The build for WrestleMania women’s matches was sorely lacking

The WWE women’s division features beloved and talented performers, but they did not get the right level of attention heading into WrestleMania. 

WrestleMania 39 is coming in hot. Monday Night Raw was a big go-home show and that same energy is coming with SmackDown on Friday. While there’s a lot to look forward to on the show, there’s still the concerning build, or lack thereof, for the women’s division. WWE boasts a talented women’s division, from top to bottom, but it is a glaring issue how lazy the booking is for the women’s matches heading into the biggest show of the year.

Both nights of WrestleMania 39 feature big women’s matches. Bianca Belair versus Asuka for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship. Rhea Ripley versus Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch against Damage CTRL. The women’s tag team showcase. All of these are matches that fans should be excited to see, which makes it even more painful that WWE hasn’t consistently put the effort into making these matches seem like bigger deals.

Take the March 27 edition of WWE Raw. With one week before the biggest PPV of the year, WWE fired up its promotional muscles. All the matches were presented well with video presentations that made the challengers and champions look like a big deal. The women’s division was all over the first hour and a half of the show. But seeing all of that on Monday immediately raises the question, where was this effort in the weeks leading into the show?

Compare this to the men’s division. Of course, Roman Reigns versus Cody Rhodes was going to get the big match, main event treatment. But even mid-card titles like the triple threat for the Intercontinental championship or the John Cena versus Austin Theory match received exponentially more consistent build than any of the women’s matches. Is Asuka a true threat to Belair’s run? What has WWE done to show that so far? Flair and Ripley have an interesting storyline to play off, but it wasn’t given the type of attention to elevating it into the main event as is speculated.

This has been a consistent issue with the women’s division. Ronda Rousey has spoken her mind on it multiple times and did so again heading into WrestleMania 39.

The effort that WWE puts into the women’s division does not match the quality of talent on the roster. While they aren’t featured as such, it is hard to find a better women’s division from top to bottom in professional wrestling, especially when throwing in the young talent on WWE NXT. It’s time for WWE to give them the time needed to remind wrestling fans around the world. Here’s to hoping for change, again, after WrestleMania.