Stephanie McMahon to Announce WWE Women’s Pay-Per-View?
By Tom Clark
Stephanie McMahon has a big announcement for WWE fans and that announcement will come on the July 23 edition of Monday Night Raw. The Raw Commissioner and WWE Chief Brand Officer is believed to have something historic in mind when she appears on the company’s flagship program.
Cageside Seats is reporting that McMahon will likely announce a women’s pay-per-view event, which would be the first in company history. The event is expected to happen in the fall of 2018 though WWE has yet to make anything official.
This is incredibly good news for fans that support the female Superstars in WWE. Until the advent of The Women’s Revolution, WWE was notorious for booking women’s wrestling as lighthearted fluff. Matches that went five minutes and under were the norm.
Of course before that came The Attitude Era, when women’s wrestling as an excuse to strip the female Superstars down to their underwear. It seemed as though no matter how talented the women were or how much the fans wanted to see them get a chance, WWE just was not having it.
But today is a new day as the women have arrived in the company. Women’s wrestling has come so far in WWE that now the fans no longer hope for a good match; they expect it. This is thanks in large part to the women that the revolution was built upon.
Charlotte Flair led the charge, followed by Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley. Each one brought something different to the table and each one connected with the WWE faithful in her own way. Fans took them seriously because they took the business seriously.
For the first time ever, the women’s division became relevant from top to bottom and WWE’s commitment to them was felt throughout the process. This wasn’t a quick fix. It also wasn’t a short-term move. The company was intent on legitimizing the women’s division and that’s exactly what happened.
The female Superstars of WWE have worked the main events of Raw, SmackDown Live and pay-per-view. Women have their own Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank Ladder Match. They have waged war inside Hell in a Cell and now it appears the women will run the whole show at their own event.
Of course with success often comes a level of criticism and that’s indeed the case here. Many fans are complaining that the caliber of women’s matches is not what it used to be. Alexa Bliss may be a popular heel but as Raw women’s champion, she’s less than stellar. She talks a good game and she gets great heat but she tends to focus on both instead of focusing on her matches.
Carmella is faring no better as SmackDown Live women’s champion. Fans popped when she cashed in her Money in the Bank contract to win the title but they didn’t know what they were getting into. Her association with James Ellsworth was only mildly entertaining in the beginning and now it’s become a complicated mess.
Asuka is the direct victim of the Carmella/Ellsworth storyline. The Empress of Tomorrow was once undefeated. She was also the most dominant female in WWE. But she is 4-2 in televised singles matches since her first loss to Charlotte at WrestleMania 34. It’s not necessarily a bad record but many fans expected much more from her.
Bayley and Sasha seemed to be on the verge of a main event rivalry but the company continues to prolong their eventual showdown. There have been so many false starts at this point that many fans are undoubtedly too frustrated to care anymore.
All of these complaints have one thing in common: bad booking. There was a time when the women had no booking so at least there’s something to work with. But it could be that WWE has hit a slump with the female Superstars. If that’s the case, then the company should be given an opportunity to work out of it and that will hopefully happen.
But in the meantime, WWE has a major bright spot in Ronda Rousey. Rousey has come along much faster than anyone likely believed she would as she has fit right into the company machine. Rousey’s past as a UFC champion is indeed in the past. She is now a WWE Superstar and she is doing extremely well indeed.
The Women’s Revolution began without Rousey and would surely have continued on without her. But her presence is an important one for everyone involved. Just as the men’s division is never perfect, the same is true of the women’s division. But the company is fully invested in its female Superstars now and that’s the most important thing
Because of Rousey’s success and the mainstream coverage that goes along with it, WWE would certainly be remiss not to take advantage of it. That’s where the rumored women’s event comes into play. There just does not seem to be a better time than right now for the women in WWE to band together and show what they can do.
Any perceived downswing will probably not continue. Women’s wrestling in WWE has achieved greater heights than anyone could have dreamed possible and the company keeps moving in a forward direction. Stephanie McMahon’s announcement will surely be further proof of that.