Women's Division Discussion

[Tiarnán]

To be fair, when she referenced the title she didn't really discredit the women who held it, she said what we'd all been saying for the years. The title was atrocious and insulting and horrible and should never have been a thing. And I don't hold her responsible for not mentioning Melina, Mickie et al. It's the narrative WWE insist on writing and Sasha kinda tiptoed towards referencing by saying that the revolution encompassed all the wrestlers who came before. Plus anyone who watched that period intently can see that she's clearly a big Melina fan.



The Miss Piggy thing I agree with.

I watched Sasha's old run of NXT matches the other day and I've become reacquainted with the fact that she can be proper amazing (...as a heel).

[Brandon]

I'm just (pleasantly) surprised that SmackDown has the superior women's division this time around. They have a good mix of established faces and up-and-comers, and they're actually utilizing all of their women. When Carmella wasn't getting over as a face, they fixed the issue immediately.

Over on Raw we're only seeing the same handful of women every week. They took the title off of Sasha for vague "injuries" that she's already back from, which made them rush Bayley to the main roster for Charlotte to feud with, but now Sasha's back two weeks later and they're gonna have to juggle them. And they're over-pushing Bayley in an underdog role despite the fact that she's won every week since her debut. Oh, and they're already breaking up Charlotte and Dana. It's a convoluted mess.

[Brandon]

Sept 6, 2016 2:53:00 GMT -5 Tarry said:

Sasha Banks is a fool. It's one thing not mentioning Mickie James, Melina, Michelle McCool, etc. but to devalue the championship that they destroyed their bodies for was so disrespectful. It's not their fault that they were written into short matches where they had to limit what they could do, and it's certainly not their fault that their championship resembled a Barbie accessory. Sasha and the others aren't responsible for the "revolution" it was always a matter of timing, and I fully believe that the women would have been given this opportunity with or without Sasha. It has more to do with Triple H having daughters, to be honest.

And one more thing that is getting to me is Sasha constantly putting her opponents down for their looks just seconds after talking about how wrestling is the most important thing. I'd be fine with her putting Dana down for her abilities, because that fits her "I'm the better wrestler, I lead a revolution" act better than repeatedly referring to Dana as Miss Piggy. It's just annoying.

She talks about no more Bra & Panties Matches like the Four Horsewomen specifically put an end to that stuff, when the last one was nine years ago (between two former Women's Champions). And yeah, we all wanted more for the women than the Divas title, but she totally disrespected it, and as a result, every woman from that era. Calling it a stupid butterfly belt is a slap in the face to someone like Nikki Bella who was a proud Divas Champion and had to have neck surgery as a result of wrestling FOR that title. An injury much more serious than poor Sasha's over-dramatized back issues she took a week off and dropped the oh so coveted Women's title for. Also her thing about "chicks" with no talent posing on Instagram for attention, as if she isn't forever on hers taking mirror selfies and popping her hip out to give the illusion of having a figure. She isn't empowering women. She's empowering herself and tearing other women down on her way up.



And this isn't the first time she's thrown the women under the bus. Fans asked her on her tumblr which wrestlers inspired her growing up and she named Eddie Guerrero and 'em, but no women, and when they asked her which women inspired her, she said none of them. Lol. So she has no respect for the women who came before her, not even Trish and Lita, despite what WWE forces her to say for their distorted Women's Evolution narrative.

I never thought someone would annoy me more than Melina or AJ Lee, yet here we are...

[Burke]

There was so much wrong with that Sasha promo, even beyond the stuff you guys have already mentioned.

The fact that she's even cutting a fake retirement promo at all is kinda messed up, especially when she's talking about little kids during it. Those little kid fans could've been sitting there distraught for 10 minutes while you were being all melodramtic for no reason. I remember Cena doing a fake farewell promo when he got "fired" one time but that was at least light-hearted. Sasha was crying like this was some Daniel Bryan/Edge real retirement thing. And what if no heel came out? Was she just gonna be like, "got ya!" at the end?

It's pretty much known now that Fabulous Moolah was a horrible person. People need to stop talking like she was a great inspiration.

Also, isn't her uncle Snoop Dogg? She said she was so poor that she had to scrape to afford a ticket to WWE shows but there's loads of photos out there of Snoop taking her backstage and getting VIP treatment years before she was ever a wrestler.

Ugh, I loved her as recently as like the Royal Rumble when she returned but she's so annoying now. This is like 2011 CM Punk when he went from one of my favourite wrestlers at the time to hating him in a matter of months.

[Brandon]

I thought about both of those things as well. It was in poor taste of her to do some fake out retirement speech. And secondly, she's been around for barely over a year. Get outta here crying and acting like you'd leave some huge, irreplaceable hole in the division. And yeah, it seems like she took some notes from AJ and is trying to play the poor, humble fan who's just living out her dream shtick. Yeah, okay, Sasha. That works so well when you're stuntin on social media with Rick Ross and French Montana.

[Tiarnán]

See I'm not bothered about the comments re: the title belt and the T&A matches, because the belt was degrading and patronising and the matches were hideously sexist, especially when you look back in retrospect.

Which is why I don't get annoyed by Sasha so much, and likewise with AJ. Things were really shitty so by all means call them out.

My issue is with the company, who refuse to acknowledge the women who actually had to struggle against the bullshit they were handed for the sake of their narrative. It's just there's this mumbling about how things were fluffy and now everything is good and happy but there's zero accountability. It was the company that upheld the sexism and degraded women to such an extent; the girls didn't demand snowbunny evening gown matches and butterfly belts.

Celebrate the current quality, but own up to the fact that you treated a bunch of talented women like shit for over a decade. Celebrate the women who fought so hard to overcome it and had to bear it.

[Tiarnán]

The only part of the promo that made me really cringe was the Moolah reference in light of everything that's become apparent about her, as Burke said.

[Astrozombie]

I think the Divas Title was appropriate for what they were trying to do at the time, market it to a younger female audience. So I don't think it was degrading, but as time progressed it definitely needed a makeover. I don't know why they didn't just have AJ deface it or change it like Edge did with the WWE title. But I do think, as time went on the belt started to look more and more ridiculous.

My main thing with Sasha is she's got a superiority complex. Obviously it's how they write her, but even on tumblr or in interviews it's just annoying. The best example is that one interview where she went on a typical tangent about Total Divas and how there's a difference between the wrestlers (her and the rest of the four horses) and the Divas. I've said it before, but that 'us vs them' mentality is so gross. It's called the 'womens division' not Sasha's division or the four horse division. And it's such a cliche thing to say, but instead of talking down the other 'divas' how about you build each other up instead? There's more to be gained.

And I wholeheartedly agree with it sounding like she and the rest of the horses started the revolution, when that revolution started LONG before she got there. It really is a slap to the face to everyone woman before her who got the short end of the stick for their entire career and she waltzes in and everything those women fought for is handed to her on a silver platter. And even the women that are currently on the roster that fought for the time and the quality that they've always wanted (and deserved) still aren't getting it. It seems to be handed to a very select group of women, four specific women to be exact. But I've accepted that girls like Nikki, Alicia, Summer, Naomi, etc. will never be held to the regard that the four horses are held up to and I just have to keep in mind that these women worked hard, if not harder, to try and solidifying themselves in a place where no one gives a shit about them.

[Brandon]

Sasha: "Charlotte, you're looking at the face of this women's division."
Charlotte: *gestures to the Women's Championship around her waist*



It's sad how consistently and easily Sasha sets herself up for Charlotte to embarrass her.

[Astrozombie]

I cannot believe the things that come out of Becky's mouth. She is so cheesy and in the worst way possible.

That fatal five way match was pretty great though. I'm glad that the girls are using moves and doing spots that they probably weren't allowed to a few years back. I got chills when Nikki hit the Bella Buster, and when she did that jumping clothesline off the steps. Her feud with Carmella is easily the best thing going on in the both womens division on both shows. I can't wait till they get the chance to get their hands on each other. Also the 'Lets Go Nikki' chants at the end were awesome too. I'm glad she's come back to such a great reception. Honestly just put Becky on Raw so she can join that flip flop feud with Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley. And bring Summer over here.

[Brandon]

Astro and I were talking about it last night and the things that come out of Becky's mouth...

It's like when try hard gays spam lingo like yassss, slay, hunty, mama, girl bye, bye felicia, etc. but Becky is on the opposite end of the spectrum where she's trying so hard to come off like a "bro" to prove she's a guy's girl and it's so embarrassing.

[Burke]

I think poor Nikki has lost and/or been beaten down every show since SummerSlam.

I like Alexa getting the title shot though even if she's obviously not going to win.

[Tiarnán]

I like Nikki's outfit. Glad she's not in the title picture though.

Alexa winning is good. Naomi was the best and worst thing about that match. Her watching behind patiently waiting for Nattie to run on her head was hard to watch but the enziguri was awesome.

Becky truly the best speaker of the horses and probably overall behind Summer.

[Burke]

Oh my God, come at me bro actually is something Becky says regularly. I liked Alexa during that contract signing though.

And poor Nikki seriously gets her ass beat every week now.

[Astrozombie]

I watched the WWE24: Women's special and it is as aggravating as everyone said it was. Especially because of the emphasis placed on the four horses. I don't know why it surprises me every time Trish refuses to acknowledge the other women who were brought in similarly to her. But then Lita made it sting a little less with something she said and I'm glad I caught it because I'd read it before but never knew the source: "These girls that were ready for the revolution, when the revolution wasn't ready for them should get a chance to shine as well." I'm just glad she's acknowledging what Trish refuses to say.