WWE needs to build up its women to be equal to the Four Horsewomen

WWE has a lot of talent in its women’s division, and it must extend beyond the Four Horsewomen.

WWE’s current women’s champions are former Four Horsewomen, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, respectively. I didn’t even have to put their last names. Much like the Beatles, wrestling fans know who Charlotte, Becky, Sasha, and Bayley are.

What these four women have accomplished is incredible and they deserve everything they’ve earned. However, WWE has not let any other woman get close to being on their level which has stunted the growth of their divisions. On top of that, there have been 10 talent cuts between April 2020 and January 2022.

Women’s divisions are gutted

The women’s divisions have been decimated. That was painfully obvious during the Women’s Royal Rumble. They relied heavily on former Divas to fill in the gaps. It was great to see them, but it was like holding a mirror up at all the holes. Especially when compared to the Men’s Royal Rumble match that was mostly comprised of current Superstars. Surprisingly, neither rumble match used NXT 2.0 Superstars.

Speaking of NXT 2.0, there aren’t enough women for the second annual Dusty Cup. It’s scheduled to take place this month. As of now, there are four teams involved.

While decimating the women’s divisions is a huge hindrance, it’s not an excuse for building up the women who are there. This has been a problem for several years. WWE did pretend to care about the women when they were trying to lure Ronda Rousey to the company. Once she left, they went back to not caring unless it was one of the Horsewomen. In fact, they have come dangerously close to regressing to #GiveDivasAChance territory several times.

WWE kills momentum

Every time they come close to building a star, WWE stops their momentum. The most obvious woman to strap a rocket to is Bianca Belair. The woman is clearly a star. It seemed like WWE was finally going to put Belair on more equal footing when she won the Royal Rumble and main evented WrestleMania with Banks. Then came Summerslam when Belair lost her title in just twenty six seconds…to a returning Lynch.

Liv Morgan got an opportunity to face “Big Time Becks” for the championship. Although it was unlikely Morgan would win based on how WWE books overall, they made it seem like there was a chance. Of course, it wasn’t to be.

Even women like Alexa Bliss, Asuka, and cornerstones of WWE’s women’s wrestling, Natalya, haven’t come close to being on the level of the Four Horsewomen. Bliss has always been a step or two behind, but WWE pulls her back when she gets close enough. Asuka was undefeated for 500 days in NXT. She’s held the title twice on the main roster, but her reigns have been lackluster at best, through no fault of her own. Nattie held the tag team titles last year and has several Guinness World Records.

Naomi recently wrestled Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship but lasted just two and a half minutes. She has since wrestled her on two house shows for the title. She’s also teamed up with Banks. However, several years ago, her last proper feud with a Horsewoman was Bayley.

All of these women should have already been considered on equal footing as the Four Horsewomen. Several of them have been champions, but WWE puts the Four Horsewomen on this mythical pedestal that is levels above all of the other women. There are other women I didn’t mention such as Rhea Ripley, Carmella, Shotzi Blackheart, and Nikki ASH.

Now that Rousey has returned, will WWE pretend to care about their women’s divisions again? It seems like having the titles on Flair and Lynch is their answer. Rousey hasn’t wrestled Flair one-on-one before, but that seems to be changing WrestleMania 38, although there’s a rumor that it will be Rousey vs. Flair vs. Lynch. On the road to WrestleMania, will she crush opponents in no time like she did when she was champion? Or will WWE give her other challenges with women who aren’t one of the Chosen Four?

You can’t have a top tier women’s division in your promotion when only four women are in the biggest storylines over and over and over and over and over. The other women should be elevated to make the division stronger and healthier. Competition is good for everyone. It pushes the talent to be better, thus putting on more compelling matches (they also need compelling stories and more TV time, but that’s for another article).

How are fans supposed to get invested in other women when they know that they aren’t likely to reach the very top stratosphere in WWE women’s wrestling? Look at what happened with Morgan. How long are fans supposed to “let it play out”? What does that say about the Four Horsewomen when the only competitors allowed to be on their level are the other three? If you’re only as good as your last match, shouldn’t those women be considered high-level competition? Shouldn’t they come close to their level?

One day, the Four Horsewomen won’t be here. What will happen to the women’s divisions then? Will any woman, let alone four, ever be pushed to that level again? Of course, what the Four Horsewomen have done is special and they have worked so hard to get where they are. The other women deserve more than what WWE gives them. It’s time for WWE to take a long, hard look at these flaws and do something about it.