Then the dark days came. The women weren’t as defined as characters as the eras before, the matches missed something mostly because the story was missing, and the time women got was drastically cut to the point of there would be shows and weeks at a time where there’d be no match and maybe a throwaway segment. We got many multi woman matches and title feuds based on jealousy and battle royal wins.
It was frustrating seeing such a huge part of my childhood get tossed to the side like yesterday’s garbage. The women of the era; Beth, the criminally mistreated Jillian Hall, Kristal, Mickie, Katie Lea, Melina, Candice, Michelle, Layla, Eve, Cherry, the late Ashley, Aksana, Cameron, Natalya, Victoria, Kelly Kelly, Maria, Maryse, Alicia Fox, Tamina, Naomi, The Bellas, AJ, Kaitlyn weren’t given much if anything to work with. If there wasn’t a title feud, then there was no feud.
The saving graces became the Knockouts Division from 2007-2010, where Kong, Madison, Gail, ODB, Tara, Hamada, Alissa Flash, Angelina Love, Taylor and Sarita, and Roxxxi tore the house down and the NXT Women’s Division, and I’m not talking about the Horsewomen. I’m talking Paige, Emma, and Summer Rae.
They gave us appointment television while the women on the main roster languished. It was during the dark days, in 2008, that I found Diva-Dirt. I hadn’t been on message boards in a while, but it was refreshing to on seeing a community of fans who felt as I did and see writers talk about the aspect I mostly cared about. From about 2005 on, I mostly watched for the women, with me tuning in to see a certain Male superstar or two, so a site dedicated to these women after OWOW folded was everything.
