WWE Draft presents opening to course correct with women’s division

There’s still more than a week remaining before the WWE Draft fully goes into effect. That creates time to analyze the opportunity that’s available with the new rosters on both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. Looking at these groups, WWE has the opportunity to make a lot of strides with the booking of the women’s division on both brands. There are several new names that are on each show and if leveraged right can finally fix the lackadaisical direction the division has been in since the post-Ronda Rousey era.

For the last few years, the WWE Women’s Division has orbited around many of the same names. The Four Horsewomen are among the top members of the WWE roster and their championship reigns represent that. Others such as Asuka, Alexa Bliss, and Naomi have broken through as multiple-time champions.

Here’s some data via Cagematch to support that idea. Since 2016, 59.5 percent of the title reigns on SmackDown and Raw were held by a member of the Four Horsewomen. When you include other multiple-time champions like Asuka, Bliss, and Naomi, that number increases. While all these women are stars, with massive fanbases, rotating the titles within the same group doesn’t help build new individuals that could become main event attractions for the women’s division. There’s been and still is an opportunity to create new matchups with names like Liv Morgan, which would elevate Morgan while giving the more dependable members of the roster someone else to feud with.

This is what makes the outcome of the 2021 WWE Draft interesting. The WWE Universe has seen fleeting glimpses of Toni Storm, Shotzi Blackheart, and Tegan Nox on the main roster. The addition of Mia Yim, Xia Li, and the still-developing Aliyah gives WWE Creative some new names to work with and hopefully build as credible threats to those at the top. Plus, don’t forget about Dakota Kai who has worked multiple dark matches and on WWE Main Event, since being removed from WWE NXT television. The talent is there and now is the time to capitalize on it.

Imagine matchups like Dakota Kai versus Sasha Banks. Xia Li versus Shayna Baszler. Toni Storm versus Asuka. There are multiple combinations that would gauge interest from fans. The big hurdle is that the booking around the women must change as well. WWE has already crushed interest in the Queen’s Crown tournament because of the way the women’s matches were booked on SmackDown. They deserve more than two-minute matches and angles that don’t involve their male counterparts.

The WWE Women’s Division needs a refresh in several ways. Infusing new names at the top of the division and booking them as long-term stars and threats would go a long way. WWE has the talent to do so, but they must have the intentionality as well. The current direction will only do more harm and continue to turn off fans of women’s wrestling.