Was this weekend a turning point for Women's Wrestling?

[stevea21]

Listening to Jim Ross & Jim Cornette go on about how impressed they were by the 3-way match on WrestleMania and the championship match at NXT strikes me as a certain turning point for women's wrestling.  WWE has had a ridiculously bad history of women's matches at WM - confining them to battle royals - or incredibly short matches or otherwise showing that they don't give a damn about women's wrestling.  And to showcase that match in the way they did this weekend was a new thing.  And those women performed under the spotlight in a fabulous way.  Similarly for Bayley & Asuka at NXT - they got a significant spotlight on them and they rose to the occasion.  I would say the same for Shimmer's tournament.  Evolve had  a huge crowd - their largest ever - at their 12-noon show - and there was a great crowd for Shimmer's show as well.  And that was easily the most solid show that Shimmer has presented on WM weekend.  I've been seeing reviewers that don't give much away giving 3 3/4 to 4 stars for multiple matches on that card.  Overall, it just seems to me that the respect for women's wrestling has reached a whole new level.  I sincerely hope that it's not just a short phase, and that Shimmer benefits from this appreciation when it's not the most convenient thing to walk across a parking lot to go to a Shimmer show.  End of rant. 

[TailsAlone]

That's a great question! I suppose time will tell.

In the case of WWE, let's take a look at what we know already: WWE, for the first time in a LONG time, treated their female wrestlers with dignity and respect, and they did it on their biggest show of the year. The triple threat at WrestleMania sounds like the best women's match the company has put on since Trish Stratus won the belt at Mania XIX in 2003, at least.

Charlotte being Ric Flair's daughter helps tremendously. She could be the transformative figure the "Divas" division has been crying out for since Trish and Lita retired, just because of her pedigree alone--to say nothing of her in-ring skills. The new Women's Title looks amazing, just like the WWE World Title but with feminine touches. Compare that design to the old Divas Title and you can see this one was designed with a totally different mindset. There's already an action figure of Charlotte with the new belt, so that's awesome too.

We'll see if this renaissance lasts as far as WWE goes, but this whole thing is a huge step in the right direction for them. I'd like to see them drop the "Divas" name and mentality entirely, chuck the silly reality show, and let them wrestle on the weekly shows without one of the announcers drooling over them. But I don't expect miracles. xD

[mlb]

No worries on the NXT side; the women have been heavily focused since 2014. It will depend on how committed WWE is with continuing this momentum on the main roster. It's not like there hasn't been any good female wrestlers in WWE after Trish and Lita, but I wouldn't say that the received the focus that NXT has given to their women division. Even when there were great matches like Melina-Mickie-Beth (Judgement Day '08), Melina-Beth (One Night Stand '08), Melina-McCool (NOC '09) and AJ-Kaitlyn (Payback '13), they would be far and few between each other.

As far as the Mania Triple Threat goes, props to WWE for actually staying committed to building up the match in the first place; because you have to give the fans a reason to care before anything. The match was also a do or die situation for the three in my opinion because if somehow they did not deliver(though I knew they would), maybe WWE would not give them another chance. Gone is the Divas belt, it seems like gone is the Diva term in general, as Cole referred to them as superstars in the match. So, hopefully you're right on Mania being a turning point for the main roster.