Most Shocking and Important Women's Evolution Moments

The women’s Evolution has been arguably the biggest and most important movement in the wrestling industry in terms of making changes to how talent is booked and treated. Five years ago the WWE began to make drastic changes to its women’s division and throughout the month of July fans, journalists and the WWE itself has been celebrating the anniversary of the Evolution and as you would have seen I have been shining a spotlight on the important time! Today we again focus on this topic and this time around we are going to be discussing some of the most important and memorable moments throughout the past five years for the WWE Women’s division.

 

Ronda Rousey’s Debut

Since the birth of the Women’s evolution five years ago we have seen so many amazing debuts with the likes of Nia Jax, The Riott Squad, The IIConics and more arriving on the WWE’s main roster but in two thousand and eighteen fans saw the biggest signing in WWE Women’s wrestling history when Ronda Rousey made her famous jump from MMA to the world of WWE. Going back to the historic first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match the ring was shared by champions Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, as well as inaugural winner, Asuka as the show, looked to close with a fantastic scene however, new music soon hit and it was revealed that the WWE had one more surprise up their sleeve… the debut of Ronda Rousey. Now, there were no explosive moments or attacks, but Rousey’s presence created a huge feel to the show and highlighted a new chapter within the women’s evolution. This was noted as one of the most shocking moments of the year and the standout debut during the women’s evolution.

The Birth of the Man

One of the biggest stars of the women’s division is without a doubt, Becky Lynch. This is a woman we have really seen grow over the years and ha gone from fan favourite underdog to one of the biggest names in the company. From the first woman to be drafted to Smackdown LIVE to making history on repeat but it was in two thousand and eighteen that we saw things change drastically for Lynch during the SummerSlam PPV. After losing a triple threat match against Charlotte Flair and Carmella Becky finally cracked and attacked nearly crowned champion Charlotte in front of a live crowd of thousands who cheered her and her actions on! This was the moment so many fans had hoped to have seen for so long and while the attack wasn’t as barbaric as we have seen from other superstars it cemented change and Lynch and her career has never been the same since. After this moment Becky became the star of the WWE Women’s division and took over the company with her memorable matches, promos, and showcasing her own movement within the division and the WWE as a whole.

NXT Takeover Respect

Over recent years we have seen women main event several PPV’s including Wrestlemania (which we will discuss later today) but one of the most important moments from the Evolution dates back to NXT Takeover Respect when Bayley and Sasha Banks became the first women to main event a major WWE live special competing in an iron match that has gone down as yet another classic encounter! The match came about after their iconic Takeover Brooklyn match and the timing just felt perfect. We had seen NXT create a movement that was so important and women main eventing a live show felt so right, the fans wanted it and the booking just made sense. This was an historic moment that showed real change. It proved to fans that things were moving in a different direction, the main event spot was something to be shared with the female talent. It was here that I remember watching and thinking finally women feel more equal here and things were moving in the right direction. 

NXT Arrivals

The moment that could be considered the birth of the women’s evolution took place in the summer of two thousand and fifteen and for many was where it all began. With Paige looking to make a change and take on the Bella Twins and Alicia Fox, Stephanie McMahon pointed out that she was lacking support, well until that evening. The segment would see Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch make the jump from NXT to the main roster to join team Paige but there were other superstars who did not want to get lost in the shuffle and Naomi along with Tamina would join the party and soon introduce Sasha Banks as their third team member. The moment has gone down as one of the most important and memorable moments from the women’s evolution for so many reasons. The closing scene of the three women of NXT locking in their submission hold is a picture that shows change. Re-watching this is a segment that still gives me goosebumps and instantly reminds you of how awesome it really was. These were three women who had spent a great deal of time in NXT changing the game and demanding better, fans knew what they stood for and what their debut truly meant.

 Evolution

Despite the fact, the WWE looked to have made the Evolution PPV a one-off thing there can be denying this was a huge success and incredibly important! It was announced in two thousand and eighteen during an episode of RAW it was revealed that history would be made once again when the women would take part in the first-ever all women’s PPV. The night was stacked full of fantastic must-see matchups including a battle Royal, a memorable encounter between Lynch and Flair, the finales of the second Mae Young Classic and a controversial main event overall this was incredibly entertaining and well booked PPV that sent a clear message. The PPV felt important and strong and its such a shame this wasn’t made an annual event for it’s something that Is needed, and every year could just get better and better.

Main Eventing Wrestlemania

Women main eventing Wrestlemania is something I have wanted to see for so many years but honestly, I did believe it would be quite some time until we saw it actually happened and so when the incredibly historic moment was booked in twenty nineteen I was over the moon! While the match itself has gone down as controversial and divided fan opinion no one can take away what Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Ronda Rousey achieved here. Women main eventing the biggest wrestling event of the year is something that so many of us just did not think would happen. The story was built well, and the timing felt perfect as three of the biggest names in the division’s history but also in the WWE at the time rightfully took center stage. It may be a while until we see this happen again but what this did was allow us as fans to see that it could happen, that women in the WWE are equal to men (or at least more so now) and gave women a platform in the company they just haven’t had before.

 

Now, of course, there were so many other moments we could have spoken about today but I am trying to discuss something different in each post and next week I will be taking a look at some of the most iconic first ever moments so if there are some things your surprised were not mentioned here then make sure to tune into that post in a weeks’ time!

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