So how does this all translate to the Divas division…?
How do you make substantial money off women in wrestling? Easy – you don’t. You make it off one woman. People buy shows to watch Ronda Rousey destroy her opponents in a mere seconds. No disrespect, but I’m not ordering UFC 190 for Bethe Correia.
WWE doesn’t currently have a Ronda Rousey figure – a dominant, unbeatable machine head and shoulders above the competition – but they also have the advantage of being completely scripted entertainment television. UFC has to hope Ronda keeps winning every few months; WWE can fake it.
I’ve enjoyed watching Sasha, Charlotte and Becky mix it up with the WWE Divas for the past few weeks, but eventually they’re just going to become a part of the system. One of them will win the title, drop the title. Another will win the title, drop the title. Everyone gets their chance, some of them get on Total Divas for the paycheck and exposure, and ultimately nothing changes.
You can see it in the way WWE is still trying to hire models to be wrestlers; Tough Enough, the upcoming Divas Search, every dollar spent trying to justify Eva Marie’s paychecks. The mindset has to change before the writing can change, and the writing has to change before the product can change.
I have an idea.
Charlotte can, and should be the WWE’s version of Ronda Rousey. We’ve seen her lose on NXT, but that means very little. The minute her feet hit the ramp on Monday Night RAW it was a fresh start.
As this is my last Wrestlezone editorial ever, allow me to indulge the fantasy booker inside me for just one minute…
Charlotte should beat Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship. Make her tap out.
At this point, you start breaking her away from everyone else. No six-woman tag matches, no battle royals, no needless losses. In fact, unless the title is on the line, there should be no reason for Charlotte to be wrestling on television. Brock Lesnar doesn’t wrestler for free. Ronda Rousey doesn’t fight for free. Neither should Charlotte. It doesn’t have to be part of an angle – please god, do not turn her heel – just stop booking her.
This will put Charlotte on a pedestal. She’s the champion – she has no reason to be in that ring, unless she’s defending. UFC rules. Everyone else is below her because they don’t have the strap. That’s not a babyface or heel booking decision, it’s just the reality of one person being objectively better than everyone else. That’s a message WWE doesn’t always depict clearly: being champion means you are the best.
The rest of the women’s division can start breaking into their own programs. Not every feud has to be booked around the title, because not every Diva is deserving of that opportunity. I want to see Nikki Bella fight her way back through three or four opponents before she is granted a shot at the title. I want to see Paige and Natalya face off for the #1 contender’s spot, to see who get the chance at Charlotte on PPV.
That doesn’t mean Charlotte never gets to be involved in any of the drama. The soap opera stuff can come from personal and competitive rivalries that start and end on each PPV. But everyone who steps into the ring for a championship opportunity needs to have earned it. No more Divas title matches thrown together at the last second because nobody thought to book something heading into the show.
Charlotte beats Nikki in dominant fashion. She has a closer match with Paige, but she still makes her tap out. She pins Naomi, clean. Becky Lynch takes her to the limit in a 20-minute classic, but eventually, she still taps out.
Suddenly the title means something. It’s not just a butterfly belt WWE mindlessly throws on someone they want to look slightly more important. It has value. It represents a collection of names on a hit list. Checks in the “win” column.
Charlotte reigns supreme as the face of women’s wrestling for a year, two years. There are some that come close, but she always finds a way to win. If WWE had writers worth a damn, this would never be boring. The entertainment comes in how well you can build up a challenger, and how real you can make the drama feel going into the fight. People would start buying PPVs just to see Charlotte win/lose. Suddenly the women’s title match at WrestleMania is a semi-main event.
Eventually someone gets to beat her, and they become the best. Rivalries develop outside of the title picture. Having one person on top forces you to get more creative with everyone else, to turn them into viable contenders. Rock and Austin reigned supreme, but Foley, Undertaker, DX, and dozens of others made all-star level careers underneath them.
That’s just one idea. Personally I think it’s a good idea. At the very least, it’s different than anything they’re doing now, and it has a clear intention with long-term direction. Even if WWE dedicated an entire year to trying out this concept, and at the end of it the division wasn’t making any more money than it is right now, what have you really lost?
