Former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley recently reflected on the significant contributions women have made in professional wrestling. Women in WWE have made remarkable progress over the years.
Fans have witnessed the evolution of the women’s roster in the past few years. The evolution began in 2015 when women were given limited time for their matches and segments. This led to significant backlash towards WWE’s approach to women’s talent. Women, recognized as Divas in WWE, were often given short time slots on TV, yet their segments consistently drew higher ratings.
In response to this backlash, WWE perhaps made its most critical alteration — recognizing women as Superstars and not Divas. The promotion started providing women more opportunities than ever over the years. Not only do they feature in the opening segment, but they now headline the show.
In 2019, WWE made history when WrestleMania 35 was headlined by women for the first time, featuring Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair. Despite the progress women have made in WWE, Rhea Ripley expressed her thoughts on the stereotypes that women in the industry have faced.
Rhea Ripley on overcoming challenges women face in WWE
Recently, WWE Superstar Rhea Ripley appeared on Jazzy’s World TV and discussed the evolution of women’s wrestling in WWE. She addressed the challenges women have faced in gaining respect and being taken seriously in the industry. Ripley also opened up about women being unfairly labeled as the “toilet break” segment, a disrespectful stereotype that was also labeled on their hard work.
Ripley stated, “Being taken for granted. The women in WWE, we’ve come a very, very long way… I think that was the biggest obstacle just getting people to take us seriously…” The wrestling icon further added that female wrestlers in the promotion continue to work on equal footing with their male counterparts. Thus, Ripley emphasized on the need to recognise their contributions to professional wrestling.
The former WWE Women’s World Champion discussed how women put just as much effort into their matches as men. With the changes over the years in WWE, women have been main eventing shows more frequently. Moreover, the introduction of new titles has provided additional opportunities to showcase more women on TV.
