Is Total Divas a Blessing in disguise?
Two year's ago the WWE announced that members of their divas division would be staring in a new hit reality show 'Total Divas" witch aired every Sunday on the E! Network. The show was set to follow the real life dramas of some of the toughest women around in the company. The first set of cast members would consist of Naomi and Cameron, the first female to be trained in the heart dungeon Natalya, company favourites the Bella twins, and the new girls on the block JoJo and Eva Marie (Summer Raw would join the mix in season two alongside Rosa Mendes in season 3). The show was big hit from the get go and attracted a wide audience. However there were many fans from the WWE universe who heavily criticised the show. Bashing the cast members an the viewing, the show received a lot of hate alongside the divas participating. Many felt that the reality show was damaging the division and portraying the athletes in the wrong manner. Some would go as far to say the girls who had signed up for it were fame hungry and did not have actual passion for professional wrestling. One of the biggest divas storyline's of 2013 saw the face of the divas division AJ Lee join the total divas hate, and after a controversial promo cut on the cast and the show many following AJ and found themselves agreeing with what she was saying. Despite the controversy the show is currently in it's third season with no plans of it fading from our TV screens any time soon. So with the rest of the season airing in January with two new big cast member's, today I'm looking back from the past two years and disguising weather or not total divas is a blessing in disguise.
Over the year's the WWE's female talent have had an interesting journey to say the very least. The companies female talent have had an up and down momentum building and crushing run on the roster, with them constantly competing against the male talent and battling for equal time in the ring. The importance of female pro wrestlers in one of sports entertainment's biggest companies has shifted drastically since it's existence. There was a time, however, when the female talent of the WWE was at an all time high. This was back when women such as Lita, Torrie Wilson, Chyna, Trish Stratus and many others were competing in the company. This was a time when genuine interest was put in the ladies of the male orientated sport. Where storyline's where detailed, gripping, entertaining, well thought and sexy at the same time. It was an era where the women were considered to be female athletes instead of sex symbols, their to look good and make the male talent look even better. These were the year's when the fans wanted to see more them and knew they were getting a good quality female pro wrestling match. It's bizarre to think that only ten year's ago WWE hall of famers Lita and Trish Stratus would go on to main event Monday night RAW, the companies biggest weekly product; when now the divas struggle to get five minuets of TV and actual wrestling time. The two legends would be involved in the biggest, most successful divas feud to date. Pro wrestling fan's still talk about the work the two did together and compare it to the work now provided on the main roster in particular. As a new ear entered the WWE the likes of Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Maryse would grace the big stage and develop their own source of popularity from different groups of fans. With them all bringing something new they were all a huge hit in the WWE. This was a time where it became evident the company were going in a different direction with it's female talent. It was clear
that the company wanted to go down a more sexier root with the divas, and so attires became more skimpy, storyline's became more stereotypical and there was a sudden lack in interest despite introducing a second championship to the division. It was obvious that the women of the WWE were there to look good and not over shadow the male talent. Pretty much all the divas began to share the same image and it was only when AJ Lee came on the scene that the division began to take more shape. But what does it take for a huge entertainment company that specialises in a male dominated sport to take it's female talent seriously, to push them in the right direction. What could the company bring to boost the divas importance and give them the push they ever so much needed.When Total Divas first aired back in late 2012 the show received heavy criticism from passionate, life long fans from the WWE universe. The show caused great controversy and many began to question the motives of the girls participating in the show and why they were doing do. The idea that girls such as Cameron, the Bella twins and Eva Marie were using the show to gain popularity, money and fame instead of boosting their wrestling career. Eva Marie in particular received a great amount of hate due to the way she was perceived on the show and in WWE. However, despite the hate there was no hiding the fact that the reality show put these girls centre stage and threw them into a spotlight that was alien to them. The company was forced to improve the work they were doing with their female employees. They simply could not have Total divas be a huge weekly show open to such a wide audience and continue to give the women little attention.
Last year one of the biggest diva storyline's saw the cast of Total Divas go to war with anti-total diva AJ Lee. The storyline saw Lee bash the cast members on a weekly basis and at one point she would deliver one huge pipe bomb. With the total divas cast all acting as the face and AJ Lee the big heel of the division, the company had them work a big storyline witch saw several total diva cast members go against none cast member's in big tag team matches. The total diva cast would never step in the ring against each other unless a conflict was shown on the show, and this highlighted a huge problem. With AJ's propaganda against the show, many fans followed in her lead in the hate and the company had to create a more creative idea and turn away from the total diva VS non total diva angle.
When Summer Rae joined the cast in season two the WWE took a new direction once again. This time they would connect what was going on in Total Divas to Monday night RAW and Friday night Smackdown, connecting storyline's on the show to their actual WWE wrestling work. For example the conflict shown on total divas with Summer and Natalya was then translated in the ring, and still is to this day. I really liked how the WWE started to change things up. The company were forced to do so and it meant that the girls were finally moving up on the roster. They were no longer using the show downgrade it's talent and the year used to push the show was used just for that.
There has also been arguments that the reality show is destroying the divas division. Suggesting it exposes a side to the company that it shouldn't and focus more on reality than actual wrestling. However I have to admit I disagree with this comment completely. Yes the show has been used to push and create certain feuds and match ups but the reality of it is, since the show has been around the growth in the division has been insane. The female talent featured in the show have got more ring time than they ever did before the show. The evidence is staring right in front of us. A couple of year's ago we were lucky to get even one divas match on Monday night RAW, this year we have gone as far as up to three matches on the weekly product. This is a huge hue improvement and a big big deal! And it's not just on RAW that we have seen more divas matches, on several pay per views this year including one of the biggest of them all Summer Slam the WWE brought us two divas matches with one featuring Stephanie McMahon. The WWE divas championship was also defended for the first time at the biggest show of the year, Wrestlemania. These are little steps that to be honest may not have happened without Total Divas. The show put the women out there and into the spotlight, yes for their "real life" drama's but it helped push their careers massively.
The show has also helped up coming talents like Summer Rae. You all know how much of a personal fan I am of Summer's and I do think she has used everything the WWE has thrown at her to better herself, including Total Divas. The show allowed her to develop more personality. It allowed her to be shown as Summer Rae and not just Fandango's dancer. Let's face it, if something is offered to you to help post you're popularity in the wrestling industry or popularity as a whole you would probably take it. The show has also shown the girls genuine passion for wrestling. The scene's with Summer and Eva training and showing Cameron going down to developmental, storyline wise did a great job and really helped show the girls in a better light. It has also helped give girls that have struggled to get the spotlight actually get their moment, like Naomi. She may not have had the biggest of push's but she has at least had a divas championship shot. I'm not saying that in order to have a successful career or become the divas champion or get a push the girls need to be a star in total divas, I'm simply highlighting the fact that the show has helped greatly over the past couple of years.
Despite all the heavy criticism there is no hiding the fact that Total Divas has greatly helped the female talent of today. Their has been huge storyline's this year for the girls in fact their has been several at once. Yes some may be small but a lot of them probably would not have happened if the show was not around. Yes, there is still the argument that the company and the show clearly favour The Bella twins and the best talent on the roster, Naomi and Natalya are still not getting the attention and ring time they deserve but if we look at the little progress over the past couple of years, it's a lot to go on. And with two new cast members set to take centre stage in January (Alicia Fox and Paige) it could be interesting to see what is next for the female talent in the WWE, Personally I predict a big year for the WWE divas. I do plan on doing a part two on this post, so if that sounds like something you would be interested in please let me know!
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