WWE: Alicia Fox has a lasting legacy in the Women’s Revolution

Despite beginning her career during the Divas Era, Alicia Fox is an underrated wrestler who tried to make the most of the opportunities she had and helped pave the way for the Women’s Revolution.

Alicia Fox’s (known then as Victoria Crawford) WWE career started in 2006 when she signed a developmental contract with the company and like many others, was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) which was the development system at the time.

She debuted as a special guest referee on July 1st of that year using her real name in a match between Shelly Martinez and ODB. Then, on Sept. 6, Fox had her wrestling debut under the name Tori in women’s battle royal. She then carried on working here until she debuted for WWE’s new developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in September 2007 tagging with Natalya against the Bella Twins.

Throughout her years in developmental, she had matches with huge stars of WWE from Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Maryse and even mixed tag matches with Sheamus and Kofi Kingston. This was Fox’s time to learn the ropes from some of the most athletic stars in the business and build her own brand.

Fox made her debut on the WWE Main Roster on June 13th, 2008 on Smackdown in a backstage segment where she portrayed Vickie Guerrero and Edge’s wedding planner. She played a role in the storyline after Triple H revealed Edge kissing Fox the night before their wedding, which led to her involvement in the WWE championship match at the Great American Bash.

After this, Fox took a hiatus from television and reappeared that November on ECW where she became the manager of Justin Gabriel. This was where WWE fans really got to see Fox’s talent as she started having a number of mixed-tag matches against the likes of the Burchill siblings and Natalya and Tyson Kidd before participating in the Wrestlemania XXV 25 Diva battle royal which was her first taste of the grandest stage of them all.

From here, Fox was then drafted to Smackdown in April 2009 where she started having more matches aligning herself with various superstars from Michelle McCool against Maria and Gail Kim, Maryse against Gail Kim and Mickie James as well as various multi-women matches against superstars on the roster. Despite winning a few high caliber matches throughout her first few years, Fox never really gained enough momentum to make her really stand out against some of the other women such as Kelly Kelly, the Bella Twins, and Melina.

However, her luck changed in 2010 on June 20th. Fox was part of a fatal four-way match for the Divas championship which also featured Gail Kim, Eve Torres, and Maryse. In this match, Alicia managed to pin Maryse to win her first championship. By doing this, she became the first and, unfortunately, the only African American wrestler to win the Divas title. Fox managed to successfully defend her title twice before losing the title to the returning Melina after only 56 days. This was probably the first major sign that WWE didn’t seem to want to invest time into Fox who was becoming a strong wrestler.

After this, Fox returned to her middle card status in the women’s division where she continued to have tag matches and then, after becoming a main star on Total Divas, became part of that storyline within WWE giving her more exposure than before. Her personality was really allowed to shine on the show and she was one of the women who helped introduce me to wrestling in the first place.

https://twitter.com/AliciaFoxy/status/692152123593748481

When the Women’s Evolution came about, so many Fox fans hoped that it would be the change to give Alicia a much-needed break in the company and a showcase for her talents. During Summerslam 2015, Fox participated in Team Bella and after this spent the rest of the year competing in singles matches and tagging with Brie Bella until March the following year and then continued as part of Team Total Divas until Wrestlemania 32.

During the 2016 draft, Fox was drafted to RAW and had some very good feuds and matches including one with Nia Jax and some amazing tag matches including the 5v5 Survivor Series elimination match. She then started appearing on 205 Live become an integral part of a feud between Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar which produced some amazing matches including a mixed tag match where she teamed with Dar against Rich Swann and Sasha Banks.

Throughout the next few years, Fox would have some strong matches against a number of women including being the first person to challenge Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s title in the first main event match in Fox’s career.

However, after a strong year with more mixed tag matches for the Mixed Match Challenge where she made it to the final with her partner Jinder Mahal and participating in the first Women’s Royal Rumble, Fox eventually left WWE and was moved to the alumni section of WWE on October 17th.

My take on Alicia Fox

Despite everything that has happened with Alicia Fox, I think that she has always been truly underappreciated in WWE from her character work to actual in-ring talent (because show me someone with a better Northern Lights suplex). During her time, there was nobody like Alicia Fox with that passion and willingness to come across as totally crazy in every part of WWE. She had this effortlessness about her and was so elegant in everything she did despite her character whether in the ring or backstage.

Fox made history when she became the first and only African American Divas champion and paved the way for so many Black women throughout the years.

Like many who rose through WWE during the Divas period, Fox wasn’t given the chance to shine and show the world her full potential. She had the potential to play a massive part in the women’s revolution and have so many more title reigns with more respect and opportunity.

So, whatever the future brings for Alicia Fox, I hope she finds the path she was destined to follow no matter where it may come.

Hopefully, she comes back to wrestling in some form because she is a rare talent who, when utilized properly, can have amazing success in the ring.