WWE Needs Women's Mid-Card Titles

In the 2023 blockbuster movie Barbie, iconic actress America Ferrera gave the performance of her career when she spoke about the plight of being a woman. There was one sentence in that famous monologue that stands out: "Always be grateful, but never forget that the system is rigged. Find a way to acknowledge that, but always be grateful."

In the past decade, the wrestling community has witnessed growth in women's wrestling in WWE. Where there was once bra and panties matches, there are now steel cages. Where there were once mud bath matches, there are now last women standing and Royal Rumble stipulations. Where there were once eleven second hiccups, there are now twenty-to-thirty-minute classics. Though there is much to be grateful for, the system is still somewhat rigged.

Though WWE has made great progress to present women superstars as equal to the men, it can be argued that there is still much to improve on. With every Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Becky Lynch, there are Indi Hartwells, Candice LeRaes and Kiana James's that are waiting for their chance in the sun. Various women's stories are not given the time to marinate and cook the way that men's stories do. As it continues to become global and more accessible, WWE should find innovative ways to get more women on television and be the change that little girls and women deserve to see. That is why WWE needs to implement more women's mid-card titles.

Gives Spotlight and Opportunity to Hard Working Women Superstars

WWE has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the amount of talent they have on their women's roster. But a lot of that flies under the radar when it isn't seen consistently or in a larger title picture. If more women's titles are created, they would stand as a reward to the female athletes who add to the mid-card as workhorses on the rise.

Take for instance former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion and first-ever Queen of the Ring Zelina Vega. Her growth in ring since aligning herself with the Latino World Order (LWO) has been great and her notoriety outside of wrestling has grown with her appearances in video games, anime award shows and the like. Vega has also proven her weight in gold on the microphone. Her wise cracking, New York bluntness never ceases to stumble her opponents.

Michin (Mia Yim) is another woman who has proven her worth as an adaptable athlete who can hang with top stars on SmackDown, as well as newer stars like Jaida Parker and current Women's North American Champion Kelani Jordan on NXT. The one thing that both ladies have in common is that with all of their talent, they are usually given one-off Women's title matches without a longer feud. A mid-card title would serve as a chance for stars like Yim and Vega to reach for a goal that could uplift their careers. Hard workers who seek to improve on their craft deserve to be celebrated and a women's mid-card title could do just that.

Better Creativity and Authenticity in Women's Wrestling Storylines

Another reason why WWE needs women's mid-card titles is that they could be used to tell more creative and authentic stories. In recent years since the creation of the Women's Tag Team championships, women who were not actively participating in larger title feuds were placed with other singles athletes for a short period of time to feud over the Tag titles for a few weeks, only for them to fall out for yet another short-term program with their former partner.

Though that seems to be changing in the Triple H era of WWE, there are certain women who could have benefitted from feuding instead of remaining in a tag team. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell falls under that category. When LeRae seemed to take a darker turn earlier this year, Hartwell seemed to have conflicting feelings about it until she ultimately joined Candice. What if WWE's creative team decided to have Indi stand on her own? And what if a mid-card title was in the mix? Imagine if Hartwell challenged LeRae as an Intercontinental champion. The title would give their rivalry a bigger platform and up the ante for a young star like Indi to prove herself against a seasoned veteran like LeRae.

The presence of mid-card titles can also open doors for more authentic stories to be written by women, for women. Hiring more producers and writers that are female can give better and nuanced looks as to how women operate in the current landscape of wrestling. Male writers may know and respect women, but until they have actually lived the experience, they should not be at the forefront of creating narratives for women athletes. Women in wrestling are so much more than the narratives of fighting over men and insulting each other over looks. With mid-card titles in play, we could have Bloodline-level storytelling and rivalries for an underserved audience.

Centers WWE As a Place Where Women Can Thrive Equally to The Men

WWE has had an epic renaissance in the past two years. From consistent sell-out shows to critical acclaim across multiple forms of pop culture, the place once known as "the revolutionary force in sports entertainment" is in its cool era. Like mentioned previously, there are women stars who benefit greatly from this era like Jade Cargill, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Tiffany Stratton and others. But what about the other women who might want to upgrade their standing on the same level as their female and male counterparts? During this era of WWE, we have seen the men's Intercontinental and United States championships repositioned as platforms of future success.

Why can't the women's roster have the same thing? If WWE invested in women's mid-card titles, they could create an atmosphere where women can have equal steps to success like the men do. The same formula that applied to Bron Breakker after he was signed to Raw and bulldozed through the competition for the Intercontinental Championship can be used to propel a new face like Kiana James. The way that the United States title is being used as a long-awaited crowning for a mega-star like LA Knight can be applied to someone like Naomi who is finding her footing in a company unlike the one she left two years ago. Any woman who would win a mid-card title could stand side by side at fan events and in press with the man who holds the male version of the title. Visually and creatively, women's mid-card championships make WWE more than a place that gives band-aid solutions to the inequality that women face in wrestling. It could further set the company up for success by attracting diverse talent and giving them more to work for.

Women in wrestling have shown that if given the ball, they can run with it. Even when the odds are stacked against them, they find a way to jump over the stack. WWE has created a larger platform and system that can benefit the growing pool of women talent. But it can only do that if more opportunity is given to them. With more women's titles in the landscape of WWE, it would prepare and propel women's wrestlers into future stars and create stories that the fandom will invest in and remember forever. There's a lot of space for women to take up and giving them more titles will do that. WWE may have been a man's world, but it is nothing without its women.