front row while Paul Heyman and Al Snow continued to admire Rico in awe.
The History of WWE Women’s Championships
Though this is only one example, it perfectly described the theme of how women were treated in WWE at this time. Treatment of female wrestlers did get better over time; the early 2010s saw the rise of stars like AJ Lee, Beth Phoenix, and Nikki Bella. However, the highest honor those in the main roster could receive was the Divas Championship, existing from 2008 to 2016, only a reminder of the sexualization of female athletes in WWE’s past and present.
In 2016, the Divas Championship was replaced with the WWE Women’s Championship belt, with white leather, gold nameplates, and a huge WWE logo in the center, matching that of the current WWE Championship.
Here is a quick rundown of every women’s WWE championship belt in recent history (see attached link above for official source):
- Original WWE Women’s Championship: 1956–2010
- WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship: 1983–1989
- Divas Championship: 2008 — 2016
- NXT Women’s Championship: 2013 — Present
- WWE Women’s Championship: 2016 — Present
- Women’s World Championship (matching that of the men’s World Heavyweight Championship): 2016 — Present
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: 2019 — Present
- NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: 2021 — 2023
- NXT Women’s North American Championship: 2024 — Present
When looking up this information, I was honestly baffled by many things. 1) There was a women’s championship belt in 1956?? This is much earlier than I expected, and 2) There wasn’t an official WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship from 1989 to 2021. It took until the 2020's to bring it back? I dug deep into the internet to see if this was true because it seems ludicrous, but it’s correct. *Baffling*
I was able to watch the NXT Women’s North American Championship won by Kelani Jordan live at NXT Battleground on Peacock this past June. It was an absolutely amazing match and introduced me to my new favorite superstar, Sol Ruca. This six-woman ladder match helped prove to everyone how strong and capable women are in WWE, from jumping off 8–12 foot ladders, going through tables, and using weapons in incredibly creative ways.
The Most Amazing Women’s Matches in Recent Memory
NXT Heatwave: Kelani Jordan vs. Sol Ruca
Kelani Jordan’s first title defense was against my new favorite WWE superstar, Sol Ruca at NXT Heatwave. They had a fantastic match showing off their athletic abilities with high-flying moves, striking, and stand-offs. Sol Ruca impressed the audience with a 450 splash, backflips off the top rope, handstands, and tremendous selling. Kelani was just as incredible, showing off some unique DDTs and a 450 splash of her own.
WrestleMania 40: Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley
Seeing an emo/metal band perform live in a fairly mainstream setting like WrestleMania brought so much joy to my heart. Motionless in White produced Rhea Ripley’s entrance theme song, “The Demon in Your Dreams,” and for the biggest event of the year, the band performed the entrance live. I have a feeling Rhea Ripley was trying very hard to stay in character and not absolutely fangirl getting to sing with Chris Motionless.
Becky Lynch also had a great entrance and wore a unique outfit with references to her new book, “The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl.” The match itself was a fantastic opening to WrestleMania, with the athletes fighting both in and outside of the ring. The crowd was extremely into it; it’s amazing seeing so much anticipation and excitement for a women’s title match. Ultimately, Rhea Ripley would retain her Women’s World Championship until being injured by Liv Morgan.
When Rhea had to relinquish her championship on Monday Night Raw (which is still one of the best promos of the year), they had a Battle Royale to determine the new Women’s World Champion, which just so happened to be Becky Lynch. The Battle Royale itself wasn’t amazing, but there was a moment that made me feel something.
Becky Lynch took her new Women’s World Championship and celebrated in the crowd. She climbed up the 100 (maybe even the 200) section to find a girl holding a sign that read, “Women Run the WWE.” Becky took the sign and raised it and her new belt up high.
If anyone reading this was at the event live and has some high quality photos of this moment, even just from your phone, I would absolutely love to see them! WWE has quite a few photos of her celebrating, but not of this moment specifically.
NXT TakeOver: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks in an Iron Man Match
This was Bayley’s first ever Iron Man Match. In an interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin on The Broken Skull Sessions, Bayley explains that she was up all night talking with Sasha trying to figure out various spots and how to keep the match exciting for the full 30-minutes.
In this interview, Bayley says how she preferred the match at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn (which is the first match in this “Best Of” video) due to the energy of the crowd. Both matches are amazing in my opinion and show their personalities and fighting styles extremely well. I’m not going to spoil the ending to either of these matches and suggest you get cozy and watch them back-to-back with some snacks.
Hell in a Cell: Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
I came across this match a few nights ago and it was one of the best Hell in a Cell matches that I’ve ever seen. The issue with many Hell in a Cell matches is that the superstars don’t use the cage to its full potential; it simply turns into a normal match that happens to be surrounded by a closed-in chain-link fence that sometimes a superstar is thrown up against. In contrast, Becky Lynch and Sasha use the cage to the best of their abilities.
The highlight of the night is when both Sasha and Becky inserted kendo sticks into openings at the corner of the cage, unfolded a steel chair, placed it on top of them (are you following?), set Sasha on top of the chair, then gave her a running dropkick from the ring apron. It’s spots like this that amaze me. Hell in a Cell matches have been around for at least 26 years and not once has someone thought of performing that exact stunt.
There needs to be more women Hell in a Cell matches though. Imagine Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley fighting in Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood. I don’t know if that’s going to happen since it’s at least two months away, but it is my current dream match. There hasn’t been a lot of high-flyers in Hell in a Cell matches and I feel like that’s a missed opportunity. I can’t wait for more women’s matches like this in the future.
The Future of Women in Wrestling
2024 has shown me that the future of women’s wrestling is bright; WWE fans are now just as ecstatic to see a women’s match as a men’s match, which was not the case even 10 years ago I feel. Women are now judged more for their in-ring performance and promo skills than their physical appearances; however, there can still be some improvement on that front.
Bayley has said in multiple interviews that she was hesitant to get into wrestling because she’s always been a bit of a tomboy. You can see evidence of this in her emo-style, wearing Paramore shirts in interviews, openly listening to Pierce The Veil, and giving herself an undercut, shaving symbols into her head for WrestleMania and the last event held in Saudi Arabia. Bayley ended up compromising her usual style to become a bit more bubbly and girly for the sake of her career, seen in her “Hugger” era. Now, Bayley is a bit more open to showing her true colors both on social media and in the ring.
Another issue I see is with plus-sized women in the industry. Men who are on the larger size, such as Mark Henry and Big Show, have naturally been both loved and hated as characters, not taking into account their body type. On the other hand, females who are plus-sized are almost always heels to start their career. Evidence of this can be seen with Nia Jax, Kharma, and Piper Niven.
These wrestlers are doing a fantastic job at indirectly spreading body positivity to aspiring WWE performers; however, I want to see someone openly and directly spreading body positivity. I mean could you imagine if someone like Meghan Trainor, singer of All About That Bass, came to WWE and their character, at least to start off, was showing people how you can make it to that level while being plus-sized?
The future of women in WWE is looking good, and I’m so excited to see more matches soon with Sol Ruca, Becky Lynch, Kelani Jordan, Bayley, and more.
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After writing this entire article, I found someone wrote an even more in-depth article surrounding this subject; go read theirs here. Also I swear I came up with my title and subtitle before reading this, which makes me think this article wasn’t worth the 5-hours or isn’t that original… oh well.
