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Tag: Sasha Banks

  • WWE RAW Hits & Misses: Food fighting, phoned-in writing, and a Boss defined

    The hits were thin on the ground on Monday night’s holiday edition of RAW, to say the least. Read on as I search for the positives in the carcass of a dead-as-a-doornail, completely phoned-in edition of the WWE’s flagship show.

    — The Hits —

    Food fight!

    Beginning a holiday edition of RAW with a comedy segment like this is tantamount to telling your audience not to bother, but I’m only mildly ashamed to admit that I loved it. While I understand that Bo Dallas inadvertently pouring punch over himself is change-the-channel heat for many, I firmly believe that wacky bits like this help to add color to the WWE’s cast of characters and get them over.

    Remember, it was a holiday edition of SmackDown on which John Cena began his transformation from a ruthlessly aggressive bore to the Vanilla Ice wannabe that ultimately broke the glass ceiling.

    Little touches like Cesaro dispassionately arm-wrestling Apollo Crews through the chaos, or Kevin Owens eating chips under the table to avoid the melee, make me laugh and more inclined to watch those involved again in the future. Even Fandango sensually spraying whipped cream on himself raised a chuckle as did the ultra-wacky first-person pie-facing that Owens sustained at the segment’s conclusion. This would never happen on Canada Day, indeed.

    Xavier’s apprehension about a trip to the woods

    I enjoyed the contrast between Big E and Kofi Kingston’s naivete and Xavier Woods’ apprehension in the face of the Wyatt’s invitation. Woods, who has looked far more uncertain than his wisecracking buddies in recent weeks, did a great job of angrily warning against the dangers of complacency ahead of their impending trip to the Wyatt compound.

    One can only assume that the WWE are looking to outdo the viral buzz garnered by the Hardy’s recent exploits in TNA with this New Day excursion. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out as poorly as things usually do when this company tries to piggyback on a trend.

    — The Misses —

    Team USA vs. The Multi-National Alliance

    Look, there were positives to this 16-man omnishambles, namely the Pop-Up Powerbomb delivered by Owens to Mark Henry, and the heartstring-tugging Real Americans callback. Those aside, I find it difficult to care about a match that involves a large part of one’s roster getting pinned in short order with recent US champion Kalisto getting squashed by Henry like a bug being a particular lowlight.

    Not that I was very keen on the lesser-spotted, retirement-verging Big Show quickly pinning Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio, especially given the fact that his mobility appeared even more limited than the last time we saw Mr. Wight. Cesaro and Sheamus were also both sacrificed at the altar of giving Zack Ryder his biannual moment in the sun with the former’s elimination generating strong boos from a bemused crowd.

    Protecting Owens by having him disqualify himself for using a chair on Sami Zayn was fine, but it was hilarious to see Kane be given the same treatment. God forbid Kane is pinned.

    Cena/Club rehash

    Once again, AJ Styles and John Cena had impeccable delivery, but the material they had to work with again left much to be desired. An unnecessarily long talkfest saw both men rehash prior arguments, including Styles breaking out the “shovel” references again.

    Credit goes to Cena for trying manfully to rouse a crowd that had sat through an appalling first two hours of RAW. “You’re not as fired up as you normally are!” complained the weary 15-time champ. And hey, at least Karl Anderson got to brag about his “hot Asian wife” again.

    On a positive note, the Enzo & Cass rescue of Cena, paired with the later announcement of a 6-man tag for Battleground is good news. The prospect of another Cena vs. Styles singles match so soon after the first was not an enticing one if you recall how much the quick turnaround hurt Owens last year after his debut victory over the unseeable one.

    Throwaway matches befitting of a throwaway show

    Main event aside, this show featured six matches, four of which – including the Rusev U.S. title defense against Titus O’Neil – were total squashes. The other two, featuring the remaining unsuspended participants in the Battleground triple threat, were unnecessarily long 10 minute-plus affairs given their totally predictable outcomes.

    Both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose surprised no one by emerging victorious from competitive back-and-forth matches against Dolph Ziggler and The Miz respectively. Ambrose then predictably equalized Rollins’ beatdown from last week by giving him a Dirty Deeds on the Spanish announce table. Boring.

    Vickie Guerrero’s appearance goes nowhere

    In a further sign that the writing staff were phoning it in, Vickie Guerrero’s appearance on Monday’s show was easily the weakest of the recent ex-SmackDown general manager cameos.

    She basically said her “Excuse Me!” catchphrase several times and screeched for a bit about running SmackDown before being carted off by security. Even Ziggler’s St. Peter-esque denial of his former squeeze couldn’t save this. Although I did enjoy that Dolph’s phone conversation featured an admission of another defeat: “I tried very hard…I was close!”

    The definition of a Boss

    While Charlotte’s whiny heel delivery was again effective, I was not a fan of the confrontation the Women’s champion had with Sasha Banks. Banks’ scripted promo, in which she rapped on the definition of a Boss was the definition of cringe for me, only matched by the awful Dana Brooke’s inability to get removed from the ring competently.

    Banks’ air kick to a prone Brooke whiffed just as much as the material the writing staff stuck her with. Keep this up and they won’t be able to manufacture those “We Want Sasha” chants for much longer.

  • WWE Smackdown results: Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz; U.S. title match

    – Air Date: June 30, 2016
    – Location: AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL

    – The Big News:

    Cesaro won an opportunity at the U.S. Championship but promptly lost that title match to Rusev. They announced Rusev would defend his title again on Raw against Titus O’Neil.  Also, Dean Ambrose beat The Miz in a non-title champion vs. champion match.

    – Show Recap:

    They started with a cold open and promo for a Fatal 4-Way match to determine a number one contender for the US Title (with the title match also taking place tonight). This was followed by a segment where each guy cut a promo “earlier tonight” about the match.

    It started with Cesaro driving up to the the building. He began cutting a promo immediately upon leaving his SUV, saying he was inviting his opponents to the uppercut party. Next was Apollo Crews, who was working out. Crews said he was the underdog, but sometimes the impossible becomes possible.

    Next was Sheamus and his wacky moustache (and beard). Sheamus didn’t know why Crews was in the match but would have fun kicking his head off. Finally, Alberto Del Rio said he didn’t know who Crews was before Monday, and was going after his old comrade Rusev. This was pretty goofy, but at least it was different.

    Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton and David Otunga were the commentators again. Because of the skeleton crew, I guess, a generic man was the ring announcer. They never mentioned his name.

    U.S. Title #1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way: Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio, Apollo Crews and Sheamus via submission

    There was a cool spot where Del Rio had the armbar on Sheamus but Crews nailed him with a standing moonsault. Crews took out himself and Sheamus from the ring with a running crossbody. Cesaro gave Del Rio the big swing and applied the sharpshooter for the tapout win.

    The match went about 11 minutes and it was fine. It was somewhat surprising to see Del Rio tap. It felt like Crews or Sheamus would get back in, but they didn’t.

    Afterwards, Del Rio attacked Cesaro, sending him into the steel steps followed by the double footstomp. As some referees checked on Cesaro, Rusev marched to the ring. He congratulated Cesaro for achieving the greatest honour a man can receive – a match with him. Rusev didn’t want to wait and challenged Cesaro to the title match right now.

    After a break, the referees continued to check on Cesaro. They began taking him to the back, but Rusev called him a coward, so Cesaro stopped, turned back toward the ring, and accepted the match.

    U.S. Title Match: Rusev (w/Lana) beat Cesaro via submission

    With Rusev sitting on the top rope, Cesaro hit an uppercut and dropkick to send him out of the ring, followed by a cannonball. He tried a crossbody in the ring, but Rusev caught him, hit a swinging side slam and somersault senton for a near fall. Cesaro came back with uppercuts and a clothesline for two.

    Cesaro tried countering an Accolade into the sharpshooter, but he was in too much pain, so Rusev was able apply the hold. Rusev tried pulling back on the Accolade the way he did to Kalisto, but Cesaro rolled through into a pin attempt for a close near fall. However, Rusev caught him with a side kick and applied the Accolade for the submission win.

    It was only about 7 minutes but good while it lasted. The announcers put over how much pain Cesaro must’ve been in throughout. The crowd got into Cesaro as the match went on and there was also “Rusev sucks” chants.

    Renee Young caught up with Rusev and Lana backstage. Rusev said Independance Day should be Rusev Day. He said while Americans would be stuffing their faces with processed meats and shooting off fireworks in the name of Rusev, he would be with Lana on an island away from this country. Renee informed him that he has to defend the title against Titus O’Neil on Raw. Lana said, “Rusev crush” and they left.

    The first 37 minutes of this show was devoted to all of the above mentioned U.S. Title stuff. They aired a video package of the special olympics deal from Raw and showed Dana Brooke walking backstage.

    Dana Brooke beat Billie Kay via pinfall

    No entrance for Billie Kay. Ranallo mentioned that Kay was from Australia and this was her debut. Sasha Banks watched backstage. Kay made a brief comeback, but this was basically a squash. Brooke won in 3-4 minutes with a Samoan Driver. They used as many camera cuts as possible to save this one.

    Renee found Banks backstage. Banks reminded us that she made Brooke tap out. She cut a pretty good promo, saying she has a long history with Charlotte and Charlotte knows she’s breathing down her neck. Banks was interrupted by Summer Rae, who said everyone was sick of her and she hopes they get drafted to different brands. Banks challenged her to a match tonight.

    MizTV with Dean Ambrose

    Maryse introduced Miz, who said this could be the last MizTV on Smackdown because of the draft. People cheered. He then said that MizTV could be exclusive to Smackdown. People booed. He was about to introduce his guest Dean Ambrose, but before he could, Ambrose came out anyway.

    Ambrose brought a Cuban sandwich to the ring. He blamed his busy schedule for not having time to eat because they’ve been running him around like crazy. Miz was mad he had a sandwich. Ambrose said he needed to keep his strength up because he just won the title and has a triple threat match coming up.

    Ambrose said he was a fan of MizTV and mocked his fancy set. Miz said the only thing the Ambrose Asylum had was the plant and Ambrose told him not to talk about Mitch that way. They asked the crowd if they’d rather see the Asylum and they cheered. Miz put himself over for remaining IC champion despite his schedule. Ambrose responded by calling himself the champion.

    Miz called him a joke because while Miz looks like a champion, Ambrose doesn’t, and called him a black mark on anyone who holds a championship in WWE. As Miz ranted, Ambrose continued eating and had mustard stains on his mouth. Ambrose got in his face and said he could see where this was going, and they both put down their titles like they were about to fight.

    Miz took off his white suit jacket, so Ambrose used it to wipe his mouth. Maryse grabbed the jacket it, tossed it over Ambrose’s face to blind him, and Miz knocked him down with a boot. Miz and Maryse left, while Ambrose sat up and continued eating his sandwich.

    The people seemed to like Ambrose, but he didn’t come off great here. He obviously got his revenge later in the show, but he was punked here by Miz and Maryse, and then he kept eating his sandwich on the ground like a bum.

    Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman (w/Bray Wyatt) beat two jobbers via pinfall

    Strowman got the pin after about a minute. The Wyatt Family posed but they were interrupted by New Day on the screen. Kingston cut a promo in the vein of Bray Wyatt, and asked Bray what he fears. Big E wondered if he feared soap or women with big ol’ booties.

    Big E told Bray to expose himself, but Kingston didn’t want to see Bray exposed. Big E agreed and told Bray to keep his sheep in its barn. Bray laughed and said he loved how everything was a joke to them. He pointed out Xavier Woods’ apparent concern and said the devil calls out for him. “Run.”

    Sasha Banks beat Summer Rae via submission

    Summer knocked Banks off the apron with a big boot and they went to commercial less than two minutes into the match, even though nothing else happened since the previous commercial break. Summer had the heat after the break and the crowd chanted “Let’s go Sasha.” Banks came back with running clotheslines and a kick to the crotch (I think).

    Banks missed a running double knee attack, and Summer hit a wheel kick for a two count. Banks missed the double knees again and Summer hit a DDT for two. Banks finally did hit the double knee strike, followed by a crossface for the tapout win after about 8 minutes.

    They aired a video package from Raw highlighting the stuff with Rollins, Ambrose, Styles, Cena, etc, including Rollins promo on Reigns.

    Non-Title: WWE Champion Dean Ambrose beat IC Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) via pinfall

    Ambrose was all over Miz early and was about to go for a suicide dive, but Maryse pulled Miz out of the way. Ambrose went right back after him and tried Dirty Deeds, but Miz sent him to the outside. Ambrose promptly followed with a clothesline. Maryse tried to distract Ambrose, but that didn’t work either.

    Miz was eventually able to toss him into the barricade and then went to commercial (3 minutes into the match). After the break, Miz worked over Ambrose’s leg as fans chanted “Let’s go Ambrose.” Miz went for the skull crushing finale but Ambrose countered into a rollup for two, followed by a neckbreaker.

    Ambrose came back with fists, chops, a clothesline, running forearm, bulldog and la magistral cradle for two. Ambrose tried a diving dropkick but Miz caught him (sort of) and applied the Figure Four. Ambrose got to the ropes and followed with a suicide dive.

    Miz then countered a rebound clothesline and hit skull crushing finale for a near fall. Miz went for a double axe handle off the top but Ambrose countered into Dirty Deeds for the win. Pretty good match that went about 15 minutes.

    – Final Thoughts:

    This was a skeleton crew show and it sure felt like it. Still, the US title stuff and the main event were both good.

  • WWE Main Event results: The Boss returns to ruin Summer Rae’s “New Error”

    Vaudevillains in-ring promo

    The New Era overload continues as Aiden English boasts that leaving the New Day laying “singlehandedly” on RAW proves, once and for all, that the “New Era” reflects the “Bygone Era”, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Simon Gotch then introduces English’s “pre-emptive eulogy” for the New Day’s tag team titles “in the form of song”. English makes a unbelievably terrible World’s Fair reference before singing for a little while until Enzo & Cass interrupt.

    Enzo does his “couple of haters” line, prompting Gotch to ask, non-rhetorically, if he remembers Payback. English reckons that the little man’s head is “S.O.F.T.” after the concussion he sustained on that particular Sunday. And then, Big Cass if forced to recite a line so awful that it almost matched the cruddy material he was given on this very show a few weeks ago. Cass threatens to beat their “rusty pipes….back into Prohibition” so they won’t be able to “speak easy”. Wow.

    Enzo & Cass def. The Vaudevillains by pinfall

    The usual 12 minute opening match, four minutes of which is (fortunately) lost to a commercial break. Gotch and English got the heat on Enzo for an absolute eon. Nobody cared. Eventually Cass did his brief hot tag schtick before setting up Enzo for the silly-looking Rocket Launcher.

    Zack Ryder def. Viktor by pinfall

    Viktor, now kitted out with Darth Maul-esque face-paint, delightfully poses the question, “Where’s your ‘woo woo’ now?”, during the heat. His smugness doesn’t last long however, with Ryder wrapping this one up in under five minutes. The finish saw Viktor get cut off while perched on the top rope. Ryder then hit a ‘rana, followed by the Broski Boot and an Elbro Drop.

    Sasha Banks def. Summer Rae by submission w/ Dolph Ziggler on commentary

    Looks like I wasn’t the only one who appreciated Ziggler’s over-exuberant contributions to the announce booth on last week’s show. Despite having no connection to any current Women’s division storyline, he’s back again to lend his thoughts on Banks’ first televised match since April 18. Ziggler does however reference his history with Summer Rae, which is a nice touch.

    Summer cuts a promo before Banks’ entrance, following up a mention of the brand extension with a hilariously apt slip of the tongue: “New Error”. She reckons that the entire WWE Universe is wondering which show she will end up on. Meanwhile, all three announcers are laughing openly.

    Sasha eventually interrupts, but is quickly cut off by Summer, who mocks her for failing at Wrestlemania. The Boss tells Summer that, despite her thoughts to the contrary, Summer “wouldn’t be Women’s champion at Wrestlemania…..you can’t even hold my mic!”. I guess that’s supposed to be a burn in the writers’ universe, but Summer ruins it by catching the thrown mic! The three announcers again laugh uproariously, with Dolph selling the catch like it was the greatest thing he’s ever seen: “BUT SHE HELD IT!”.

    The match itself was short, at six minutes, but perfectly acceptable. Sasha’s comeback kicked off with running double knees into the face of Summer Rae, with The Boss hanging on for a subsequent pinfall attempt (Dolph: “It would be hard for me to kick out of that, King”). More knee-based offence got cut off by a vicious-looking DDT from Summer, before Sasha caught a spin kick attempt and transitioned straight into a Banks Statement. Summer tapped with both hands, which caused Dolph to lose his bowel contents again: “Double tap, TP!”. The final line uttered, as the show went off the air, was also Ziggler’s: “I love this so much!”.

    Final Thoughts

    As weird as it is to say, Dolph Ziggler’s announcing saved this show. I’m as surprised as you are. The guy’s overconfident, handsy, depth-free promos bug the hell out of me, but he appears to have an aptitude for this; more of an aptitude than he has for stand-up comedy, at least. Meanwhile, everything the Vaudevillains touch continues to turn to ice, as Enzo & Cass are finally involved in a segment so badly scripted that even Enzo’s delivery can’t save it.

  • Head injury sidelined Sasha Banks the past week

    WWE female wrestling star Sasha Banks missed house shows this past week in Utica, NY, and Reading, PA due to an undisclosed head injury which happened on the 5/15 show in Charlottesville, VA.

    Squared Circle Sirens, a website focused on women’s wrestling, reported late Saturday night that Banks was injured on the event.

    Banks, who hasn’t been used in a few weeks on television due to creative reasons of wanting to keep her off TV when they didn’t have a program at today’s PPV, was still working a full house show schedule up until this past week.

    The injury was described as a fluke in a match where referee Darrick Moore accidentally caught her with a solid knee to the head. It was not a spot where Moore and she were supposed to have serious contact.

    WWE hasn’t confirmed the injury, nor whether a concussion was sufferened. Reports within the industry were that Banks suffered a concussion, which would mean an undetermined length of time before she could return — any day or a few weeks.

  • Wrestling Weekly: Blackjack Mulligan Memories, Roman, AJ, Y2J

    Les and Vic return this week with a ton of great stories about the late, great Blackjack Mulligan.  Les went back with Blackjack to his first run in the Carolinas and shares a lot about what made Mulligan great.  Les goes in depth on Blackjack’s promos, his ability to sell, an conversation that took place when Blackjack, Ric Flair and Jim Crockett bought into the Knoxville territory about something the opposition promotion nearly did that would’ve ended badly and some personal stories about socializing with Blackjack back in the day.  Near the end of the Blackjack talk, the conversation begins to shift towards WWE and why most guys today aren’t nearly as over as Blackjack but fully turns into a modern wrestling conversation when Les talks about the legends (28:35) who some felt stole the spotlight at Wrestlemania.  From there, we’ll discuss some of the things some casual fans were saying at the Mania viewing party Les attended, feeling bad for Charlotte during her promo Monday night and fans hijacking shows.  Vic jumps in (38:09) with his take on Roman/HHH, float a theory as to why the headscratching booking of AJ Styles and Chris Jericho took place this week, is AJ as over as he should be at this point and make a case that as good as Charlotte is, the wrong woman won the triple threat this past Sunday.  Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~! 

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  • At last, the WWE women will have their chance at Wrestlemania 32

    This Sunday at Wrestlemania, WWE Divas Champion Charlotte will face Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a three-way title match that would have served as the logical narrative bookend to the concept that was the Divas Revolution. The payoff of these three facing off against one another on the biggest stage in professional wrestling, having climbed from humble beginnings and overcome negative stigmatization in a male-dominated industry to achieve at the highest level imaginable, would have been both the ultimate testament to the success of the Divas Revolution as a long-term storyline and the proper punctuation on the statement that WWE had reached a new era in the presentation of its female talent.

    Or at least it would have been were it not for the countless fatal decisions made along the way that ultimately lead to its failure. Had WWE’s faith in branding and hashtagging been enough to sustain through incomprehensible storytelling, numerous dreadful on-screen segments (including no fewer than two disastrous episodes of Miz TV), far too many unexplained and illogical changes in the heel-face dynamic, an overwhelming sense of purposelessness, and the tasteless invoking of Reid Fliehr’s name for the sole purpose of cheap heat, the Divas Revolution concept may very well have survived to see Wrestlemania.

    But because so many mistakes made it revolting more often than revolutionary, and because WWE’s commitment to the concept seemed to run only as deep as seeing a buzzword trend worldwide on Twitter a few nights a week, the #DivasRevolution is long dead.

    When Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky step into the ring on Sunday, they will represent all that remains of that misbegotten, in-name-only revolution. Fortunately, they were the only components of it that ever mattered at all.

    The title match at Wrestlemania this Sunday is not at all about the Divas Revolution, despite any possible attempts from WWE commentators to inform the audience otherwise. Rather, it will be above all else the crowning moment for three of the major players of the very real sea change that has been going on for far longer than a hashtag-revolution. It will be a career-defining highlight for Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky, whose work in NXT between 2013-2015 with each other and the likes of Bayley, Natalya, Paige, and Emma was a major catalyst for an actual change in that audience’s perception of women’s wrestling.

    Given their immense collective and individual potential, this should be far from the last big moment these three women will experience at a Wrestlemania.

    What this match could ultimately prove to be is one that may help direct the course of women’s wrestling in WWE for years to come, and one that could help pave the way for other women to enjoy their own much-deserved moments in the spotlight at that level. Someone like Bayley, for example, who has a very real potential to become one of the company’s top money-makers, full stop. The response of the live crowd, and the social response of the worldwide viewing audience, could create enough tangible evidence to convince those who may still believe otherwise that the future of WWE’s female performers is in emphasizing in-ring prowess and performance over aesthetics and sex appeal.

    If rumors of a new WWE Women’s Championship being revealed on the Raw following Wrestlemania prove true and result in the long overdue abandonment of the obnoxious “Divas” brand, then the match between Charlotte, Becky, and Sasha may just be the final, decisive nail in a coffin that they have all worked so hard to seal.

    Or, perhaps, it won’t prove to be that at all. Perhaps the notion of sweeping change in WWE’s philosophy regarding women taking place in just eight months’ time is as ill-fated as thinking that CM Punk’s 434-day championship reign or Daniel Bryan’s Wrestlemania triumph would turn back decades of big-man fetishism. Even today, with Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky on the precipice of taking their well-earned Wrestlemania moments, the company still seems adamant to draw blood from the stone that is Eva Marie, someone who epitomizes what WWE thinks of when it uses the malapropos term “Diva.”

    The fact that the expectation was that she would be cheered when she appeared on Raw (in Brooklyn, of all places) reinforces the idea of a considerable disconnect between WWE’s beliefs and reality. Slotting Eva in as the surprise 10th participant in the pre-show tag match doesn’t quite portend that she would one day be given a run with the championship (though her reemergence on the main roster certainly makes it seem no less plausible), but it also doesn’t dissuade from the idea that there are still those in the company who see a woman’s primary contribution to the product as being her ability to look good in as little clothing as possible.

    Regardless of what the match means or doesn’t mean for the big picture of WWE today and moving forward, it can be said with a fair degree of certainty what it means to the three performers involved: quite simply, everything.

    Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks will be culmination of years of tireless effort and struggle; in one instant, together in front of the largest audience WWE has ever drawn, everything that they have sacrificed along the way will have been worth it. For as much as the concept of the Wrestlemania moment has become another in WWE’s arsenal of trite branding terms, it will be just that for the three, and it will be a moment well deserved.

    Perhaps given the uncertainty of seemingly all things creative in WWE at present, it is simply the best course of action to not worry about whether this match can atone for the failures of the Divas Revolution or set the table for the future of the women’s division. It is unlikely that Charlotte, Sasha, or Becky will be thinking in such lofty terms this Sunday or in the days leading up to it. They will probably not be concerning themselves with starting a movement, causing a revolution, or sparking long-term change.

    Instead, they are much more likely to be focused on a single moment. On appreciating it, and on seizing it. On doing their utmost to steal the show, just as they have in NXT so many times before. With their talent and drive, there is no reason to believe that they cannot deliver on that promise once again, despite the amplified lens. Given their history of pulling off show-stealing performances, it is unlikely that most fans will leave their seats until the finish if only so that they, too, can share in that moment with them. That, in and of itself, speaks to the level of change they have helped affect.

    Before the #DivasRevolution hashtag, there was #GiveDivasAChance. It sprung directly from indignation at women being given so little to work with compared to their male counterparts, rooted in the idea that female wrestlers deserve, at the least, an equal opportunity to show the world what they could do in the ring. This Sunday at Wrestlemania, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky will presumably be empowered and enabled to go out in front of 85,000 fans — many of whom will be invested in the match to at least some extent – and tell a story.

    They should, and likely will, be given every tool available to put on a blow-away match in front of millions of people around the globe. It is fair to say that, despite WWE doing seemingly everything it could to get in its way, women’s wrestling is being given its chance at long last. It would be more appropriate, however, to say that it is an opportunity well earned.