Wrestling Forward: Appreciating Naomi’s Impact In WWE

Today’s “Wrestling Forward” features quotes from fans about Naomi’s impact in WWE, thoughts on Kofi Kingston’s amazing Elimination Chamber match performance, and Bianca Belair’s recent interview with Lilian Garcia.

Naomi has been on the WWE main roster since 2012, but she only started becoming a major player in the Women’s Division in 2017. That year, Naomi won the SmackDown Women’s Championship twice – once at the Elimination Chamber and then a couple of months later in her hometown of Orlando at WrestleMania 33.

Both championship victories were emotional moments for Naomi and her fans. Her victory  at the Elimination Chamber, which came against Alexa Bliss, was the first championship win of her career. Naomi, however, was forced to relinquish the title due to injury, tearfully dropping her first championship in a moment that cemented her as one of WWE’s rising babyface.

So when she won the title back at WrestleMania, submitting Alexa in the most creative of ways, it was one of the heartfelt moments of the year. Naomi would eventually drop the championship to Natalya at SummerSlam for Nattie’s, another veteran of the wrestling business, crowning moment. But in between then, she held the title with aplomb, coming up with an awesome “Glow” gimmick that led to one of the most awesome custom championships in WWE history.

Since SummerSlam 2017, Naomi has only gotten better. She’s one of the better tag team wrestlers in WWE, combining with three different partners – but her best work came with Asuka, who she faced in a title match a couple of months ago on SmackDown Live. Naomi didn’t prevail, but potential seeds were sown for another title match at WrestleMania, which is a PPV that has been a huge stage for Naomi; she won the first ever Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal at ‘Mania 34, too.

Despite all of Naomi’s accomplishments over the years, it always seems like the “u” word followers her. You know, “underrated”. WWE named her the most “underrated” superstar of 2018, and it’s an adjective she addressed with a poignant Twitter post.

Whenever a superstar is widely deemed as “underrated”, I simply ask myself, “Why?”

Why is it that we, as a wrestling fanbase, underrate this superstar? Why don’t we give them their due? In Naomi’s case, I wonder if there are deeper issues at play that prevent people from recognizing her greatness as a veteran wrestler, athlete, and promo. Because, yes, her mic work and character work are both fantastic.

To help understand this issue, I decided to talk to some of Naomi’s fans – and she has many diehard, wonderful fans – to see if they can help parse out why people don’t give “The Glow” her due.

@NicolaBear1988 said that she doesn’t mind it when people call Naomi “underrated”, because it’s not an insult. However, she notes that there are some fans who criticize her in a way that is outright offensive:

"“I don’t get upset when people call Naomi underrated cause she is. No other woman on either brand can do what she does. I don’t like Naomi gets her due because honestly, WWE does have a type they love to push and she doesn’t fit that mold.Honestly, Naomi receives unfair criticism mostly due to her being a black woman. I’m fine with folks not liking her but there are too many folks out here that love to give their not so subtle racially motivated opinions. A lot of folks like to down her also because she took the bulls by the horn and changed her character up which has bought her more new fans and keeps up entertained.”"

For years, Naomi has been an important part of WWE’s programming, and her recent success, notably her championship victories in 2017, have been especially vital for Black representation in WWE, which has historically been an issue for wrestling’s largest promotion.

@sassyreigns, the owner of a truly fantastic Twitter handle, spoke more about what it means for her to see Naomi on her screen as a successful Black woman in entertainment:

"“I’ve been a Naomi fan for an extremely long time. Through the funkadactyls, her heel turn, and now the glow era. To see where she was to where she’s at now is by far one of my most favorite things. As a black woman, to see yourself being represented on television is always satisfying, but with Naomi it always meant so much more to me. She wasn’t called up and then stuck into a title picture. Years pass with minimal opportunities.Most people would have quit, but she stayed there. Nearly a decade passes before she gets her moment to shine. The night Naomi one the title at elimination was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. Yeah, I kinda feel childish for crying but then again I don’t. A black woman was holding a title.A lot of people will argue “what’s the big deal” and they’ll never understand how important that moment was. They’ll never understand how important representation is because now thousands of little black girls can say “that’s me” or “that’ll be me”. She wasn’t an overnight star. She fought for this. She showed us what hard work it took to get there and if that’s not inspirational to you then I don’t know what is.”"

I hope those words resonate with fans, because Naomi did fight for this after spending approximately eight years in WWE’s system before winning a championship. And given that WWE always call upon her to make a heel, such as Mandy Rose, look good, it’s clear that she is in a position where the company values her, too. They trusted her to face a “green” Lana in a 2017 feud, they’ve trusted her with many different tag partners, and they even had her demand a championship match from Vince McMahon.

Naomi’s list of accomplishments in WWE is quite lengthy, despite her “underrated” status. @NicolaBear1988 told me that her favorite Naomi moment was her emotional win at the Elimination Chamber:

"“My favorite moment was of course when she won the SDLive Women’s Championship title at Elimination Chamber 2017. I cried…seriously cried cause we’ve seen her work so hard and always being overlooked. It was a beautiful moment. I hope next for Naomi, is to be back in the title picture but also to continue to grow and show us all why she’s one of the best.”"

Another fan, @ApSnowball, used an adjective I quite liked to describe Naomi:

"“Naomi is an innovator. She reinvented herself from cheerleader to a top female wrestler who should be up there with 4 Horsewomen.”"

“Innovator”. From her submission maneuver to defeat Bliss at WrestleMania 33 to her wide variety of hurricanranas, sliding slaps, and acrobatic kicks, Naomi IS an innovator inside the ring who makes every match she’s in – especially the randomly-booked tag matches on past SmackDowns – feel that much more entertaining.

@ApSnowball hopes that Naomi doesn’t deserve to be treated as an “afterthought”, and many fans are hoping that she’ll be back in the title picture soon. Hopefully, that occurs at WrestleMania 35, where Asuka is set to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship after recently submitting The Man at Royal Rumble.

But I’ll let @NicolaBear1988 sum up Naomi’s impact in WWE to close things off, because her reasons for becoming a fan of Naomi’s pretty much encapsulate who she is as a wrestler.

"“Aspects of Naomi’s character and wrestling ability that made me a fan is that she’s positive as hell but won’t let folks walk over her. Naomi is legit the most athletic woman on the main roster and is a better high flyer then most of the men. She’s been inspiring for so long due to the fact that she continues to grow and change every year. She isn’t complacent and strives to be better.”"

Kofi Kingston Has The Wrestling World Going Crazy

I saw a tweet from NWA Vice President David Lagana that basically said WWE was able to “make a guy” in fewer than 10 days with Kofi Kingston.

I understand what he’s saying and do agree with it, but it’s pretty crazy how Kofi, who has been awesome for more than a decade, is getting his biggest world title buzz in basically 10 days.

Kingston was essentially an injury replacement for Mustafa Ali, who has captured the hearts of the WWE Universe over the past year on both 205 Live and SmackDown Live. But Kofi has been in the game much longer, so his crowning moment has been even more overdue.

Though Kofi, who got the crowd firmly on his side after a brilliant Gauntlet Match performance last Tuesday, came up short in the end against WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in the Elimination Chamber, he left the Pay Per View as one of the show’s biggest winners, along with the new Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Twitter even created a “Moment” for Kofi, because so many fans have been clamoring for the New Day’s most experienced wrestler to face off against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. My colleague Candice Tinnon is one of them.

No man in WWE feels as hot right now as Kofi, who has more than paid his dues. He’s won, what, 15 championships in his WWE career? Kingston isn’t just one of the best tag team wrestlers in WWE history; he’s one of the best wrestlers, period. These past 10 days have shown it, and even though Andrade and Ali are on the same brand, there doesn’t feel like a male wrestler with more crowd support than Kofi on SmackDown.

As so many others, including colleague Raphael Garcia, have said, “It’s his time.”

Bianca Belair On Chasing Glory

Lilian Garcia, who should be a Hall of Famer one day, has this incredible gift of getting people to open up to her. The interviews she conducts on her “Chasing Glory” podcast are among the best in any field, because every single person she interviews is able to tell us something relatable that humanizes their characters and gets us to really understand their struggles and background.

Her most recent interview was with Bianca Belair – the first woman from NXT Garcia has ever interviewed. Belair’s rise in WWE since being a breakout candidate at the first Mae Young Classic has been incredible, and after a great match with Shayna Baszler at TakeOver: Phoenix, she seems poised to win the NXT Women’s Championship for the first time in her career.

Belair’s openness about struggling with bulimia was awe-inspiring, and because so many of us have struggled with eating disorders (yes, I said “us”), it means a lot to hear from someone courageously speaking out. Although anyone can struggle with eating disorders, there are so many athletes, especially college-aged athletes and women, who have been in cycles of eating-and-purging. Belair also spoke openly about suffering from depression, and I know many of you reading this have fought this battle – or are currently fighting this battle – too.

So give Garcia’s interview with Belair a listen. I’ve always respect Belair, who is one of the most talented wrestlers in WWE right now, as an intelligent and confident athlete, but this made me respect her – and relate to her – on a whole new level. Belair is an inspiration, and I am so glad she was able to share a part of her story with us.