. . . Or why it sucks to be a female professional wrestler in 2011.
There's no denying the heyday of wrestling has gone by the wayside. In fact, some companies who shall remain nameless even refuse to call what they do wrestling. It's sports entertainment. Which leads one to surmise that those who practice such a thing are called sports entertainers (when, in reality, they're called "superstars," even though many aren't very super).
There is really only one kind of superstar, but there are two kinds of wrestlers: only men can be superstars in the WWE, because the women are Divas. In TNA (or Impact Wrestling as it is now known), the women are wrestlers, but they're called Knockouts. Confusing?
In WWE, the women (Divas) wrestle for the Divas Championship, while in Impact Wrestling, the women (Knockouts) wrestle for the Knockouts Championship (unless you're ODB, then it's the Knocked Up Championship). That seems simple, until you factor in the past where the WWE Divas wrestled for the Women's Championship. Apparently that title was removed because you can't have women wrestling over a women's championship. In WWE, Divas fight over a Divas Title.
To recap: Impact Wrestling Knockouts (formerly TNA Knockouts) wrestle for the Knockouts Championship; WWE Divas fight/compete/anything but wrestle for the Divas Championship. In terms of simplicity, Knockouts clearly defeat Divas (plus, the Divas Title looks like it should accompany Barbie in her dream house).
The problem is that it doesn't really pay to be either. Both companies technically have matches featuring women, but if the ladies got paid by the minute they'd have to look for other work (heck, if they got paid by the second, they'd need a second job).
To Impact's credit, it usually features the Knockouts over many segments over the course of the two hours. WWE Divas 99 percent of the time are all lumped into one five-minute segment (which usually lasts less than five minutes). In fact, many of the Divas are relegated to WWE's Internet shows like NXT and Superstars.
So, even though Impact is a more female-heavy show, neither company knows what to do with its ladies. For instance, Gail Kim left WWE to work for Impact (then TNA), had great matches with Awesome Kong (now Kharma in WWE), basically positioned herself as one of the best female workers in America, came back to WWE, and is currently persona-non-grata.
On the other side, many of Impact's Knockouts constantly leave and come back. Roxxi has made more returns than bad Christmas gifts. Traci Brooks seemingly returned not long ago to side with her real life husband Kazarian, but hasn't been seen since. ODB, another recent returnee, is currently feuding with Velvet Sky, but as history has shown, she'll be out the door again soon.
Sadly, most of the women just mentioned are extremely talented and deserve better. Unfortunately, they're five years too late. In Oct. 2006, Trish Stratus retired from WWE basically ending women's wrestling as we know it in the US. Any mention of Divas or Knockouts should be referenced with BTR and ATR (Before Trish Retired and After Trish Retired).
It's sad to see such talent wasted. But to make a decent living, Impact and WWE are really the only options (unless one wants to live in Japan). It would be wise to question why someone busts their ass to learn the craft when all they'll get is two minutes to display it.
Women like Eve, Layla, Velvet, Maryse, and others all trained hard and put in the effort to become competent in the ring. Unfortunately, other than maybe one or two PPV matches per year, none of them are given the chance to shine.
Trish came from nothing, worked her ass off, and was given the opportunity to become a legend. None of these women today have that same chance.
In other words: Free the Women! Let Them Wrestle!
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