WWE is Mishandling its Women's Division... Again

Summerslam is upon us. This is WWE’s second-biggest show of the year, both narratively and financially. It’s supposed to be, especially considering the event is now held in a stadium on yearly basis, Wrestlemania in August.

For the male roster, that’s how it’s being treated. Roman Reigns and the story of the Bloodline will hit another crescendo as he finally faces Jey Uso again, this time in “tribal combat” for the seat at the head of the table. Cody Rhodes will complete his trilogy with Brock Lesnar, furthering his journey to the inevitable rematch with Reigns at next year’s Mania. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will wrestle for the World Heavyweight title as the cloud of Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase hangs overhead. Drew McIntyre will try to steal the show against Gunther, who himself is chasing the record of longest reigning Intercontinental Champion.

It’s all big stuff.

The women, on the other hand, get just two matches.

One is a triple threat pitting Asuka, the WWE Women’s Champion, against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair. Asuka is, as she often has been, an afterthought in the storyline. Still, with three of the world’s best wrestlers in the ring at once, this is an exciting affair.

The other contest sees Ronda Rousey take on Shayna Baszler. Baszler is worthy of a big match opportunity, but Rousey can barely be considered a deserving member of the WWE women’s roster. She’s a hired gun that is resoundingly rejected by the fan base every time she reappears on television.

Needless to say, the Summerslam hype isn’t quite the same on the women’s side of things.

If you’ve watched wrestling for a long time, you know that’s not the most surprising thing to hear. Wrestling promotions all over the world have fumbled their handling of women’s divisions for decades.

But this isn’t AEW. This isn’t the WWF of old.

This is a company that has proven it can do better. Or, at least, it did better for a few years. Somewhere recently it lost its way.

The aforementioned Belair main evented a night of Wrestlemania 37 in March of 2021 with Sasha Banks, an accomplishment that somehow also highlights all the problems WWE seems to have with women.

In May of 2022 Banks walked out of WWE after growing increasingly frustrated at the booking of her and Naomi’s Tag Team Championship reign. Those titles are still irrelevant to the big picture in the company, and the women’s tag division continues to be an afterthought.

Belair has been booked in a more prominent role, but one that is still lacking in any real intrigue. She held the belt for 419 days and had great match after great match, but not once was a compelling storyline written for her. Throughout the entirety of her year-plus reign, she was booked as the worst character in wrestling, a super hero who eats her vitamins and says her prayers and is an inspiration to all the kids out there. Yawn.

According to reports, the most creative thing anyone backstage could think up for Belair was that she should be more stereotypically black.

Becky Lynch, the biggest self-made woman in the company, is not even on the Summerslam card. Her feud with Trish Stratus has been going on since before Wrestlemania 39, and a sizable amount of television time has been spent on the rivalry. Yet, the match was haphazardly moved to Raw. A six-month feud rendered disposable.

The company had time to shoot photos of her looking pretty, but actually putting her match on the second-biggest show of the year was apparently a bridge too far.

Rhea Ripley, The WWE Women’s World Champion and undoubtedly the hottest act of the last year in the women’s division, has also been kept off of Summerslam.

Her consolation? She’ll host a pre-show program on TikTok.

Ripley also hasn’t had much interesting to do since winning the title that actually involves her defending it. Her work with Dom Mysterio and Judgment Day has obviously been great, but the company doesn’t seem all that interested in booking her in a manner that elevates her as a competitor or her championship.

WWE’s booking of the women hasn’t been perfect since the onset of the revolution in 2015, but this is a low point. So much of the momentum that had been built up has dissipated. So many of the stars that were created in the last eight years, and have proven they can main events flagship shows, have been relegated.

The unfortunate fact?

Business is the best it’s been since the Attitude Era.

If you’ve watched wrestling for a long time, there’s another thing that shouldn’t surprise you. WWE has some extremely hot stars and storylines at the top of the card. So, like in the Attitude Era, they’ll just ride that wave. (Nevermind that Lynch kept the company fresh and interesting during the darkest days of the Roman Reigns babyface run.)

Everything else, including the entire women’s division, is just a disposable, week-to-week roll of the dice.