IS IT REALLY AN EVOLUTION?

The month of October sees the WWE unleash EVOLUTION, an entire pay per view of women’s wrestling. Whilst some may see this as a progressive step for the company, I feel this isn’t the momentous event WWE makes you want to think it is.

It’s debatable how this PPV has come to be. After the backwards logic of keeping the women off of the Greatest Royal Rumble earlier this year, rumours began to circulate of an all women’s event. Whether this was a direct response to the criticism received for going against their company’s belief’s for a big cash cheque is up for debate. Over the last two years WWE has seen a huge shift away from the ‘DIVA’ banner. A lot of this progressive department comes from Triple H’s work down at NXT.

It cannot be ignored some of the classic altercations we saw between Sasha and Bayley, Asuka versus Ember Moon or even the first Mae Young Classic. These all made a case for profiling females on the same level as the men. However when we have seen the transition from NXT to the main roster, the stop and start nature of WWE’s week to week booking has greatly impacted on their own evolution.

Whilst we have seen Stephanie McMahon proclaim first ever Hell in the Cell, Money in the Bank or the recent Royal Rumble matches, constantly making these matches feel  of great significant has created the reverse effect. In NXT there wasn’t a big emphasis on the matches because we were more focused on the wrestlers and their respective feuds. It was never a big deal that Bayley and Sasha had the match of their lives at the first NXT Takeover in Brooklyn. It was treated as just another match on the card. On the main roster however it comes across as a freak show attraction at a fair. By not treating it as just another match creates a sense of difference between them and the men.

It could be argued that the women have out-shined the men on many occasions. In NXT when the women were engaged in a feud it felt significant, even violent. On the main roster the constant stop and start nature of the Bayley and Sasha Banks storyline is infuriating. Why are they feuding? The reasons are unclear and borderline divaish. The recent welcoming back the Bellas go further into creating a confused image of the brand of women’s wrestling. In many ways The Bellas are an example of the past, where it was all about beauty and not wrestling holds. Having them on the same level or siding with the likes of Ronda Rousey just makes no sense.

I am not excited for EVOLUTION. I should be given the fact the roster has an incredible pool of talent, many of which are currently underutilised. Women’s wrestling I would argue hasn’t been any better then as of late. Companies like Pro Wrestling Eve have seen many of their talent make their ways into WWE programming. The success of Netflix’s breakout hit ‘GLOW’ furthers the renewed interest in Women’s wrestling. Just this weekend the four way survival at ALL IN was one of the highlights of the evening. So why if all these great things happen do I feel underwhelmed? I feel the fact that the women require their own show makes them feel different. If you as a company are trying to push the idea that; regardless of race or gender, wrestlers are wrestlers, shouldn’t they be seen on the same level? I am not saying that an all women’s event is a bad idea, far from it. I just think we have to question why the show is happening and what is the purpose of it’s existence on the PPV calendar.

I do feel we are not long away from Wrestlemania being headlined by a women’s match. This would in my opinion be more significance. Having a separate PPV doesn’t carry the same weight. Having a main event at Mania breaks tradition and creates a new chapter. How is EVOLUTION any different from what Vince wanted to do with Smackdown, back when it first was pitched to a network?