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WrestleMania 32 last Sunday was a historic evening that saw the end of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Diva branding, and the dawn of a new era with WWE’s female talent labelled as Superstars like their male colleagues.
Such a monumental move towards roster-wide equality didn’t go unnoticed, with various media outlets from inside and outside of the sports entertainment community reacting positively to the news.
Washington-based media organisation NPR referenced #GiveDivasAChance and comments made by Stephanie McMahon back in July 2015 in their piece, which stated: “WWE’s decisions to add more female performers to its roster and strike “diva” from its vernacular helps put male and female WWE performers on more equal footing, but it’s also good for business.”
Diva Dirt was approached by NPR to comment on the changes, with our TV Reviewer and News Reporter Jack sharing his thoughts on the “absolutely huge” development: “The term ‘Divas’ fit their [WWE’s] female characters back in the day when the product was not as child-friendly, with women competing in matches such as bra and panties matches.
“Now the WWE measure their female athletes on their skill in the ring, rather than their looks. The girls are now given the chance to prove that their matches aren’t blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bathroom breaks, they are unmissable events.”
Newsweek reflected on the Divas Championship – “a gaudy, silver-and-pink butterfly-shaped belt that was difficult to take seriously”, believing that the “dumping” of that title and the re-branding of the women’s division has led to achieving “a semblance of parity between its male and female athletes”, a decision that “cannot be understated”.
Elsewhere, GQ described Sunday’s flagship event as as “the night women won WrestleMania”. The report noted: “To coincide with that change in branding, the WWE Women’s Championship was revealed, replacing the aforementioned travesty of a belt. It was an impactful moment that held true weight. In front of 100,000 of the most impassioned wrestling fans in the world, a true revolution was unfurling.”
Finally, Digital Spy described WrestleMania’s triple threat between new WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks as “match of the night, hands down”, elaborating further that “all three women owned WrestleMania”.
Read Diva Dirt’s review of WrestleMania 32 here.
